Product: 686 Smarty Rogue Jacket
Price: $290.00 (USD) recommended retail
My rating: 9.25/10
The 686 Smarty Rogue Women’s snowboarding Jacket is the focus of this week’s jacket review.
The Smarty Rogue will be rated on several different factors, namely:
- Waterproofing
- Breathability
- Insulation
- Other (powder skirts, hoods etc)
- Style; &
- Value for money
Waterproofing
Waterproofing is rated on two factors. Firstly, the waterproofness of the fabric used and secondly on the sealing of the seams.
For a more details on waterproofing and other important factors for snow jackets check out the post at the link below.
The Key Specs for Snowboard Jackets
Waterproof rating
The Smarty Rogue has a waterproof rating of 15,000mm. This is some serious waterproofing. Typically jackets for snowboarding are rated somewhere between 5,000mm and 20,000mm.
My personal snowboard jacket is rated 10,000mm and does a good job of keeping me dry so 15,000mm should be plenty.
Waterproof rating score = 15,000mm = 1.8/2
Seams Sealed
The Smarty Rogue is also Fully Seam Sealed – which is really important so that moisture can’t seep in through the seams.
Seams sealed score = fully sealed = 2/2
Breathability
The Rogue is rated 10,000g for breathability. This typically ranges from 3,000g to 20,000g but 10,000g is plenty in my opinion. I like to aim for at least 8,000g so the Rogue is all good with 10,000.
Breathability score = 10,000g = 1.6/2
Insulation
If you are someone who tends to feel the cold then some extra insulation will help to keep you warm. But you want to find the right balance between extra warmth and not too much extra bulk.
Staying dry is the most important thing for staying warm and the waterproof and breathability factors will play a large role in keeping you dry (therefore keeping you warm).
Those who still need that little bit of extra warmth will pleased to know that the Smarty Rogue has a 60g polyfilled liner. And the big bonus with this liner is that it’s removable so you can lighten up on warmer days on the mountain!
Insulation score = 1/1
Other Functionality
The other functionality below may further add to the waterproofing warmth or breathability of the jacket – or add to the convenience (e.g. pockets).
Powder Skirt
Very handy to have one of these to save getting pants filled with snow on powder or powder-ish conditions. Not fool proof but they usually work pretty well.
The 686 jacket has a powder skirt and again manages to tick another box.
Powder skirt = yes = 1/1
Hood
Tick, it also has a hood. Whilst not an absolute must this is definitely a nice-to-have. I don’t tend to use mine often but it does sometimes come out.
Hood = Yes = 1/1
Venting
Venting under the arms helps with breathability levels and with comfort and with keeping the jacket smelling good. Probably not as important for Women’s jackets (think I heard somewhere that men sweat 50% more than women but don’t quote me on that).
I haven’t allocated many points to venting as it’s not that critical, but the Smarty Rogue does have pit vents, so another tick.
Venting = Yes = 0.25/0.25
Pockets
Personally not something I would base my decision on and every jacket will have some form of pockets – some jackets have more and more functional pockets than others.
No surprise that this 686 offering has plenty of and functional pockets with a goggle pocket, sleeve pocket and a media pocket (for mobile phones music player etc).
Pockets = 2 interior, 2 exterior & functional = 0.25/0.25
Style
Finally we come to style before we look at the final score and rate it for value for money.
Whilst you may place more importance on style I only allocate a small part of the score to style – this is because style is subjective and you should be the judge when it comes to style.
Personally I don’t think it screams stylish but it’s also definitely not ugly – so I’d rate it a 3.5/5.
Style score = 0.35/0.5
Final Score
I’m anticipating this one being a high scorer – it seems to tick all the boxes and then some.
After tallying up the scores, the 686 Smarty Rogue scores an impressive total score of 9.25 out of 10!
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| Waterproofing (material): | 4.5 | 1.8/2 |
| Waterproofing (seams sealed): | 5.0 | 2/2 |
| Breathability: | 4.0 | 1.6/2 |
| Insulation: | 5 | 1/1 |
| Powder Skirt: | Yes | 1/1 |
| Hood: | Yes | 1/1 |
| Venting | Yes | 0.25/0.25 |
| Pockets | 5 | 0.25/0.25 |
| Style | 3.5 | 0.35/0.5 |
| TOTAL | 9.25 out of 10 |
There weren’t any real weak points to speak of with this jacket and it would definitely do a fantastic job on the mountain for keeping its wearer warm, dry and comfortable.
Value for Money
Snowboarding jackets can cost upwards of $600. So $290 is a mid range priced jacket.
I analysed 10 other jackets in the price range of $250 to $300 and the average score was 8.28.
To get a jacket with the waterproofing, breathability and functionality of the Smarty Rogue is definitely value for money. This jacket comes highly recommended.
Where to Buy?
Check out the link below which will take you to the-house.com. At the time of writing it was on sale for just $137 – even greater value for money. No guarantees it will still be on sale but if it is you’ll get a great bargain.
If the Smarty Vogue’s not your thing for whatever reason check out all the jackets the-house.com has to offer at the link below. Of all the online stores I’ve seen The-House has the widest range of jackets so it’s a good place to see heaps in one place.
- Check out the-house.com’s full catalogue (over 200 women’s snow jackets to choose from)
To learn in more detail about the key specs to look out for in a snowboarding jacket check out this post.
I hope this review has helped in your decision making and that you now know more about the Smarty Rogue and snowboarding jackets in general.
I’m happy to answer any questions (if I know the answer J) and welcome any comments or feedback in the comments section below.
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