Mine arrived today.
First up, I'm usually a 'standard medium' by most measurements, and the medium standard fit fine.
Second, like
@fwafwow's box, mine was trashed:
It looks like it might have somehow got rain damaged during some part of the process. However, the cardboard is so thin and flimsy that I'm not sure it would have stood up to normal handling of international shipping - I'll be contacting RedKettle about this. Fortunately, the contents were okay, but it could have just as easily have been otherwise.
As for the jacket ... hmmm.
I guess what I'll say is that, overall, I'm glad I bought it at that price point.
I have every faith that it will perform as
@Formidilosus has reported - and that I'll love it for what it is.
However, as a piece of active wear, and as a rain jacket specifically, there are at least six design issues that jumped out straight away.
This makes me wonder if the reason it was on sale is that it received increased popularity in Europe, and possibly in the US thanks for Form's earlier posts, and they've had some feedback on the design and are coming out with a wholly revised model.
Overall, I love that 1950s (or earlier) tech has been revitalised in this way. I'm a bit of a Luddite and have ex-hippy tendencies, and the use of natural materials appeals. I'm also old enough to have had high-end seam-sealed Gore-Tex jackets fail.
However, the cut, fit, and features of the RedKettle Light Ventile Hunting Jacket remind me of rain jackets of the 1980s - and we've moved so far ahead from then.
I know Form said something along the lines of this not being a 'performance' wear piece, and that's true.
However, again, there are six issues that jump out at me as a mere user, not a designer ... surely more modern design and a couple of decades of multiple user experience would count for something?
Overall, this feels like a jacket designed by a keen hunter who found some cool 'old' tech. It doesn't have the feel of some jackets by a couple of the 'big name' US-based companies who have people who are not only hunters, but also ex-military and/or snowboarders, and/or climbers, and/or who already had experience in the outdoor clothing industry.
Personally, I'm saying all this to not 'rag' on the jacket at all - I'm sure it will work well, and will last for years.
For the price I paid for it, I'm happy I took the gamble. Given that I paid what I did, I'll now have less of a problem 'thrashing' it for as long as it lasts - and I'm guessing it will last a long time.
However, had I paid full price, I think I'd be having buyer's remorse. This is partly as I'm on a budget, so things have to work at a level that reflects the price tag. If I were made of money, I would have bought this for the sake of having a natural fibre rain jacket, and for supporting RedKettle as a company, and even if I knew this was version 1.0, and an initial purchase would enable them to design an improved 2.0.
As it is, with the constraints of mortgage, kids, etc, the reduced price, and design limitations, feel just about matched.
And I'm guessing I'm not the only one that would have feedback about how RedKettle could make a handful of improvements - and the good news is that, from such a solid base platform, but with so many design issues, they could make the next version really, really knock it out of the park.
Which I look forward to, but probably couldn't then afford at their full price (even though I usually prefer to pay more and get the best I can). But I'd still be glad that it exists, and know that it's going to fill a nice that we needed.
Overall, thanks again to
@Formidilosus for putting us onto Aclima net base layers, Fjallraven Kebs and Varusteleka Sarma TST pants, and now the RedKettle jacket ... these natural fibre options are a viable alternative to the mountain of industry-standard synthetics, and having found all of his other suggestions to work just as well as recommended, I can't wait to put the Ventile through its paces.
