This is somewhat of a different product from Sweet. Sweet are well known for their great kayak and snow sports kit but the Jailbreak jacket offers something a little different. The Jailbreak is essentially a light weight mountain jacket suitable for a range of activities.
It’s not a jacket for on water use. I have so far used the Jailbreak while I have been mountain biking, climbing and hill walking. Think of the Jailbreak as an Arcteryx Beta LT and you would be along the right lines.
Here is what Sweet say:
The Jailbreak is a light, fully waterproof and highly breathable GORE-TEX® Active jacket perfect for multi-purpose activities.
The Jailbreak is constructed to only include the features you really need; like the long ventilation zips in the front and the very articulated cut for unrestricted range of motion.
3-Layer GORE-TEX® Active.
Garments engineered with GORE-TEX® Active product technology are built for extreme breathability and provide durable waterproof and windproof protection for optimum comfort. Featuring a lighter weight, streamlined 3-layer construction, this class of waterproof garments delivers extreme breathability and excellent next to skin comfort.
The Jailbreak has been designed to be super light weight. It has therefore been stripped down and does not have some of the features that you would find on much heavier jackets such as pit zips and super tough panels of fabric. However it still retains a full on helmet compatible hood, two easily accessible pockets, velcro adjustable cuffs and a good body length. Any bungee/cord adjustments are well hidden and the ends of the bungee are housed within built in panels that would pretty them from being caught or in the case of the hood adjustment, whipping you in the face.
I’m 6ft 2″ and around 210lbs and wear the large Jailbreak. It is a good fit with plenty of arm length which can often be an issue with other jackets. The length of the jacket is a tad longer than I would normally go for, as I prefer waist length jackets. However that said it’s not excessively long by any means and still fits/functions well.
The hood works well with or without a helmet. Visibility is good and there is enough adjustment points to ensure that this remains the case no matter the size of the users head or the prevailing weather conditions. The hood has a peak this isn’t wired but is stiff enough that its stays in place and works pretty well. The Jailbreak isn’t overly plastered with logos, the bright lime green does all of the talking. I love this colour. Sweet have kept things simple with just Sweet Protection text, a logo and Goretex stamps appearing on the jacket.
The one thing that has really impressed me about the Jailbreak is the attention to detail. All of the seams are simply a work of art and the only place I have seen similar is on one of my favourite brands Arcteryx. If there was one thing I would improve it would be the circumference of the bottom hem when the jacket is done up. The jacket does fit me really well, but is snug (but not overly so) at the hem. A couple of CM would be enough to give a better overall feel without making it feel too big.
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