FW Women’s Manifest Tour 3-Layer Ski Jacket | Review
Why we chose the FW Women’s Manifest Tour 3-Layer Jacket: It’s everything we liked about last winter’s Manifest Tour 3-Layer, in a women-specific cut.
Price: £450 / 500€ / $550
BUY HERE
FW are still relative newcomers on the ski outerwear scene. Despite this, the brand hasn’t wasted any time whatsoever when it comes to delivering the goods. They were, it’s worth pointing out, born in the mountainous wilderness above Lake Annecy so I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised.
The Manifest Tour 3-Layer Jacket is an excellent example of what FW is all about, and they’ve now done a women-specific cut of the jacket; it’s new for 21/22. To show they’re serious, FW have also done the same with the Manifest Tour Bib as well.
FW Women’s Manifest Tour Jacket: Materials
What we’re dealing with here, in terms of the three layers, is a fabric composition of 85% nylon and 15% spandex on the face, a 100% hydrophilic milky membrane in the middle, and a 20D nylon tricot on the backing.
This review isn’t the first time we’ve raved about Dermizax EV, and it (probably) won’t be the last time either. Dermizax EV is incredibly waterproof and breathable. It’s soft to the touch, and delivers good protection from the worst of Mother Nature. It has a waterproof rating of 20k and an MVP (Moisture Vapour Permeability) efficiency of 16,000g/24H. The jacket is also 100% seam sealed and has a DWR coating.
FW Women’s Manifest Tour Jacket: Features
The FW Manifest Tour 3-Layer Jacket is backpack and harness friendly, and has an adjustable helmet-compatible storm hood with a well-implemented visor. That sense this jacket wants to get out and about in all conditions, and all manner of terrain, is underlined further by the clever jacket to pant connection system (pair this up with the FW Manifest 3L pants for optimum protection).
The large under arm vents are nothing revolutionary, in and of themselves, but they’re done well in this instance. The inner pocket has a media outlet, so you can keep the tunes and the lines flowing in perfect harmony, and the various other pockets you’d expect to find on a jacket such as this are all getting the thumbs up from us. Maybe a bit weird to dwell too long on the feel of the zips here but, yes, we like the feel of the zips. They’re quality.
FW claims this jacket is “highly ergonomic… designed to move fluidly with the body to increase efficiency and comfort.” After just a brief amount of time spent with the functional minimalism of the Manifest 3L Jacket, we’re inclined to agree with them.
In terms of colour schemes, it’s available in Slate Black, Wild Berries, Prairie Sand, Ice Blue and Alpine Forest.
The original Manifest Tour jacket understandably won a lot of admirers amongst backcountry enthusiasts. It had a premium minimalist feel, was properly functional, and made shredders of all different ilks feel like the jacket was working with them to make the mountains more enjoyable. By taking a very good jacket and serving up a women-specific cut of it, FW have shown they’re not going to rest on their laurels when it comes to evolving their snow gear offering.
A brand on the march? Absolutely.
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