Editors Note: In each issue of Snow Goer magazine, we share our feedback on aftermarket products we tested for a full season in our Cold Tested department. This story was published in the October 2023 issue of Snow Goer. Enjoy.
Having a good looking jacket that fits well, moves with you and keeps you warm, comfortable and dry is a luxury not shared by every snowmobiler. We’ve all likely ridden with the guy or gal who feels their jacket looks mighty snazzy, but they are always complaining about being cold. There are of course those other people, who stay so warm that they can be found sweating at every trail stop, or fidgeting with ill-fitting gear.
I was having none of that last year when I spent a season with the Renegade FX 2-In-1 jacket from FXR.
With the zip-in liner in place and all zippers closed, this gear kept me appropriately warm on particularly crisp days. But as temperatures or my activity level increased, I could remove the liner and/or start opening the large vents to let the heat out.
It starts with a sturdy shell. The outer nylon material feels sturdy, but it also has some built-in flex as a part of the brand’s Omni-Stretch platform. That means it didn’t bind up or needlessly impede body motions when leaning hard into a turn or crawling around on the machine when in powder.
That shell also features built-in 90gram insulation. Frankly, that’s not a lot, but when combined with FXR’s smart design that includes a dead-air space between layers it was more than warm enough as-is for me to wear comfortably on days of 10 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. Admittedly, though, I wear a heat-trapping TekVest that helps keep me warm.
When temperatures plunged from single-digits to well below zero, I zipped in the liner and its 150gram insulation. It trapped additional body heat and also prevented winds that could seep through the shell from chilling my body.
Intake vents measuring 10 inches were found on the sides. They feature FXR’s Dry Vent material behind the zippers when opened to keep moisture out while allowing in cool air. The vents pulled in a decent amount of air. However, there were no exhaust vents in the jacket’s back for maximum airflow.
Pockets with an 8-inch zippered opening and decent depth were found at the waist, but the biggest/deepest storage area was behind the chest zipper. Another small exterior pocket was found in the left sleeve, with an interior pocket also on the left side.
Overall, the jacket had a high-quality appeal with attention to detail in such things as placement of magnets in the stormflap over the main zipper, Lycra inner cuff extension at the wrists, and strategically placed touches of reflective material in the upper chest, upper back and sleeves. As just a shell, it wasn’t as windproof as a few other jackets I’ve tried, but otherwise I couldn’t find a single thing to complain about after a year on the snow.
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I have worn FXR for years and have had only one problem with a zipper on an adrenaline jacket ,they even offered to have it replaced all I had to do was send them the receipt. I ended up selling it because it was way too warm for me, the only thing I wished they did was to have more venting, when I’m in the tight a twisties I get really warm but then when we hit a wide open field I need the warmth because that’s when we open them up and I get cold , but overall I like their clothing, and as I always say you get what you pay for don’t be cheap you will regret it by being cold and miserable.