EVENT 4 LYFE

About me: 50/50 touring/resort and sidecountry travel Yeah, I'm officially sold. Been lucky enough to ski in really high quality, 3L gore-tx bib and jacket combos for a long time, but decided to give Event a try after our Strafe rep talked up some of the temperature regulation and breathability benefits as compared to Gore Tex. I was in the market for additional breathabillity, vs those Gore Tex 3L shells that keep me plenty dry from the outside but had me overheating on the inside. I ski at Snowbird and tour quite a bit. So I'm bootpacking, skinning, and in/out of a tram on a regular basis which makes it really hard to layer and be comfortable in all of those situations in a given day. Long story short, the Nomad Jacket and bib combo have blown me away this year. I've been 100% comfortable from the highest output cardio on steep tours/sidesteps/bootpacks, to standing in a crowded tram, to riding chairs on cold powder days. I even bought Strafe's AMAZING aero-insulator jacket (sadly not carried on BC this year), thinking that I'd still be running my standard choice of a synthetic puffy as a midlayer. But guess what--the temp efficiency of the event shell now has me running a much lighter fleece midlayer (backcountry's PHENOMENAL Timpanogos tech fleece) for the first time in years, without having felt cold once--even on super cold powder days at Alta and Snowbird. I would describe Event 3L pieces as all the benefits of a softshell with none of the drawbacks. Fit and cut were what led me to Strafe in the first place. I've been curious about this brand and Event for a long time having heard only good things, and I'm stoked I finally pulled the trigger. These guys consistently produce pieces that give you a freeride/resort fit without feeling park-rat-baggy. A ton of the more technical/touring focused outerwear out there from other "bigger" brands have what I call the "alpine nerd" cut--which looks great on paper when you're counting ounces but (for me personally) restricts movement, and looks way too tight with jacket bottoms coming up too short or pant legs riding to the top of my ski boots. I've had no issues with the more comfortable fit on the Nomad gear restricting movement or feeling heavy on long skins or bootpacks, and it's comfortable enough to take me from ridgelines to chair laps to the bar at the end of the day. In terms of quality/durability: again, 5/5 stars. Been bashing tree branches all winter and no marks, face fabric is solid and durable without adding weight and bulk (some brands use SUPER durable face fabric as a selling point, but it feels like canvas and doesnt perform nearly as well). Zipper pulls, pit zips, elastic adjustments on hoods and waist are all in the right places and look good even after you get things how you like them. Pocket layout is perfect. Generous for the resort without adding too much bulk on the tour. Internal media pocket is great to keep your phone from getting zapped by the cold. Great job Strafe don't ever change!!

Alex Popowych

Amazing Jacket

This jacket is sooooo steezy. Looks amazing and is super warm and crazy waterproof!

Milo Kersey

Event for the win

Love this jacket. Fit is on point, plenty of pockets that are easy to get to, venting zips are easy to open and close although I'm not sure this jacket even needs vents. The Event material is sooooo breathable! Like, astonishingly breathable. On top of that the outer material is super burly. Yes, it will crinkle, but it will also handle a couple low hanging pine branches that are in between you and that pow stash with no problem. Strafe went big with this one.

William O

Superb Design

I just picked up the Nomad in Orange/Orion Blue in a medium. This is a pricey piece of kit. But when comparing features to other brands I’ve skied with in the $400+ range, I can’t help but be impressed with the smart design decisions that went into this shell. I’m 5’11”, 175 lbs and the Medium fits me quite well. It’s not fitted, let’s just get that out of the way. There is ample room for comfortably layering a sheep underneath without restricting movement. And as long as you aren’t walking around with your arms held out to the sides, it doesn’t look boxy. It’s “full”, not fitted. There is just a whole lot of jacket in the Nomad and I’m not used to hem lines that fall well below my waist. The hem is three inches longer in the front and four inches longer in the back than the Flylow Quantum Pro (my old shell). The sleeves are a full two inches longer than my old jacket. The added length of the arms means that I can raise my hands above my head without the wrist gaitors on and the jacket doesn’t pull away from my gloves. Nice. One big benefit of the longer hem is that the powder skirt sits low in the jacket — When buttoned, I can raise my hands above my head and the extra length prevents the powder skirt from pulling mid layers up to my nipples - Fully extended, it still sits below my waist. I've always removed the powder skirt or cut it out because they always sit too high inside the shell. Not so with the Nomad. Overall, the mobility of this jacket is simply exceptional. But what sets it apart for me is the attention to detail that was put into designing the pockets. Best I’ve ever seen. Period. The RFID pass pocket on the left forearm sleeve is something every jacket should have. The internal pockets are pretty standard, but the massive chest pockets are fantastic. The left chest pocket even has a small mesh pocket for a beacon or phone with a passthrough for head phones. The hand warmer pockets are a nice addition. But what’s even more impressive is that every pocket is perfectly accessible while wearing my pack — That’s just smart design. I only have a handful of nitpicks: 1) The hood is not tall enough or deep enough. Maybe by 1 inch in height and circumference. With a size-large, supposedly "low-profile" helmet on (Giro, Large, MIPS), the hood pulls the jacket up at the neck and back so that the collar becomes tight. The hood just isn’t big enough for anything other than partial wind-protection while riding the chairlift if you’re wearing a helmet. And even then it only covers half my head. 2) The internal zipped security pocket and the internal mesh pocket in left front chest pocket are back to back. If you have a phone in the mesh pocket and your wallet (or anything) in the internal security pocket, it creates a stacked brick. Not a deal breaker due to plenty of other storage options. 3) The pit zips are indeed huge but they only open and close in one direction and I’d even argue that the direction of the pull should be reversed. It’s just easier to pull up and away from the torso. Ideally, the pit zips should be bidirectional. 4) Could just be the type of fabric, eVent, but it scuffs and marks up really easily. And even after using Nickwax Tech Wash straight on the mark/stain and scrubbing the crap out of it (per instructions), marks and stains do NOT come out of the fabric. Three days on the hill and I’ve found all sorts of visible marks on the jacket, including chairlift grease. Buy dark colors and you’ll be fine. Battle scars are part of the game, but for this kind of $$$, it’s worth noting that my previous Gortex garments held up really well getting the crap kicked out of them for a much longer period of time before they started to show even minor wear. Like I said, nitpicks. The Nomad is really a well designed shell and looks damned good too. It held up really well for hours in extremely wet weather on opening day here in the PNW even though the hood was only partially helpful.

Paul B.

What are the actual waterproof/breathability ratings on this jacket? I've seen conflicting numbers on different sites, and the Strafe site doesn't list any.

Nathan P.