Burton Poacher Snowboard Jacket Review

Product: Burton Poacher Snowboard Jacket
Price: $169.95 (USD) recommended retail
My rating: 7.4/10

This is the first official snowboard jacket review I have done on Snowboardingprofiles.com and I hope it can help you in your decision on whether this jacket is for you.

The review will take into account a number of different factors, namely:

• Waterproofness;
• Breathability;
• Warmth;
• Other Functionality (powder skirt, hood, venting, pockets);
• Style; and
• Value for Money

The rating system will give more importance to certain factors. For example water-proofing will receive more importance than style (because style is subjective).

How Does the Burton Poacher Rate?

O.k. so let’s start with the water-proofing and then move onto the other factors.

Waterproofing

Burton’s Poacher jacket has a waterproofing rating of 10,000mm. This, in my experience, is enough but this can go as high as 20,000mm so it is a medium rating. That said, my current snowboard jacket is 10,000mm waterproof and I’ve never been wet in it.

However, my jacket is also fully seam sealed and the Poacher is only critically seam sealed.

For waterproofing I rate the Poacher a 6.5 out of 10 (4/5 for 10,000mm rating and 2.5/5 for Critical Taped seams).

I allocate waterproofing 4 out of 10 for the final score (see final score chart below).

Waterproofing Score: 2.6/4

Breathability

The Poacher has a breathability rating of 5,000gms. This is lower than the minimum I would typically go for. Whilst less important than waterproofing, it is still an important factor.

Learn more about breathability, waterproofing, and other specs to look out for at the link below:

• The Key Specs to Look out for in a Snowboarding Jacket

I give the Poacher a 2.5 out of 5 for breathability.

Breathability is allocated 2 points of the total 10.

Breathability Score: 1/2

Insulation

I don’t personally put too much thought into the insulation of the jacket as I always find that I am more likely to be warm on the mountain than cold – my blood runs hot!

However warmth for some people is a lot more important. And this will likely depend on the conditions you are usually in and how much you feel the cold. First and foremost though, to stay warm you need to stay dry, which is why waterproofing is the number factor.

The poacher has 60 grams of insulation in the form of Thinsulate. As well as adding to the warmth the insulation is better if it doesn’t add too much extra weight or bulk to the jacket. So thinsulate here will help with that.

I have scored the Poacher 4.5/5 for insulation.

Breathability also affects warmth – you’ve probably had those days on the mountain where you go in for lunch sweaty and head back to the lifts still wet with sweat which by this stage is icy cold! So warmth is largely a factor of waterproofing and breathability, with insulation being the icing on the cake.

The insulation rating contributes 1 point to the final score.

Insulation Score: 0.9/1

Other Functionality

Some of the factors under functionality will also affect waterproofing and breathability. For example a powder skirt will help to keep snow out of your pants and jacket and therefore help to keep you dry and venting will help with breathability.

Powder Skirt

Whilst powder skirts aren’t a deal breaker, I would prefer to have one than not, especially if you typically ride in conditions with plenty of powder days (and if you do I am jealous of you right now!).

The Poacher does have a powder skirt and it is also removable so you can choose to have it done up or not.

Powder Skirt = Yes = 1/1

Hood

Hoods are good but in my opinion you could live without it if you had to, especially if you wear a helmet. I use my hood occasionally but not very often.

The Poacher has a pretty good hood by the looks of it. The best thing about its hood is that it looks like it would cover your face if needed which is sometimes very nice. I use a face mask for this purpose but if you didn’t have one or don’t want to get one this would be a nice bonus with this Jacket.

Hooded = Yes = 1/1

Venting

A majority of snowboarding jackets these days have venting under the arms, and the Poacher is no exception. This is not a crucial factor and is something that isn’t usually missing so I have allocated it just 0.25 points.

Venting = Yes = 0.25/0.25

Pockets

Like venting, most jacket manufacturers are pretty good with pockets these days. The Poacher seems to have plenty of storage and has pockets for various functions such as audio device, goggles etc.

Pockets = plenty & functional = 0.25/0.25

Style

Whilst style is almost exclusively a matter of opinion, it is certainly a contributing factor to any purchasing decision. You want to look good on the mountain.

I have allocated 0.5 points to the final score. This might be more important for you but what I consider to be a good looking Jacket could be very different to what you think, so I didn’t allocate too much to this.

Personally I rate the Poacher a 4 out of 5 for style. It seems to have a good shape to it and comes in a variety of colours. This rating is based on the Keef/Heathered Grey (see below) and the Plaid Stripe Print (see right) color. I would rate it lower for the other colours. But again this is entirely a preference thing.

Style score: 0.4/0.5  

Final Score

So adding up all the scores above the Burton Poacher receives a total of 7.4 out of 10.

FACTOR	RATING (OUT OF 5)	CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE
Waterproofing (material):	4.0	1.6/2
Waterproofing (seams sealed):	2.5	1/2
Breathability:	2.5	1/2
Insulation:	4.5	0.9/1
Powder Skirt:	Yes	1/1
Hood:	Yes	1/1
Venting	Yes	0.25/0.25
Pockets	Yes	0.25/0.25
Style	4.0	0.5/0.5
TOTAL		7.4 out of 10

Where it lets itself down a little bit is in the breathability and not being fully seam sealed. In saying that, 7.4 out of 10 is not a bad score and puts this Jacket about middle of the range in my opinion.

Value for Money

At $170 recommended retail price (at time of writing it was going for just $118.95 (USD) on The-House.com) it’s a pretty decent price for a snow jacket (extremely good value at $119).

• Check out some user reviews here – scroll down to the bottom to see the reviews. Most of them are positive except for the one guy who ordered the wrong color!

If you are o.k. with a low breathability rating and only critically taped seals then this is great for the price, which is about right at $170. A mid range jacket for a mid range price.

You would expect to pay more for better waterproofing and breathability.

Out of 10 Jackets I have analysed in this price range (between $150 and $200), the average score was 6.8, so 7.4 out of 10 is a good bit above that. Overall I would say that for $170 this is a good value jacket and if you could get it for less, then even better (naturally!).

The best score I’ve seen in this price range, using this scoring system, was 8.1/10 which was the Quicksilver Mission jacket

Where to Buy?

You can check out the Poacher at The-House.com at the link below.

• Burton Poacher Snowboarding Jacket
• Or if you are in New Zealand check out the Burton Poacher at Torpedo7.com

To search for more jacket options just check out the link below.

• Men’s Snowboard Jackets (around 650 jackets here!)

If you want to learn more about what to look out for in a snowboarding jacket check this post out.

Thanks for Reading

I hope this has helped with your snowboarding jacket purchase decision and I hope your new snowboarding jacket treats you well and keeps you dry and comfortable on the mountain.

Any questions, comments or feedback is very welcome. Just leave a message in the comments section below.