Retail Price: $115.00
Availability: Most major retailers and running specialty stores.
With the cold weather upon us, I have been finding it very hard to drag myself out of a warm bed on the weekends to get a run in cold, and rainy weather, especially the last few weekends. Back I. October while I was at the Chicago Marathon expo, I wanted to buy a souvenir. I wanted to purchase a jacket with the upcoming weather going to turn cold. I found one item that I really liked. The Nike Element Shield Full Zip Jacket, in Electric Green.
Upon first examination the jacket was well designed, and fit me well. What more could I ask for. I am no stranger to Nike running apparel. 90% of my shirts are Nike Dri-FIT. First reason I prefer Nike over the other brands because the way it fits me. That is most import. Second, they seem to be around $5.00 less than the competitors closest product.
This is where if you saved your money for a rainy day...........you will be happy.
Design:
The Nike Element Shield Jacket is made with Dri-FIT high-performance polyester fabric that very effectively wicks sweat away from your body and to the surface where it can evaporate and cool.
The tag on the jacket lists that it I designed to wind and water resistant in key areas to keep you dry and warm. The parts that are wind and water resistant are the entire front, the tops of the shoulders and the arms, all the way down to the hands. The undersides of the arms and the back of the jacket about 8 inches below the shoulder are the parts that are not so water resistant. Keep in mind this is not meant to be a rain coat.
The jacket has a stand collar which helps to keep in the warmth and cut the wind. It is soft and comfortable, and not restrictive in any manor.
The long raglan sleeves with thumbhole accents are a good length to keep most peoples hands warm. The full front zipper zips up to the neck, and can also then be unzipped up to the collar to dump excess heat.
The design of the lining is what I find most curious. The lining is a series of small plush thermal squares that make it light, breathable and surprisingly warm. There are reflective elements, which I will say are highly effective, made to increase visibility in low-light conditions. I feel that Nike could have put one more reflective strip across the back, like on the back of the Element Shield Vest. This on its own is not a deal breaker, since you may run during the day, or if you do run at night you can always opt for a hat with reflective properties. Just thought it would make for a nice touch since the jacket retails for $115.00.
Drop-in pockets at side for convenient storage.
Media cord loop at nape to keep cords out of the way. (Reflective)
Machine wash cold, line dry.
After a few runs in this Jacket I am able to write an objective review.
Warmth: Let me start off by saying this jacket is not made for over 40°F. I made one run when it was just over 40, and I needed to unzip as it was just too warm.
Water resistant not water proof: I have made two runs in the rain wirh this jacket. The first was 6 miles in a light drizzle, with a temp of 37 °F. I was very comfortable as I stayed acceptably and warm. So the jacket did exactly what it was supposed to do. I will say that in steady rain it is possible to get wet. The water resistant panels made the water bead up and just roll off. Not allowing it to soak in. The panels under the arms channeled the excess water and sweat, out of the jacket.
The other run was a windy, and misty 35 degrees. For that run, the jacket stated very comfortable as far as temperature. For reference I was wearing a short sleeve tech shirt. If it were colder, I would wear a compression top. I imagine that it would be good down to 20 with the right compression top, and to say you would not be out on a 20 miler. As for the mist on this run, the jacket did not even give it a second thought, handled it no problemo. It was a windy run as we had a cold damp wind of 17mph trying to cut in, the front panels do not allow the wind through, but it will transfer cold if it is cold enough and you sweated up the jacket pretty good, but to be honest, all lightweight materials would do the same.
I really felt that is jacket did an exceptional job on those runs. Below are some pictures of the features this jacket has.
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| Electric Green. I love it. |
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| As you can see your neck and chin are protected from the zipper. |
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| The seams are sewn well. |
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| The zipper is a YKK zipper. This is a high quality zipper. |
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| More seams. Nicely sewn. |
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| The outside right has a same zippered pocket to hold a key fob, gel, or ID. there is also another small pocket which could hold a gel or an inhaler. |
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| The inside. This fabric design helps to keep you warm, and helps to evacuate sweat. |
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| This is the back of the jacket. The top is water wind resistant. The bottom is what you would find in a sweat jacket. |
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| Reflective swoosh on front. |
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| This is a shot of the arm relector, the the reflective trim on the side pocket. |
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| Reflective trim opposite side. |
I have to say that I love this jacket so much I decided to get another one on sale. $78.00 at Dicks Sporting Goods. This jacket is well worth the money. So the long and short of it is that if someone asked me should they get this.............I would say yes, if you run outside in the cold, and in the rain. If you stay in while its raining or hit the tready, I would say save the cash, unless you just wear it to look cool.
Thanks for lookin.
Dan
