A lightweight running jacket with taped seams is a must-have for ultra runners, especially if you want to meet the requirements for racing. (Taped seams are often requested by race officials.)
Features of Salomon Bonatti running jacket
- AdvancedSkin Dry 10/10 fabric, which equates to 10 000mm waterproof and 10 000g/m2/24h breathability (MVTR).
- Taped seams
- Active fit
- Motionfit
- Skinfit hood
- Waterproof zip
- Reflective details
- Articulated sleeves,
- Half elasticated wrists
- Part elasticated lower hem
- Stow pocket
- Male and female designs and colour ways.
- RRP: £130.
- See Salomon.
What’s good about Salomon Bonatti running jacket
The fit is superb. The size small women’s Bonatti fits me (a UK10) really well. It’s a neat fit but the fabric has give because it is lightly elasticated.
The more obvious elastic sections on the wrists and hem help to keep the jacket nicely in place but without being restrictive.
The hood is a great fit, too. Although it does not have adjustors, there’s a stretch panel inside the hood to keep it nicely in place on your head. A longer, outer fabric peak offers more face protection from the rain. The hood does stay in place when running, even when it’s windy.
The fabric is fairly quiet, so it does not make an irritating rustling noise when you move in it.
The ultimate test for a waterproof running jacket, however, is when running in the rain. We have plenty of rain in Scotland and so I’ve tried it in various types of rain, from drizzle to torrential.
Before I give you my results, let me just say it’s very difficult to balance waterproofness with breathability in running jackets. Running makes you sweat a lot and if the fabric is to allow this vapour to be released from the inside to the outside there will always be a compromise in waterproofing.
For a 100% waterproof jacket you would need to wear an oil-skin but that would be very sweaty. For a fully-breathable jacket, you’d end up with a fabric that leaks rain.
So, every company is striving to create a fabric that offers a good balance, and for different types of activities. In truth, I have found the best balance is in waterproof jackets for walking, and this is probably because they do not need to be so lightweight (compared to running jackets) and when walking you sweat less profusely.
In saying all this, the Salomon Bonatti did well in drizzle, light rain and even in heavy rain. It kept most of the wet out.
I did find that I became a bit warm and sweaty with the jacket zipped up and this led to some dampness inside the jacket. It’s nowhere near the worst I have experienced though.
The hood kept the worst of the rain off my head and face and while some water, in heavy rain, can still get into the edges it did a pretty good job of keeping me dry.
The zip is waterproof, as promised.
For a lightweight running jacket it scores well for waterproofing and breathability.
The jacket packs neatly into its own pocket, which means you won’t lose a loose stuff sack and you can easily stow it when unused into a small corner of a rucksack.
What’s not so good about the Salomon Bonatti running jacket
It would be good to see a longer arm length, although I do have above average length of arms so I expect it’s fine for most women.
When the zip was open a little at the top I found the top flaps of the fabric flapped annoyingly at my face.
Although the jacket does a good job of keeping most of the wet out, after an hour of torrential Scottish rain the wet did start to penetrate the fabric and seep though a little.
When running in warm drizzle and because I was too warm in the windproof jacket I made the mistake of opening the top of the zip to allow a bit of air in and that mean the wet could soak the inside top of the jacket.