We have reviewed the Norrøna Falketind Dri3 jacked for two seasons. Read the review of this lightweight jacket.

 

 

 

 

 

Norrøna Falketind Dri3 Review

 

I have tested the Norrøna Dri3 jacket for two seasons. The usage is mainly shorter and medium long trekking trips, and then mainly using it as a three season jacket. I do not use this jacket as a casual jacket. If the weather is stable with no rain and it is summer, I'd rather use a windbreaker with no water resistance. During winter and for skiing I prefer an insulated jacket and a jacket with some protection around the butt.

 

Weight

 

The weight is very low for a shell jacket, with 346 grams (0,76 pounds). It is easy to just have the Norrøna Falketind Dri3 jacket in the back pack, if the weather is good but unstable. The volume is also not big, so you won't need a big back pack to have room for this jacket.

 

Weather protection

 

The drawback from light weight and little volume is less weather protection. When it comes to water resistance/breathability I don't feel that it is good enough. If it is cold, but no rain and you do some high level activity the inside of the jacket would contain moisture.

 

But on the other hand we have tested the newest Gore Tex Pro Shell in low activity, low temperature and rainy conditions, and the result is the same her. Moisture build up on the inside of the jacket. The question is wether it is technically possible to avoid that warm moisture from the body will stop on the inside of the shell when it is cold.

 

When the jacket was new I went for a hike with back pack about 2.5 hours, it was raining, and I felt that the water had come through. But I am unable to say if that was only moisture from my body or rain coming through.

 

Now I have washed the jacket a few times, using a impregnation. If I use the jacket for about 30 minutes in rain the water drops will no longer peel off, but be contained in the outer fabric.

 

Fit

 

The fit is rather loose, with a bit low cut. The lines are straight, and not time glass shape to follow my narrower waist. That might be the reason why I don't feel like wearing this for casual usage. For casual usage of a shell jacket I would prefer a narrower waist. On the other hand the wide fit makes it possible to have different thickness on the middle layer, without it feeling too tight.

 

The low fit is not good when it is windy or you wear a back pack. I feel that I loose a bit of warmth between the pant and jacket. With a back pack the jacket also has a tendency of sliding up because of the hip belt on the back pack, leaving more warmth loss.

 

Ventilation

 

The jacket has good ventilation possibilities with long zippers under the arms. These will compensate a bit for the moist build up and help the jacket get rid of extra moisture.

 

Pockets

 

The jacket has two big pockets on the outside. No pockets on the inside. I would however prefer to have atleast one chest pocket.

 

Conclusion

 

It might look like I am very disapponted with this jacket. However that is not completely true. I use it a lot because of the low weight, and especially since I often go for shorter hikes in lower terrain. The less breathability and weather protection does not come so much into play either then.
We have tested the new Gore-Tex falketind jacket, and it is excellent on breathability and condensation. We would reccomend not to buy the Dri3 jacket, but go for the new 2013/2014 Gore-Tex model.

 

 

Comment

 

Norrøna has in November 2013 released a new Falketind collection. The Dri3 Jacket is not part of that collection if you check https://www.norrona.com/en-GB/Products/falketind/

 

 

Where to buy Norrøna Falketind online

Backcountry.com
Norrøna

 

Where to buy Norrøna online

blue-tomato.com - Norrøna

 

Rating

 

Weather protection

 

Warmth

 

Casual usage

 

Skiing usage

 

Hiking usage

 

Design

 

Ventilation

 

Pockets

 

Weight and Volume

 

Related Video