Who doesn’t love a good adventure? Apparently very few people, if motorcycle sales in recent years are any indication. If you’re going to ride an adventure bike, you may also want to get appropriate gear to go with it. The Tourmaster Horizon Line Women’s Ridgecrest Jacket is the American gear maker’s reasonably-priced three-quarter-length foray into the segment, built to fit female riders. Let’s check it out together.
As you can see in both Tourmaster’s studio photos and our candid outdoor shots, it certainly looks the part. More important for any piece of motorcycle gear is, of course, its specs—as well as its comfort. How does the Ridgecrest Women’s Jacket fare there?
The outer shell is made of 600D abrasion-resistant polyester, with hi-flow mesh panels strategically placed throughout. I have to tell you, they are not kidding about that hi-flow mesh. If you want to feel protected from the sun and also get some excellent airflow while you’re riding, this jacket is very good—especially when paired with the matching pants (which we’ll review separately).
There’s also 1000D honeycomb nylon ripstop reinforcement on the shoulders, elbows, and forearms. The honeycomb pattern looks cool, and those stats certainly sound promising—but thankfully, I can’t tell you how well it crashes. The Ridgecrest jacket also comes with two separate zip-out liners: a Reissa waterproof and breathable one, as well as a thermal vest liner.
As far as impact protection goes, the Ridgecrest is equipped with SAFE-TECH's CE level 2 shoulder and elbow armor. It comes with an EVA foam insert slotted into the pocket where an actual SAFE-TECH back protector can fit, but you have to purchase the back protector separately.
Four-way stretch panels are located in all your bendy places (shoulders, underarms, elbows), which is right where you need them. There are a bunch of little reflective bits on all sides of this jacket, as well as volume adjusters on the arms and waist. Collar and cuffs have a soft microfiber lining, and the main zipper is a YKK unit. Both the cuffs and the rear zippered expansion panels at the bottom of the jacket feature mesh gussets to allow for even greater airflow.
If you’re a person who likes pockets, this jacket will not disappoint. Granted, the ADV gear genre is practically paved with pockets for days. In this aspect, the Ridgecrest jacket is certainly no exception. Thing is, pockets are only useful if they’re well-placed and/or useful. Most of the pockets on this jacket make sense, but there are two I’m a little curious about.
Like most adventure jackets, there are rear pockets in which you can stash your mesh and thermal liners if needed. Likewise, the liners themselves have some interior pockets to add to all the outside pockets found on the outer shell. Then there are the shell pockets themselves. The two chest pockets are super easy to operate with gloves on, and it’s extremely easy to stick a payment card in one, get it out to purchase fuel, and then replace it without taking your gloves off.
The bottom pockets feature a pocket-on-pocket design, which calls to mind a certain meme from the time of the ancients, featuring the wise words of that early-oughts sage, Xzibit. How many pockets is too many pockets? Well, that all depends on how useful they are.
As you can see here, the main pockets are pretty spacious, and the hook-and-loop closures will help keep anything you stash inside from flying out during those big jumps. However, those tiny zippered pockets on the outside can maybe fit some earplugs, earbuds, lip balm, or maybe a little microfiber cloth for your phone. That’s about it. They’re like the jacket equivalent of those tiny pockets in some jeans, where you can maybe fit a quarter or some other single coin if you’re lucky.
Gallery: Tourmaster Horizon Line Ridgecrest Women's ADV Jacket
That’s a small nitpick overall, though (and if you need a spare watch battery on your travels, that’s absolutely the right pocket for it). The Ridgecrest jacket mostly fits well and comfortably—except the neck closure up top is a little tighter than I’d like. The hook-and-loop closure seemed to want to spontaneously open while I was riding, just from turning my head to do head checks. The little hook to hold that closure if you want to walk around with your jacket open is nice, though.
The constant airflow through the mesh while you’re moving is definitely welcome when it’s hot out. However, I should note here that I haven’t had the chance to test the thermal or rain liners yet due to my local weather. If I notice anything that changes my overall impression of this jacket when I’ve tried those, I’ll be sure to update this review.
Outdoor shots by Joe Lucente; studio shots provided by Tourmaster
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