The Jack Wolfskin JWP Shell is a versatile waterproof, breathable rain jacket designed for everyday wear and travel. Because it uses Jack Wolfskin’s Texapore Ecosphere fabric, the JWP Shell is also a great crossover jacket for hiking.
To get us a closer look, Jack Wolfskin sent Man Makes Fire a review unit. After testing the JWP Shell while hiking and in the rain, this is what we learned:
Jack Wolfskin?
Jack Wolfskin is a popular German outdoor apparel brand with a new U.S. store.If you’re not already familiar with Jack Wolfskin, you likely don’t live in Europe. Headquartered in Germany, Jack Wolfskin is a very popular outdoor clothing and gear manufacturer. Jack Wolfskin is worn by both outdoor adventurers as well as more urban city trekkers who just like the style — kind of like how lots of people wear The North Face apparel in North America.
So why Jack Wolfskin at Man Makes Fire?
Jack Wolfskin, it turns out, is making a push into the North American market. The company launched a U.S. online store — us.jackwolfskin.com — as well as opened a retail store and office in Park City, Utah. The planned launch was no doubt slowed by the COVID pandemic, but now the US site is up and running with all the correct North American sizing details.
(The company also has a Jack Wolfskin store on Amazon.)
Meanwhile, back to the JWP Shell.
Jack Wolfskin JWP Shell Review
Overall fit, finish, and performance is very good.Jack Wolfskin produces high-quality outdoor apparel, and the JWP Shell reflects that. The fit and finish is excellent throughout, with tight stitching. The overall design is deceptively simple — an adjustable hood, a tight water-resistant front zipper, adjustable cuffs, and two pockets, one of which doubles as a stow pouch for the jacket. Our men’s XL weighs in at 16.3 oz — lightweight but not a true ultralight rain jacket.
The interior has a mesh lining in the torso and a polyester lining in the sleeves. The linings pull over layers easily and feel great on bare skin.
The shell is stretchy and supple compared to many rain jackets. It’s not a typical do-it-all alpine waterproof hardshell like the Helly Hansen Odin 9 Worlds 2.0 Jacket, and it’s definitely not crinkly. And yet, it’s waterproof, breathable, and has an impressive waterproof hydrostatic head rating of 20,000mm, which indicates waterproofness under pressure.
During one alpine hike in mixed weather, I had a chance to experience cold wind, a bit of sun, and rain. The Texapore Ecosphere fabric is indeed windproof, as well as waterproof. What about that breathability?
Breathable Texapore Ecosphere Fabric
The 2-layer JWP Shell adds a comfortable mesh and polyester lining throughout for easy layering and pleasant skin contact.The JWP Shell is breathable, but its general level of effectiveness is hard to experience due to the interior mesh lining in the torso. Breathability is also affected by the flat polyester lining in the sleeves. These interior layers make the JWP Shell great for layering over most anything, and they feel great on bare skin. But they do make getting a read on breathability a bit harder to sort.
Essentially, the liners kind of make it like you’re wearing an extra very light layer that can wick and absorb moisture.
My impression is this: The Texapore Ecosphere fabric in the JWP Shell is definitely breathable and similar to other rain jackets in its price range. Had I worn a true rubber rain jacket on this particular test hike — rubber or vinyl rain jackets are extremely waterproof but not breathable — I would have been a sweaty wet mess, no doubt about it.
More on Texapore Ecosphere
I’m intrigued by the Texapore Ecosphere fabric. Jack Wolfskin says it’s tested to deliver 20,000mm waterproof rating and remain breathable. Some competing rain jacket makers don’t publish these ratings.
While the entire jacket is made from recycled polyester, and you have the interior liners I’ve mentioned, it’s basically a two-layer waterproof-breathable fabric.
If you look very closely through the mesh, you can see the shiny surface of the membrane on the inside.
Despite a lack of a DWR coating, large rain drops shed instantly and small drops bead before rolling off. (Note: It is possible to wet out the face fabric, but it takes a while or intentional pressure to push the water into the face fabric.)Jack Wolfskin makes three-layer shells, too, more aimed at mountaineering or alpine trekking. These, like the Jack Wolfskin Exolight Pro Jacket, use Texapore O2+, which has a whopping 30,000mm waterproof rating. The Exolight Pro does not have a mesh lining; instead, its interior fabric shows off fully taped seams like you see on typical high-end competitive rain jackets and shells.
Interestingly, Jack Wolfskin doesn’t coat the exterior with a DWR finish in the JWP Shell, but despite this, the exterior beads well. After extended use, though, I could get the fabric to absorb water, which didn’t affect its waterproofness — but likely does reduce breathability. This isn’t necessarily a drawback because competitive fabrics, including various flavors of GORE-TEX, can wet out like this, too.
Either way, so far, I’ve been pleased with the feel of the JWP Shell and it’s wind and performance in the rain.
No Underarm Vents
I tend to look for and recommend rain gear and hardshell ski jackets that have underarm vents, a.k.a. pit zips. Why? They let you dump a lot of heat fast when you’re working hard outdoors.
The JWP Shell does not have pit zips.
However, because Jack Wolfskin doesn’t aim its JWP Shell at serious hiking, trail running, alpine trekking or backpacking, I wouldn’t say this is a true drawback. For light hiking, everyday wear and travel, you generally don’t need vents.
The ‘Euro’ Fit
The men’s and women’s JWP Shells feature slightly different cuts. The men’s version fits a bit trimmer and about a 1/2 size small compared to typical North American brands. (We didn’t test a women’s version, but we expect a similar fit.)Not surprisingly, the Jack Wolfskin JWP Shell fits similar to many other European outdoor apparel brands — and this might be the biggest reason to buy Jack Wolfskin. Compared to most North American outdoor apparel brands, the JWP Shell fits a bit trimmer through the torso. It also has longer sleeves, which was another reason I reached for it on a bike ride (though it’s not specifically tailored for serious riding like the Showers Pass Elements Jacket).
If your typical North American brands end up too bulky around the torso, Jack Wolfskin and other European apparel brands might be right for you.
For reference, I’m about 6’3″ and 225 pounds. The XL fits trimmer than most other XL rain jackets through the chest and torso. I would say it fits about a half-size small . . . but because the sleeves are longer than average, the fit for me is pretty great.
The Bottom Line
All-in-all, the Jack Wolfskin JWP Shell is a great do-it-all rain jacket. We appreciate the supple, slightly stretchy face fabric, as well as the trim fit. The 100% recycled Texapore Ecosphere waterproof, breathable fabric worked well during several hikes and bike rides in both wind and rain. Highly recommended.
Get the Gear:
- Jack Wolfskin JWP Shell – men’s
- Jack Wolfskin JWP Shell – women’s
