Your alarm clock goes off at o’dark early and with a few weeks left until your “A” race you can’t afford to hit the snooze button. So you roll out of bed, rub the sleep from your eyes and tumble into your run gear to face the cold morning chill. Sure, the only thing you have to do is run, but why not just stay in your warm comfortable bed?
Nothing puts a damper on your motivation to run like those cold, dark and windy mornings (or even nights for that matter). Not to worry, just slip on the ashmei ultimate softshell jacket and feel the excuses melt away.
The cornerstone of this runner specific softshell jacket is the audacious vision set forth by ashmei: To make the absolute best softshell jacket in the world. And guess what? We think they nailed it.
Ashmei specifically designed their high-performance jacket to be windproof, water resistant, fast wicking, warm yet breathable and specifically tailored for runners. To make this possible, ashmei uses the very best materials and technology available.
The company selects materials based on their specific performance requirements, not the cost of the materials. Then, to take maximum advantage of these performance materials, ashmei used a process called 360º Mapping to combine the the softshell and stretch merino fabrics within one jacket. 360º Mapping ensures the maximum breathability, comfort, stretch, warmth and fit precisely where a runner needs it most. The result, a jacket that is second to none in performance and quality.
On Performance …
Our field tester spent weeks pushing the performance boundaries of this jacket with hours of punishing, sweat-inducing runs. Our gumption guy wore the jacket in the cold, in the wind, through dense morning fog and cold coastal drizzle, on long slow runs and river trials, through light foliage and on public streets. Time and again, the jacket performed as advertised – flawlessly.
Here are some of the highlights noted from training in ashmei’s jacket:
- The design of the jacket is impeccable. From the selection and use of materials to the design of the sleeves and off-set water-resistant zipper; from the inclusion of adjustable cord locks that cinch the jacket round the waist to the iPod headphone cord guides that keep the wires out of your way, ashmei got it right.
- The craftsmanship is first rate. Even after logging 60+ long sweaty hours of training and multiple washes, no stitch was out of place; no color was faded.
- The ability to wick moisture and maintain body temperature was impressive. Even after the longest, sweatiest runs, the jacket was able to keep our Gumption guy relatively dry.
- The breathable side panels nicely moderated shifts in temperature and, combined with the use of materials, protected the wearer from the cold and wind.
Ashmei’s ultimate softshell jacket is like no other running jacket on the market. Simply put, it is awesome.
Room for Improvement …
As a gear tester there are moments when your “critiques” feel more like nitpicking than actual criticisms…. and in all honesty this is one of those moments. The ashmei jacket performed so well, so consistently that the biggest critique our crew has is the price. Truly, the ashmei jacket is the virtual Rolls Royce of running gear. This softshell is so well-constructed and so luxurious (not to mention stylish) – that using it as a running jacket almost felt like a guilty pleasure.
Bottom Line …
Before the sun crests over the horizon and the cold morning rises from the depths, it may never be “easy” to roll out of bed, but ashmei has created a jacket that lets you do it in absolute comfort. From our perspective ashmei has succeeded in its quest to make the best – the ultimate – softshell running jacket on the market. With the ashmei jacket, no longer will cold, windy and wet weather ever serve as an excuse to skip your morning or evening runs. Gumption tested, gumption approved.