The Under Armour UA Ridge Reaper Raider 2.0 Jacket is a lightweight, breathable hunting jacket with a water-repelling DWR finish. Its looks simple on the outside, but it includes some surprisingly impressive design elements.
To get us a closer look, Under Armour sent Man Makes Fire a review unit. After wearing the Raider 2.0 jacket while elk and deer hunting in Idaho, this is what we learned:
UA Raider 2.0 Jacket Review
The UA Ridge Reaper Raider 2.0 Jacket is a lightweight jacket. It’s designed to be an early-to-midseason layer. It’s warm enough to handle cool mountain September mornings, and it’s particularly good when you’re hiking and producing heat.
Here is how I wore it: I usually wear a merino wool t-shirt, then a thin long-sleeve shirt, and then my go-to outer layer for the season and the day. If I get too warm, I can shed the outer layer and still have long-sleeve coverage. And if I’m on a hot-afternoon monster hike out, I can shed layers down to the merino t-shirt.
The UA Iso-Chill Brush Line Long Sleeve Shirt is an excellent layer. My hunting buddy wears it tighter and next to his skin — but he tends to run a bit hotter than I do. I wear it slightly looser over the aforementioned merino t-shirt. The UA Raider 2.0 Jacket goes over the top.
Construction & Fantastic Fit
The UA Ridge Reaper Raider 2.0 Jacket is deceptively simple. At first glance, the Raider 2.0 looks like any other lightweight jacket, but after you put it on and start hunting in it, you realize that it’s something special.
It’s made of a lightweight, durable fabric with a 4-way stretch — basically the same fabric that’s used in the excellent UA Ridge Reaper Raider HD Pants, which I also wore this season (UA Raider HD Pants review here). The fabric is also quiet in brush — not as quiet as wool or wool blends, but very good for a non-fluffy synthetic face fabric. In case you’re wondering, it’s 91% polyester and 9% elastane.
The face fabric is woven tightly enough to help the DWR finish do its job, but it seems to remain quite breathable (without feeling too airy in the wind).
To help with breathability, Under Armour built in underarm gussets with a thinner patch of fabric. In addition, while many new hunting and outdoor pants now feature articulated knees, Under Armour has added articulated elbows to the Raider 2.0 Jacket.
But that’s not all. Under Armour built in a nearly hidden pleat on the back of the shoulder blade area . . . that’s attached by an elastic band that slides through an internal sleeve. This alone is an excellent design feature, but when you pair it with the gusseted underarm and articulated elbows, you get a jacket that seemingly disappears when you move.
It is so good.
Some competing jackets that try to deliver a trimmer, more athletic fit end up with poor shoulder and arm mobility. You will not have that problem with the UA Ridge Reaper Raider 2.0 Jacket. The Raider 2.0 Jacket looks like a regular jacket, but it fits like a whole new kind of layer.
Pockets
Under Armour includes usably large hand pockets, which is something I appreciate.
The side-entry zippered chest pocket on your left chest is handy, but it has a stealth design, too. Under Armour includes an inside mesh pocket. There is also a cylindrical pocket that would be suitable for a pair of eyeglasses or sunglasses — which is what I’m guessing it’s for.
Most manufacturers just slap on a single chest pocket and call it good, but Under Armour went the extra mile to make its chest pockets super functional. If you look at the stitching of the materials and zippers, there was a lot of work that went into this. This tells me that Under Armour is taking the design and construction of its hunting clothing very seriously.
Sometimes the small details speak loudly. I’m impressed.
UA Barren vs All Forest Camo
The UA Ridge Reaper Raider 2.0 Jacket comes in two versions of the same UA camo pattern: UA Barren and UA Forest All Season. UA Barren is more tan and brown while UA Forest All Season adds in darker greens.
While testing UA hunting clothing during archery elk season, I wore both patterns. Both actually blend remarkably well in a variety of terrain. However, if you mostly hunt darker forests, go with the UA Forest All Season. If you mostly hunt lighter, drier, more open terrain, go with UA Barren.
Shop UA’s full lineup of camo hunt clothing at underarmour.com!
Figuring Out Your Basic UA Camo Hunting Kit
If you’re trying to figure out your early-to-midseason camo hunting clothing kit, rest assured that you can now cover all your bases with Under Armour hunt clothing.
For early-to-midseason, I recommend Under Armour’s UA Ridge Reaper Raider HD Pants. They are legit.
The Iso-Chill Brow Tine Long Sleeve Shirt is a basic lightweight shirt that wicks and dries fast. It gives you full arm camo coverage on those hot afternoons. It also helps add a bit of warmth when layering. (UA also offers a short sleeve version.)
On cooler mornings and days, the Raider 2.0 Jacket is my new favorite lightweight hunting jacket. The fit is truly excellent.
If you need warmer hunting gear — more of a true midweight, midseason layer — you can step up to the ColdGear Reactor Base Hybrid Full Zip Hoodie or the Ridge Reaper Infil Ops WINDSTOPPER Jacket.
The Verdict
All in all, the UA Ridge Reaper Raider 2.0 Jacket blends a great 4-way stretch fabric with an athletic construction that maximizes freedom of movement. The camo pattern blends well in different kinds of terrain, and the quality is excellent. Very highly recommended.
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