Waterproof Jacket: Sprayway Arista Pro (Women's)
26th Mar 2009
The Sprayway Arista Pro women’s waterproof jacket is a lightweight, yet tough and durable jacket. It weighs only 333g, and packs down nice and small. It still has lots of the features that I would look for in a heavier weight jacket. I have been wearing mine instead of my normal gore tex, and have found it does the job just as well.
The Arista Pro has a stylish fit (nicely tapered to a woman’s physique) and a well fitting hood (volume adjustable) that maintains its shape and keeps the rain off your face with it’s wired peak.
I have worn this jacket in short downpours and longer showers, and it has kept me dry on all occasions. I haven’t yet tested it in all day torrential rain, but am off to Yorkshire this weekend, so that could be a good test!
The women’s tailored fit looks appealing, but I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t fit much underneath it in colder weather. This concern was ill founded though, as it easily allows a base layer and lightweight fleece underneath without seeming too tight.
At first try, I thought the waterproof zip design seemed a little insubstantial. It’s a nice lightweight unobtrusive zip, to fit with the style of the jacket but I did wonder if it would suffer early from wear and tear, and be difficult to use in the wet. It doesn’t have a storm cover flap like many others. Once again, I was nicely surprised. I’ve been wearing the jacket regularly for quite a few months now, and no problem so far with its durability or waterproof qualities.
I really like the flexibility of how you fasten the sleeves- there is a row of Velcro circles- discreet but allowing you the option of different fits depending on what you’re doing and what you’re wearing underneath. The arm movement is nice- doesn’t feel restrictive like some jackets.
The jackets come in black and red. The ‘raspberry’ red is much softer than SCARLET so quite safe to be seen in town as well!
The Arista Pro RRP is £160 which seems to compare favourably with other similar weight and style of jackets. Always worth shopping around on line though as I easily found it for £112.
Reviewed by Hayley Lever on behalf of planetFear