Patagonia Granite Crest Jacket

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. They’re three golden words we should live by. But when it comes to Patagonia’s Granite Crest Jacket, you could add a fourth ‘R’ word to the list: reincarnate. Because reincarnation is effectively what Patagonia has achieved with this jacket, and indeed all the products that use the company’s NetPlus fabric, by recycling old fishing nets from South America and repurposing them into yarn. Old nets are a particularly harmful form of plastic pollution in our oceans, and by providing financial incentives to local fishermen, nets nearing their end of life can be transformed into something useful, like, in this case, a jacket. It supports locals, and it supports ocean wildlife.

Now, if you’ve read my Editor’s letter for Wild Issue #189 (here’s the link: wild.com.au/opinion/natural-diversity; if you haven’t yet, go back and read it!), you’ll know I found it to be extremely cool—if not a little surreal—to be wandering around bushbashing in the rainforest in a downpour, kept dry by a jacket that has likely caught many thousands of fish in a previous life. But keep me dry it did. The Granite Crest’s 3-layer construction kept out the moisture admirably, although, to be honest, you’d expect nothing less than that for any quality waterproof/breathable jacket nowadays. Perhaps what’s more impressive is the jacket fulfilling Patagonia’s H2No performance standard, the company’s benchmark when it comes to waterproof/breathable garments. Fabrics are subjected to what Patagonia calls a “Killer Wash”, a wet flex and abrasion test that simulates up to thirty (that’s right: three-zero) years of use in drenching conditions. They start the test using 20,000mm waterheads, and at the end of the three simulated decades, are given another 10,000mm test. In short, even after heavy-duty use, this jacket should keep you dry.

Breathability, even in the wet, seemed good. I took the jacket on both moderate walks and even some easy trail runs in the rain; the latter pushed the jacket’s breathability to its limits, but even so, it took a while to get to that point. Generous 2-way pit zips assisted with temperature regulation.

The Granite Crest seems very much a goldilocks, all-rounder jacket. Although walking—either in the bush or around town—is likely what the jacket is most likely to be used for—its middle-of-the-road cut and shape, neither overly baggy nor overly slim, means it can be used for a wide range of activities, including skiing or even MTB-ing. Meanwhile, the adjustable hood and visor is not in the slightest restrictive, and the hand-warmer pockets are positioned to sit above your pack’s harness. The chest pocket, with its watertight zip, is equally well positioned and of a just-right size, neither too big so that items flop around on your chest, nor so small that you’re struggling to fit a larger mobile device in there. Lastly, at $400, the jacket is mid-range in price as well.

There are a few areas where the jacket is not middle-of-the-road, though, and in a good way. Firstly, the jacket is light. At just 400g, it may not be the very lightest of waterproof/breathables, but it’s certainly on the lighter side of average. Secondly, the jacket’s DWR finish is completely PFC-free; no perfluorinated chemicals here. And thirdly, as I mentioned earlier, there’s the fact this jacket is made from reincarnated (OK, technically recycled) fishing nets. In short, the Granite Crest is a solid do-it-all jacket, just one with an unusually cool pedigree.