I have had this jacket for a year now but only just used it for snowboarding so can finally give it a proper review.
Snooks is a new snow gear brand, for girls by girls, all their clothing is made in the UK and they aim to only sponsor UK skiers and boarders. They are slowly expanding their range, but I got this jacket as part of their initial Kickstarter, but it was funded really quick and arrived really swiftly with no problems. As I wanted to support the business I bought the jacket despite knowing I wouldn’t be snowboarding until a full 18 months later.
I first used this jacket for a weekend in Wales. It was freezing in January and there were a few blizzards too on our walk around the Gower headland. Despite running through waterfalls I stayed wonderfully dry, although the hood was too big for my head as I obviously wasn’t wearing a helmet.
A thing to note is that this is not an insulated jacket, but there was plenty of room for more layers underneath.
So now I’m in Japan and have done a fair bit of riding in it I can comment on some more aspects of the jacket.
Big thumbs up to the number of pockets, and I haven’t had a single problem with my lift pass in the forearm pocket. It’s really easy to carry camera, phone, purse, spare goggles, buff and gloves, however they do make the jacket pretty lumpy and chunky.
While it takes a while to get used to, I quite like that the zips on the pockets shut downwards so you can shut them with one hand. If the pocket was a little deeper inside the zip it would avoid things potentially falling out while unzipped though, at the moment the zip goes to the very bottom of the pocket. The inside zip pocket only just fits my Samsung S6, so I guess it would be too small for newer phones.
As a boarder I spent a lot of time bending over, so I need to be careful about what I put in the lower two pockets as it can make it quite constrictive. I’d also have preferred a double ended zip, so I could release the hem a bit.
I’m a bit pear-shaped in general so I went for the size up to make sure it would fit over my hips, but this meant the shoulders were a little wide for me. There is a drawstring around the waist you can use too to give the coat a bit more shape, although I’m on the fence about how worthwhile this is, I quite like the baggy look. The powder skirt is quite tight (as it should be to keep the snow out) but perhaps requires a little more stretch, but is also quite high on me, but I have quite a long torso, so I don’t think anyone else would have that problem.
Back to that hood. It’s great when you’re wearing a helmet, with just a little tweak of the elastic at the side to keep it in place, I wear it more on the lift than when actually riding because I feel like it inhibits my peripheral vision a little.
The cuffs are really good, with a nice deep gaiter so you can fit gloves inside the outer sleeve (which has velco strips too to make sure that no snow is getting in there), and the inside sleeve has a thumb hole to keep it in place when you’re putting your glove on. On mine, some of the stitching has come undone on the inner cuff which is mildly irritating, but at the moment remains functional.
All in all, despite doing many unintentional tumbles in the powder today, the only dampness was down the back of my neck because I didn’t have my hood up, I wonder if the next iteration could have a stand collar inside the hood for this circumstance. I’d be curious to see how it interfaces with their trousers and to try their other jacket too. I also really enjoy the silver paisley liner fabric. It’s really nice to not have to wear something that is pink, purple or powder blue so you can feel stylish on the slopes in a jacket that is also technically good.
Trekking and Tradewinds 