Review: Oakley TC Reduct Earth Shell Jacket
What we liked
Full-featured, with all the pockets, zips and and ventilation you need for a mid-level resort-orientated jacket (for incidental-touring/hiking only)
What we didn’t
Not a lot to list here, really.
The Verdict
THE SHORT READ…
One of Oakley’s mid-range shell jackets - At £100 more than the Kendall RC Shell Jacket (our review) you get noticeably improved shell material, nicer-feeling next-to-skin inner lining and more luxurious-feeling lycra inner cuffs, with thumb-loops. It’s got all the features you’d want from a resort shell jacket. It’s not aimed at touring as it’s heavier and bulkier than you’d want for that, but for resort-riding, slack-country and boot-packs short of an ultra-marathon, it’ll excel.
This is the Sage Kotsenburg Look version of the jacket, which luxuriates in the yellow-and-black colour-scheme you see here.
THE LONG READ …
Materials and construction - The usual Oakley high-level attention to detail and quality construction.
The shell is an “FN Dry™ 20/15K” material that will give you a good level of weather-proofing and breathability, and some stretch to boot.
Fully taped seams to keep water out as long as possible.
Draw-cord hem to batten down the hatches in deep snow or heavy weather - tightening is done from within the front lower pockets, the release is inside the jacket by the hem.
The TC Reduct Earth Shell has a much nicer-feel inner lining - over arms, chest and back - than the cheaper Kendall RC. You’d probably still want a long-sleeved base-layer underneath, most of the time, but on a stinking hot day, you could get away with a T under it.
Helmet-compatible Hood - Nice and big, with a big stiff peak to keep the flakes out of your eyes. It has one adjustment at the rear which, in a nice design, cinches both the main front-opening and pulls the hood down onto your head (the hidden draw-cord being under the base of your skull).
All the pockets you’d need -
Two main low-front pockets, only micro-fleeced on one side, so not the most warming. These contain the hem draw-cords, just for tightening things up.
Two chest pockets - about double the depth of the Kendall’s. No internal pockets in these.
One lift-pass pocket low on left arm.
One internal pocket on the left-side - media compatible with cable exit routings at top and bottom.
One internal goggle pouch on the right side.
All external pockets have waterproof zips.
Weight - Electronic scales show the L is 1100g (the Oakley site says 180g, which is a little on the optimistic side). About 150g heavier than the Kendall, so this is most-definitely a resort jacket than a touring one (for which you’d probably want to get down below the 600g mark at least).
Zips -
The main front zip is one-way and waterproof.
The two pit-zips are a decent length, are not waterproof themselves but have two weather flaps to cover them, and are, er, right under your arms. The zips feel ‘softer’ than those on the Kendall so that when you bring your arms down close to your body you don’t feel much resistance to the zips folding in half. They have a mesh liner to prevent crap-tons of snow going into your jacket if you really stack it.
Snow-skirt - Non-removable, strongly elasticated and with poppers to secure it around your waist. It has three poppered tabs for connecting it to belt loops of Oakley pants (and will likely work with other pants that have belt loops at side and rear).
Sleeves - An upgrade over the Kendalls, these have a tighter-fit inner lycra with nice thumb-loops, to stop drafts going up. The outer cuffs have a decent slab of velcro to adjust around or under your gloves.
SUMMARY…
The Oakley TC Reduct Shell Jacket has all the features and material-quality you’d want in a mid-range resort jacket which will last you for years.