Trust
How We Score
Every jacket is scored out of 10 in seven categories. The overall figure is a weighted average of those seven, using the weights below. There is no secret adjustment and no editorial thumb on the scale.
| Category | Weight | What it rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Water Protection | 25% | Membrane and coating type, construction, seam sealing, closure and hood design — how completely the garment excludes water where water actually gets in. |
| Breathability | 20% | Published moisture-transfer characteristics of the laminate, plus mechanical venting. A jacket with modest membrane figures and good pit zips can outperform a high-figure jacket with none. |
| Comfort & Mobility | 15% | Cut, layering room, mobility at the shoulder and arm, next-to-skin feel of the backer, hood movement and hardware ergonomics. |
| Durability | 15% | Face fabric denier and weave, laminate construction, hardware quality, and the manufacturer's warranty and repair position. |
| Features | 10% | Whether the pockets, adjustments, ventilation and hood features suit the jacket's stated purpose — not feature count. |
| Weight & Packability | 10% | Weight relative to the protection offered, and how small the jacket packs for its category. |
| Value | 5% | Price relative to what the specification and construction actually deliver, including warranty and repairability. |
How the overall number is produced
Each category score is multiplied by its weight, the results are summed, and the total is divided by 100 to return a figure out of 10, rounded to one decimal place. You can reproduce any overall score on the site from the seven category scores printed on the same page.
What a score does not mean
A score is a summary of suitability against a general standard, not a ranking of quality in the abstract. A lightweight running shell and a hardshell built for winter mountaineering can score similarly while being completely wrong for each other's purpose. Read the category breakdown and the "best for" list before the headline number.
Scores on research-based reviews reflect what the documented specification and construction support. They are revised when we physically test a jacket, and the change is noted with a new updated date.
When we change a score
- A manufacturer revises a specification or releases a new generation.
- Physical testing contradicts what the specification implied.
- The market moves, changing what a price is worth in the value category.
- A reader shows us we got something wrong. Corrections are published, not quietly edited.