The 5 main criteria for choosing your ski jacket

Are you passionate about skiing ? If so, make sure you get the most out of your mountain break. To do this you’ll need to dress appropriately, the most important item of clothing being the ski jacket. There are a wide range of men’s ski jackets and women’s ski jackets on the market. So how do you choose the perfect ski jacket ? In this article you will find the 5 main criteria for choosing your ski jacket

- Waterproofness
- Style of cut
- Ventilation system
- Pockets
- Tightening

Waterproofness

This is the first function that a ski jacket should provide for you. It makes waterproofing the most important selection criterion.
It’s the characteristic that allows a material not to be penetrated by water. Your jacket must be able to meet this requirement, should you want it to be really useful for your activity. This will keep you dry during your sport, even if the weather is rather wet.

In practice, the degree of waterproofness of your ski jacket can be measured. It’s done using the Schmerber test. This is a waterproofness measuring unit and is equivalent to a one-millimetre water column. The Schmerber test involves putting a column of water under pressure onto the fabric and measuring the height of water in the column that it takes to penetrate the material.
You’ve got a good ski jacket if the result is above 10,000 Schmerber. Powder skiers can be sure to have found a totally waterproof ski jacket if the result is above 20,000 Schmerber.

The cut

Far from being a simple fashion criteria, the cut is important when choosing a ski jacket. There are three different types of cut: the adjusted cut, the loose cut and the standard cut. However, you should be aware that they don’t all suit everybody.


Based on this criterion, you should take into account the conditions in which you intend to practice your sport. Your experience could also play an important role. In any case, remember that the closer a ski jacket fits your body, the more likely it is to provide good thermal insulation. On the other hand, a looser cut gives you the option to wear layers underneath.
Either way, the choice is yours, the goal being your comfort.

Ventilation

The 5 main criteria for choosing your ski jacket

Are you passionate about skiing ? If so, make sure you get the most out of your mountain break. To do this you’ll need to dress appropriately, the most important item of clothing being the ski jacket. There are a wide range of men’s ski jackets and women’s ski jackets on the market. So how do you choose the perfect ski jacket ? In this article you will find the 5 main criteria for choosing your ski jacket

- Waterproofness
- Style of cut
- Ventilation system
- Pockets
- Tightening

Waterproofness

This is the first function that a ski jacket should provide for you. It makes waterproofing the most important selection criterion.
It’s the characteristic that allows a material not to be penetrated by water. Your jacket must be able to meet this requirement, should you want it to be really useful for your activity. This will keep you dry during your sport, even if the weather is rather wet.

In practice, the degree of waterproofness of your ski jacket can be measured. It’s done using the Schmerber test. This is a waterproofness measuring unit and is equivalent to a one-millimetre water column. The Schmerber test involves putting a column of water under pressure onto the fabric and measuring the height of water in the column that it takes to penetrate the material.
You’ve got a good ski jacket if the result is above 10,000 Schmerber. Powder skiers can be sure to have found a totally waterproof ski jacket if the result is above 20,000 Schmerber.

The cut

Far from being a simple fashion criteria, the cut is important when choosing a ski jacket. There are three different types of cut: the adjusted cut, the loose cut and the standard cut. However, you should be aware that they don’t all suit everybody.


Based on this criterion, you should take into account the conditions in which you intend to practice your sport. Your experience could also play an important role. In any case, remember that the closer a ski jacket fits your body, the more likely it is to provide good thermal insulation. On the other hand, a looser cut gives you the option to wear layers underneath.
Either way, the choice is yours, the goal being your comfort.

Ventilation

This is just as important as the other criteria. You will feel more comfortable during sport if your jacket is well ventilated. This characteristic will therefore give it good breathability. This is what will enable it to release your perspiration. And this is consequently what will keep you safe from the cold.

If you are a committed skier, you should seriously consider this criterion when buying your ski jacket. Choose one that will allow you to easily let in fresh air without having to open the ventilation zips. You can often find these between the armpits and the chest. Should you need to open them, you don't want snow to be able to find a way in. It must be possible to transfer moisture without the risk of getting cold.

More practically, you can find information about ventilation on the labels of ski jackets.
Its value is measured in grams/m²/24h.
A jacket’s ventilation is considered to be “good” when its value exceeds 10 000 grams/m²/24h.

Pockets

These are important as they allow you to store your accessories. Taking pockets into account when choosing your ski jacket means identifying your needs in advance.
Is your skiing truly committed ? Or do you just do it for fun ? In the fist instance, you should generally be able to manage with 3 pockets on your jacket (two external and one internal) Then again, you must remember that a ski jacket is not a holdall. You should therefore only keep the most essential items in your pockets (Smartphone, ID, ski pass and other safety accessories).

On the other hand, if you ski just for fun, you could go for a jacket with many more pockets.

Tightening

This selection criterion is useful for your ski jacket, in that it protects you from wind penetrating through your sleeves. The tightening system allows you to adjust your jacket to the size and shape of your gloves.
It’s generally automatically built into ski jackets from the design stage.

At the same time, it should be noted that there are two existing tightening systems for ski jackets. The first is velcro and the second, elastic. Either way, the result is pretty much the same.

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5 criteria for choosing ski pants