STRAFE NOMAD JACKET AND NOMAD BIBS REVIEW
We’re always looking for ways to expand our reviews and content here at SkiEssentials.com, and this year we decided there was an opportunity for longer form outerwear reviews. Similar to skis, you typically just see the 2-3 minute product videos and/or short, one to two paragraph descriptions of most outerwear. While those can be useful, they generally don’t tell the whole story, so here we are, ready to tackle outerwear in typical SkiEssentials fashion: at length and in depth.
To start, we’re going to take a look at the Strafe Nomad Jacket and Bib. If you follow our content regularly, you’ve probably seen me rocking the pink and black suit this year. I love it. It’s great. There are some things I can point out that I don’t love, but there aren’t many. More on that later. The Nomad is Strafe’s flagship product. It’s fair to say it’s what the company is most known for, what you see on the hill most frequently, and the best representation of the brand. It’s high-end, 3 layer shell outerwear that’s packed full of features that are super useful both resort skiing and in the backcountry. I’m going to break this into three sections. It’s the 3 Fs of outerwear reviews: Fit, Features, and Fabric.
To start, we’ll talk about fit. It is what I would describe as a modern freeride/freestyle fit. I’m 5’10” and 160 lbs and opted for the large. Medium would’ve been fine too, and if you’re looking for more of a traditional look, rather than slightly oversized or baggy, I would go with medium rather than large. As an example, Bob, who’s 6’2” and 225 lbs, can fit in my large jacket. It’s a pretty tight fit, but it would work, especially for someone who prefers more of a minimalist, form-fitting look.
For me, however, it’s absolutely perfect and exactly what I look for in outerwear fit. You can take the skier out of the terrain park, but you can’t completely take the terrain park out of the skier. Not that I don’t ski in the park at all anymore, but it’s far less of a focus. Still, I find myself leaning towards that “park” look and feel with outerwear. The jacket goes to about mid-thigh, which I really like. It’s not so big that it feels silly. It’s still very functional and nothing gets in my way like some really oversized jackets. I pretty much always want a jacket to cover my butt, mostly for sitting on cold chairlifts, but also because I prefer that fit, and this is the ideal length for me. Somewhat surprisingly, the sleeves aren’t crazy long for me, which can happen in some size large jackets. They also taper to a really nice circumference as the sleeve reaches your wrist and hand. This makes it feel less bulky and more user-friendly when you’re fitting it around gloves or mittens. The cuffs are loose enough that you don’t have to fight to get them around a bigger mitten, but they’re also tight enough that they’re not flopping around or letting air in. I like the fit of the pants too. They’re not so long that I find myself walking on them in the parking lot or anything like that, but long enough and with enough room throughout the knees that it achieves the slightly-baggy look I love. I suppose the bibs are a little loose around the waist for me, but it doesn’t really matter as the jacket covers that section anyways, and it does allow for huge range of motion and a natural feel. So, I don’t have anything bad to say about the fit whatsoever. I do, however, think it’s fair to say they it runs a little big. I can guarantee not everyone who’s 5’10 and 160 lbs would want to wear a large. Most people would probably think it’s way too big, and those people should go with medium. You can point at me and tell me the large is too big on me too. That’s fine, I don’t really care. I like the fit. It’s what I want. You should do what you like.
Turning our focus to features, I’ll start by saying that every time I switch to new outerwear, especially higher-end stuff, I’m somewhat overwhelmed with the amount and placement of pockets and other features. That definitely was true with the Nomad. There are SO MANY POCKETS. Does anyone else get anxiety about where they put their keys? Or phone? Or wallet? Just me? Ok. Anyways, once I figured it all out, I love it. I carry a lot of stuff on the mountain on a regular basis. Phone, wallet, keys (looking at you, Adam Sandler), but also GoPro (s), hand warmers for GoPros and other cameras, snacks, screw drivers, you name it. There’s a convenient and appropriate pocket for everything I need. GoPros, even on a short stick, fit nicely into the front lower pockets. I typically do keys in one front pocket, GoPro in the other, you know, so weight is evenly distributed. There are two massive chest pockets on the jacket too. I haven’t actually been using those on a daily basis, as I just don’t need to, but they’re massive and very convenient. There’s also a little mesh pocket inside the left chest pocket, seemingly designed for a cell phone, but I’ve opted to put my phone in one of the left front pocket of the bibs. Five pockets in these pants. Two on the bibs, which are a little smaller, but in my opinion, great for valuables as it’s secure in the pocket, and also covered by the jacket for extra security. Then there are two matching front pockets lower on the pants, of which the left is home to my wallet. Then there’s another extra pocket lower on the right leg. I’ll never put anything there, but simply because it goes all the way down to my knee with the bigger fit. My knees are pretty sensitive, so anything in that pocket would be annoying.
Looking at other features, you get all the good stuff. Really nice wrist gators, which are basically a requirement on higher-end jackets now, but they have a really nice feel to them. Some I find too tight, but these are just snug enough to do their job, without being uncomfortable. All the seams are taped, which is great. There’s a removable powder skirt, which I’ll always leave on there as it doesn’t bother me even when I’m not synching it up. I really like the amount of durable fabric around the leg cuffs. I tend to be hard on outerwear, especially when skiing in the park, so that’s a nice feature for me.
There are, however, a couple tweaks that I personally would like to see. These are small things, but hey, we might as well bring them up. I kind of miss having big interior pockets on the jacket. I don’t use them that much when I do have them, but it’s such a convenient spot to put gloves or mittens, skins, or anything else in a quick, temporary situation. Not a make or break thing for me, I just think with the amount of big exterior pockets, the two small interior pockets could just be massive. I don’t need a fourth potential place to put a phone, I’d rather have the big open pockets. Now I’m going to get really picky. I would prefer if all the zippered pockets closed to the outside. I need to access my pockets a lot, even on the fly, but closing them is always more important than opening them. If I can’t get to my GoPro quickly, it’s not the end of the world. If it falls out of my pocket because I can’t close it, that feels like a bigger problem. I find it easier to close zippers on the fly when the zipper closes to the outside, but maybe that’s more of a me problem than an actual issue with the design. I don’t know, but I at least wanted to share my thoughts on it. I also think the hood could be a bit bigger. It fits over my helmet, but I wear an XL helmet, and it’s a tighter fit than some. Doesn’t really restrict movement, but comes close enough that it’s slightly uncomfortable.
Finally, the fabric. When this stuff first arrived, I couldn’t believe it. It’s so soft, so light, and has such a nice 4 way stretch to it. In fact, I was actually more worried than I was excited. My initial reaction was that there was no way it was going to be properly waterproof, warm, or very durable. Strafe is using what they call eVent DV Flex fabric. I really can’t over-emphasize how soft the touch is. Doesn’t feel even close to something that would be windproof and waterproof.
Luckily, I was quite surprised how wrong I was! I’ve had about 25 days in this gear so far. I’ve skied it in the rain, I’ve fallen on park features, I’ve skinned a little, I’ve hiked rails, I’ve skied on single digit windy days, and it’s quite impressive how well it holds up. I’ll continue to wear it throughout the season, so maybe I’ll have more to say about durability at a later date, but so far so good. Windproofing is great. Never feels drafty or anything like that. Waterproofing is suitable. It’s not the best in the world, but it’s certainly good enough for a ski jacket. We skied for a couple hours in the rain wearing the Nomad kit. While I didn’t get wet on the inside, the exterior nylon fabric did get a little saturated by the end of the day. Just felt a little heavy. I don’t know if that’s the fabric itself or the DWR finish, but I will say there are other jackets that seem more waterproof. Again, the membrane did its job, and I didn’t get wet on my mid-layers or base layers, but it’s worth pointing out.
My favorite things about the fabric, however, are how well it breaths and the stretch properties. I’d happily give up that raincoat-style waterproofing for the comfort this fabric provides. It moves incredibly well and it breaths better than any outerwear I’ve ever worn. Whether skinning or hiking terrain park features, I can get pretty sweaty out there, and this stuff regulates temperature incredibly well. For someone doing a lot of backcountry touring, I think it would be absolutely perfect. Of course, there’s lighter outwear out there for those Randonnée racers, but this is certainly light enough to feel efficient, and far surpasses the comfort and overall performance of most of that lighter, minimalist stuff.
Overall, I’m very pleased with the Strafe Nomad gear. I’ve been very happy skiing in it and will continue to happily ski in it more throughout the season. Jacket and pants together is going to run you around $1200. It’s not cheap stuff, but the technical nature of the fabric, the well thought out features, and the style and fit they achieve is worth it. You can spend that much money on a lot of brands these days, but this Strafe stuff hits such a nice combination of fit, features, and fabric that you don’t necessarily get from other brands.
