Since moving back to Northern WI from Hawaii 12 years ago, I’ve come to value the comfort and safety that comes from outerwear like the Tekkima Overland Insulated Jacket.
Warm, Stylish
It’s a warm jacket with some important technical features, including a water-resistant laminated nylon shell and synthetic insulation to protect me from the elements and decent compressibility to make it packable. The Tekkima Overland Insulated Jacket is well tailored with a slim cut, but without the overly tight shoulders that I sometimes experience with slim cut garments. It’s also more stylish than most of my outdoor gear.
For my first field test I wore the Tekkima Overland Insulated Jacket for a fat bike ride in the woods. The temps were in the teens, the wind was gusting, and the snow was coming down hard. Right away I noticed and appreciated the drop hem in the back, which kept the wind from crawling up my spine, and the bevel-cut sleeves, which protected my wrists and kept out snow.
Good Breathability
I was most impressed with the Overland jacket’s breathability. Insulated jackets, especially the styles with waterproof laminates, are often clammy on the inside during activity. Though my goggles were fogged with the effort of biking through snowdrifts, the Overland jacket stayed dry inside. That makes a huge difference in comfort and safety when I’m outdoors in sub-zero weather. If the temperature climbs, the two-way front zipper ensures easy venting.
Hidden Hood
Hats off to Tekkima for an excellent tuck-away hood, which is insulated and sewn to the collar for draft-free deployment. I also enjoyed the inside angled phone pocket more than I would like to admit.
A few small tweaks I would love to see in this impressive jacket would be a pull string in the hood and a reversible zipper on the inside Napoleon pocket (the jacket compressed nicely into the pocket).
Active Travel Jacket
The low-key, packable, water-resistant nature of the Tekkima Overland Insulated jacket makes it an ideal go-to piece for travel as an outer layer in temperate conditions and while being active in colder temperatues. I plan on wearing it trekking on my next trip to Iceland, and packing it for other upcoming trips: bike packing trips in the Rockies, backpacking Isle Royal, and kayaking overnights in the Apostle Islands. It’s also ideal for just wearing inside the house or cabin until the wood stove gets things heated up in the morning.
Sizes, Colors
Available in Hunter Green and in Navy Blue in men’s sizes S-XL.
Manufacturer’s Site: tekkima.com
Bottom Line: A low-key jacket that belies its technical nature.
$145, available at Amazon and at Tekkima
Put a lid on it!