Quiksilver Forever 2L Gore-Tex Jacket Review

Hello and welcome to my Quiksilver Forever Jacket review.

I don’t usually review individual jackets, but this one I bought personally so I thought I’d publish what I thought of it after using it for the past 25 days on snow (likely more by the time your reading this, but at time of writing I’d done 25 days with the jacket). 

Overall Rating

Jacket: Quiksilver Forever 2L Gore-Tex 2019

Price: $349 (USD recommended retail)

Type: Shell

Waterproof Rating: 28,000mm (Gore-Tex)

Seams: Fully Taped

Breathability: 20,000g (Gore-Tex)

Insulation: Lining

Rating Score: 96.5/100

Compared to other Men’s Shell (Non-Insulated) Jackets

Out of the 49 men’s non-insulated jackets that I rated:

• The average price was $356 (USD)
• The average score was 85.6/100
• The highest score was 99/100
• The lowest score was 26/100
• The Forever 2L Gore-Tex ranked 10th out of 49*

*unlike with other snowboarding gear, I don’t personally experience these jackets (this one being the exception). This is just based on specs.

O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at the Forever Jacket and my experience with it.

Waterproofing

I’ve had the Forever in fairly heavy rain and fairly heavy snow and it’s kept me perfectly dry every time so far. The jacket has always remained bone dry on the inside. 

This was a nice change from my old jacket, that could only handle so much rain before starting to let it seep through – which left me soaking wet. It was fine for snow, but once the rain set in, it just wasn’t up to scratch – which was my strongest motivation for replacing it with this. 

Not surprising, given it’s Gore-Tex. This is the first Gore-Tex snowboard jacket I’ve owned, but I did previously own a casual rain jacket that was Gore-Tex and that thing was amazing for keeping the wet out. 

Breathability

Recently I’ve had some really hot days up the mountain – up to 55°F (12.5°C) – and that’s in the shade. So I’ve had a chance to test the breathability for sure. 

I was still  a bit too warm on those days – and might have preferred to ride without a jacket at all (except that I was testing gear, which usually means having to carry a selfie stick with me). But compared to my old jacket, this was much more breathable. 

With that Gore-Tex breathability, pit vents zipped all the way open and the fact that it’s a shell (vs the 5,000g breathability and insulation of my old jacket) it was much more pleasant than what I had with my old jacket for sure. 

Powder Skirt 

I used the powder skirt less than I’ve used one in the previous couple of seasons – less powder days this year. But I have used it and it functions well.

The skirt is stretchy and has 2 different settings allowing for different sized waists to fit within it. 

It’s fixed and doesn’t detach, but you can clip it to the side. If you’re looking for a removable one, it doesn’t have it, but if that doesn’t bother you, then it’s a perfectly functioning powder skirt. 

Hood

I have to admit, that I don’t really use the hood. Even though I wouldn’t buy a snowboard jacket without one… Not sure how that works 🙂

OK I used it once, but I would get by without one, to be fair. My helmet has close-able vents, so that keeps the rain off my head for the most part – and I usually wear a face mask too. 

But then again, I haven’t been out in torrential rain in a while, so if I do, then I may just use the hood again. 

The hood is 3 way adjustable. It takes some working to get it to adjust but you can certainly get it to fit over your helmet (see picture) and be able to zip it right up, to also help to keep your neck dry. I found to fit it over my helmet I had to adjust it to basically the widest (loosest?) settings, and even then I didn’t have a great range of motion in terms of head movement. But it would do the trick on the lifts. Don’t think I’d ever ride with a hood on like that though. 

Jack to Pants Connections

Again, I never actually use these. But they’re there for those that like to use them. 

On the Forever, it’s not like a full zip around connection like on some jackets. Just a dome on each side that hooks on to the sides of the pants. Nothing special, but still nice to have for those that use this. 

Pockets

There are ample pockets and they all have their purpose/use. 

Outer chest pocket: This pocket is zippered, which is a must for an outer pocket of course. It’s bigger than I expected. Great place to keep things that you need to access quickly and regularly without having to zip down your jacket. I keep my phone in this one. 

2 x Outer Hand Pockets: There are 2 of these, naturally. And zippered of course. One of them has a handy key clip for clipping your keys onto. 

Pass Pocket: There is a pass pocket on the left sleeve of the jacket. This is a simple thing, but also I love it. My previous jacket didn’t have this and it was a little annoying. It’s now super easy if you are at a mountain with RFID, you can just wave your arm in front of it. 

Inner Chest/Media Pocket: This is actually where I store my card wallet, but would be a good place to store your phone/music player as it has the outlet for earphone wires to go through. I use bluetooth helmet speakers, so I don’t have need for this. Though I did actually use it a couple of times, when the batteries in my bluetooth speakers went flat and I had to plug them in direct to my phone. 

Within this pocket there’s also a small mesh pocket that does up by velcro. This is where I used to keep my keys, as it’s a good place that doesn’t get opened when searching for other things. Then I discovered the key clip in the hand pocket – which is what I’ve used for keys the last couple of times I’ve been out. 

Inner Mesh Stash Pocket: This is a big open mesh pocket – where you could store your goggles or gloves or something like that. I’ve got a good pocket in my pants for my gloves and my goggles live on my helmet, but I do still use this pocket sometimes. When I’m testing gear, I keep my selfie stick in there. 

Zippers

I think the only thing that annoys me about this jacket is the zippers. The main zipper to do the jacket up takes a bit of jiggling to get it going and I’ve had issues with that zip (and some of the pocket zips getting caught up in the material of the jacket). The zips themselves feel high quality – they just don’t quite move as I would like them to. But that’s a pretty small thing in my view.