Testing the Salomon Bonatti waterproof jacket
Need a proper waterproof jacket!
Reminder
If you remember the article about my DNF at Trail de St Jacques, I mentioned that I bought a proper running jacket, since I gave up mostly because my jacket was not really waterproof.
What I chose
As usual, I did a lot of research, and decided to go for the Salomon Bonatti Waterproof Shell jacket. It's a bit pricey, but as with anything related to gear (excluding shoes), you won't change it every year, so this is fine, especially if this avoids a DNF!
Why I chose the Bonatti
It's very light, water and windproof, and more importantly it's breathable, which is super important - I didn't want to be completely soaked under it, because of sweat!
Also, it is possible to wear the jacket on top of your trail backpack, since the back of the jacket has a kind of "pocket" - very useful if you want to keep the stuff in your backpack dry.
I also like the hood, as it really protects from the rain and feels comfortable.
Test and Pica!
It's not been raining or storming a lot lately where I live, but whenever I go for a run and see that there's a possibility that it rains, I put the Bonatti in my bag, just in case (which is easy as it's super compact once packed in its pocket).
I recently had to put it on while running, since it was raining quite a bit, and appreciated the protection.
Here's a few pics of the Bonatti drying, once I was back home:
I also used it one a super rainy mountain bike session, and put it to good use!!!
Verdict
Overall I'm pleased with the jacket - of course, I'll have to test it in much tougher conditions to validate my first feelings, but I'm confident that it'll be a lot better than what I had before!
I brought it to the Veni Vici trail race I ran last month, and while it didn't rain, I'm glad I had it in the morning and in the evening. I also brought it at the Nice UTMB, but didn't use it. I got lucky, as Christophe, a fellow trail runner I ran with at St Jacques, DNF'ed at the Nice by UTMB Ultra race last year... because of rain and storms!