Wow! We’ve ventured into the world of truly HEAVY DUTY gear with Klim this year. I’ve spent a good 45 minutes familiarizing myself with this new Badlands Pro Jacket and I must say, I’m very impressed with the overall ruggedness and build quality. Below are the key features as defined by Klim:
WORLD CONQUEROR
Designed for the toughest Adventure Riders who overcome the harshest elements. Developed to master continuous abuse from hardened World Travelers. Introducing the next generation of the Badlands Pro. The most trusted name in ADV. Get your man card out, you’re gonna need it.
TOP 3 BENEFITS
- WORLD-CLASS DURABILITY AND FUNCTIONALITY ON THE LONGEST ADVENTURES
- KEEPS YOU DRY AND COMFORTABLE IN GLOBALLY DIVERSE CLIMATES
- CUSTOM-BUILT KLIM®/D3O® AERO PRO ARMOR RAISES THE STANDARD IN ADV PROTECTION
With so many features, I think I’ll dispense with talking about the “ordinary” features and tell you what I see here that is extraordinary. A jacket like this, designed for world travel, in any and all conditions, has to be rugged and reliable and in just handling and trying this jacket on, I can say for certain, it is built to last. The shell material is VERY heavy duty feeling. Like most other waterproof styles from Klim, the waterproofing system is integrated into the fabric so there aren’t separate and/or removable liners to make the jacket waterproof. Since the shell material is the waterproof component, it means that the zippers have to be waterproof as well. This jacket has a zipper type I’ve not ever seen before. I’m referring to the two biceps, sleeves, and torso zipers we show in the pictures. Those, when open, directly vent to your torso. And on the back of the jacket, there are four exhaust vents. Those zipper look like ordinary heavy duty nylon units, but when you look closely, they have finely made teeth that mesh together very closely. And at the very top of the zipper track is a small rubber piece that plugs the end of the zipper pull to seal it up when completely closed. Just to see what would happen, I closed a zipper and put my lips on it, and blew, and sure enough, they don’t allow air to pass. Wow. With all the zippers, both front and back, this jacket should vent very well indeed.
The armor included with this jacket definitely is all you’ll need. It’s all the heavy duty D3O level 2 stuff including the back pad. The shoulder and elbow armor is the Aero Pro version of the D3O stuff which is a bit larger and has a lot more ventilation molded into it as compared to the “standard” stuff. Additionally, there are two foam chest pads that cover your chest on either side of the zipper, these can be upgraded to D3O if you choose (see related products below). I mentioned the waterproof shell material above, but to reinforce the crash prone areas of the jacket, they’ve put layers of Superfabric® down the elbows and the shoulders. The Superfabric® is the most abrasion resistant material we see in the motorcycle apparel world. It is flexible and thick but it’s layered in thousands of tiny armor plates which gives a finish that is low friction but VERY tough. This fabric will hold up to prolonged sliding and being a lower friction surface will promote sliding rather than tumbling which is the idea behind other gear where Superfabric® is used, such as palm sliders on race gloves. Anyway, the takeaway is that the rugged shell material along with the Superfabric® makes this jacket SUPER tough.
One nice feature I see here is simple, but something I really like. I don’t have a long neck and collars can be a rub on me. But this jacket has a couple of nice molded hooks on the upper chest and some corresponding loops on each collar end, so you can unzip a bit and fold down the first 5 inches or so of the collar if you like. Nice! But if you leave the collar fully up, the rubbing will be minimized because the upper edge of the collar is covered in soft material.
For long hours in the saddle or for those with a tired back, there is an integrated AND removable kidney belt. It is integrated into the back of the jacket and is held in place by Velcro, It’s highly adjustable for size and squeeze strength and I think you’ll like how it works.
A few obscure features you’ll appreciate: on the sleeve end is the ID pocket to carry your identification and/or emergency info, and inside that pocket is a hidden pocket in the lining you can stash something in case you are waylaid, or to hide something you want to secretly carry. On the left chest is the pocket for your GPS tracker. Take a look at our photo gallery and we’ll show you all the pockets inside and out… six in front, the big fanny pouch in the back, one on the sleeve, one for the GPS and then there are a few inside. And then there is even a storage pocket for a hydration bladder behind the back armor pocket with a tube feed through that allows you to run the tube behind the mesh comfort liner to the right front chest pocket for easy access. There are also 6 Molle style connectors on the right chest and a hidden document pocket behind the back protector for your ultra-important documents that you want to keep safe if you’re riding through questionable areas.
Have a look at the matching Badlands Pro pants. They have similar protection and convenience features as the jacket and work great together, pairing with included connection zippers. This is quite a jacket folks, but if you’re looking at it you’ve probably already done your homework and know it’s the best of the best. :: Mike, 08/17/2022
