Ever popular with Seasonaires, Protest are well known for producing ski gear that’s both friendly on the wallet and good looking.
The Clavin is definitely affordable, at £160 but the looks really let it down. The usually young, stylish approach of Protest seems to have passed the designers by this time around leaving a pretty uninspiring middle of the road piece of ski wear.
Moving on from the looks, the Clavin sports Protest’s best fabric, with 20k waterproofing and breathability, which is amazing considering the price. And this generally works well out on the slopes with fully taped seams and waterproof zips adding to the performance. Although there’s no mention of insulation the Clavin has a fair chunk of it keeping you toasty warm, but at this price it isn’t the highest performing, making the jacket clammy on warmer days as well as a little heavy.
All the adjusters and zips are basic but work quite smoothly, there are plenty of pockets to stash your stuff in but no lift pass pocket on the arm, which is a bit annoying when you’re in a busy lift queue jostling for position. The hood is functional and there’s a nifty ventilated section on the high chin so you can still breathe freely when you batten down the hatches.
Cut is fairly trim but we were still able to fit a mid-layer underneath without too much restriction in movement and the material is really soft and stretchy so is comfortable to wear, this could mean it suffers a bit from repeated abrasion from packs and ski and snowboard edges though.
Overall the Clavin is a reasonable jacket if you go away for the odd week and just want something warm, waterproof and reliable without too much fuss. At this price it isn’t going to last forever but at that level of use you’ll probably get enough years out of it to make it a worthwhile buy.