Whether you are racing or training, a lightweight waterproof jacket will be on your list of essential kit. The inov-8 Race Ultrashell has been designed for mountain and ultra athletes who want to run as light and fast as possible yet stay protected from the wind and rain.
Features of the Inov-8 Race Ultrashell
- 2.5-layer waterproof fabric with 10,000 HH and 10,000 B-1 breathability
- Transparent fabric
- Taped seams
- Four-way stretch
- Over-head design with half-height front zip
- Thumb loops
- Reflective detailing
- Packs into hood
- Weight: 4.5oz/125g
- Male and female-specific fit in a range of sizes, XS to XL
- Cost: £90
- Inov-8.com
What’s good about the Inov-8 Race Ultrashell
One special feature of this jacket – and it’s something that makes it very different from all other jackets – is it’s transparent. This means that a race number, worn on a vest or long-sleeved running top, is still visible through the jacket when you suddenly need to put it on due to a change in the weather. inov-8 were asked to design it this way by runners.
The jacket is very lightweight and takes up little space in a pack or waist bag.
The shell is also very lightweight to wear. It feels almost as if you are not wearing it. In addition, the fabric is “rustle-free”.
inov-8 have somehow managed to create a rustle-free jacket that is waterproof but also has a soft-feel and noise-free fabric.
The jacket is a slim-fit and it does not billow in the wind.
The fabric is also quite stretchy so it gives a high level of freedom and does not restrict around the shoulders, arms or hood.
If in doubt about the size of the jacket, buy one bigger for extra comfort.
The half-zip at the front of the jacket makes it easier to get the garment on and off, even if you are wearing headgear such as a buff, hat and a headtorch.
The zip also allows runners to adjust the amount of air circulating the torso. If you are too hot, simply undo the zip a bit more. If you are feeling cold, you can zip the jacket right up to the neck.
A soft feel zip-back guards the chin when the zip if fully up.
The hems of the sleeves and waist of the jacket are simple elastic. There’s nothing fancy about this and you can’t adjust them but because there are so many jacket sizes to choose from I don’t think this will be a problem.
The hit fits neatly and has a small amount of rigidity at the peak to stop it blowing down in the wind.
What’s not so good about the Inov-8 Race Ultrashell
While the waterproof rating and breathability are high, both at a claimed 10,000mm, the jacket will not withstand torrential rain for hours on end. This isn’t unusual with lightweight running jackets but it’s something to keep in mind if you know the day ahead will feature heavy rain.
The HH rating (Hydrostatic Head) of 10,000 mm means that the fabric withstood a pressure of 10 metres tall before it leaked. This is an excellent rating. However, in the real world, there’s wind, gravity and sweat to take into account.
A 100% waterproof jacket, such as one made from oilskin, will keep out all rain but will not allow the vapour from sweat to vaporise. This means the inside of the jacket will become wet from sweat even if it keeps the rain out.
A jacket that offers greater levels of breathability and therefore allows sweat to escape as vapour through tiny holes in the fabric, will naturally not be as waterproof.
In my experience, the inov-8 Race Ultrashell keeps most of the rain out and allows lots of sweat to escape when the weather conditions are light rain or short, sharp bouts of heavy rain.
However, when tested over four hours of very heavy rain there was some leakage. The leaks were mainly around the neckline, where rain can penetrate from above but also, the fabric eventually became saturated.
This is not a poor reflection on the inov-8 product, it is simply what will normally happen to most lightweight waterproof jackets in very heavy rain.
Saying this, the breathability is excellent and in most running and racing conditions the waterproof factor will be adequate to good.
The addition of taped seams helps to keep rain out and this means you can use this jacket for races because organisers insist on taped seams.
The thumb loops are just about adequate but they’re really only a length of thin elastic so I found them a bit annoying when running. They tended to dig into my skin but it’s worth noting that I have long arms for my height so the arm length may have caused this irritation.
The jacket does roll into its own hood but there is nothing to fasten it and keep it in a neat ball. I think a small pocket integrated into the jacket would work well as a stuff bag.
The alternative is to use a stuff bag from another garment.