Gear Review: Keela Stratus SDP Jacket

Having become familiar with Keela’s SDP lining from years of wearing their Ventile Smock while delivering wilderness skills courses and canoe trips in Scotland during Spring and Autumn, I rate it highly for its performance in difficult conditions. So when I needed a lighter weight, synthetic mountain shell I had to come to Keela for advice as they’d never let me down before. We were aiming to cross the Cairngorms for a fundraising effort, and Keela was there to support us: Enter the Stratus Shell Jacket. 

Keela Stratus in Red and the Cairn in Yellow as we ascend out of Gaick Forest in the Cairngorms

My brief to Keela was that I needed a light-weight yet fully robust jacket that would dry quicker then my Ventile smock and give good articulation: I’d be climbing, abseiling, tackling rivers all whilst fending off the worst the Cairngorms could throw at me during our attempt at The Longest Line. Keela really pulled through for me, offering up their newly updated Stratus for a trial by fire.

I wore the Stratus non-stop during our three day crossing the Cairngorms in October, in constant heavy horizontal rain with temperatures ranging from plus 10 to minus 5 with wind chill. Wind speeds maxed out at 60-70mph gusts with 40mph consistent winds for an hour or so at a time. We were at times climbing steep grade-one scrambles, racing over peat bogs, crossing rivers and hiking over munros.

I’ve also been wearing this as my primary waterproof layer since receiving it in August, in every wet weather condition I’ve encountered whether hiking, canoeing or during night navigation exercises.

The Stratus boasts a solid waterproof system, which I can attest to working extremely well. The SDP lining acts as a one-way wicking layer, absorbing sweat and moisture from within the jacket and pushing it to the outer surface of the lining without allowing it to return to the inside. Most of the time this evaporates through the shell fabric like any other modern waterproof, to be carried off on the wind. In the extremes through where condensation keeps water within a shell fabric you’d typically stay wet, the SDP fabric prevents this and instead allows the water to run down the outside of the lining to run off at the bottom of the jacket.

The liner is coupled with a face fabric, I opted for the red to be visible in the hills, which itself is highly waterproof. The face fabric is also extremely robust, taking rough rock scrambles and slides in its stride.

Did I get wet? Of course I did! The conditions we were in, working as hard as we were there was no way we were staying completely dry. Carrying 4 days of wild-camping gear on my back meant I trapped perspiration within the jacket, and funneled rainwater under the shoulder straps and through at the back between the rucksack. However, the hood, seams, pockets, and face of the jacket all kept the water out. And once we stopped for a break the jacket dried quickly from the inside out, making for fast recovery times. What I like about the construction is that a single panel of shell fabric wraps over the shoulders, reaching down the chest at the front and a similar lever at the back. In the area of high exposure there are as a result no seams that can fail.

The breathability of the jacket is excellent in general, with the under arm vent zips being generously wide for dumping excess heat and sweat quickly when working hard. What frustrates me about a lot of outdoor clothing with these zipped vents, trousers included, is there’s often a netted panel covering the opening. This usually functions only to prevent the vent from opening wide enough to allow for maximum air flow. Not so with the Stratus though, the underarm vent opens fully to let your torso breathe, and also enables you to get to layers and pockets inside the jacket from here too.

As the SDP lining holds an air pocket between it and the face fabric it makes the Stratus quite a warm jacket despite its lightweight. Being out in windchill at -5 I only needed a base layer and light softshell underneath when active.

The overall fit of the jacket is comfortable, the articulated sleeves do their job and the cuffs generous gusset close smoothly against the wrist but open to fully allow winter mittens to tuck inside. The back is long, allowing rain to run cleaning past your bum which when working for days on end makes all the difference! The drawstring at the hem can be pulled tight to trap a bubble of warm air around your core and cut out the wind, although I did notice when pulled in tight the rain run off wasn’t quite so clean; but then again if it’s windy enough to need to pull it in then rain is going to blow every which way anyway.

Pockets. The Stratus isn’t short of them with 7 in total. There are two hand warmer pockets at the hip, which form my only complaint about the jacket as these can’t be accessed when the waist strap is done up on the rucksack. Not the worst thing as I’d only put my hands in there when I stopped, but it meant undoing my waist strap at each break.

The external chest pockets are excellent, large enough for map sections and route cards and fitting with gear loops for attaching maps and compasses so they don’t blow away in the wind. One loop has a quick release clip which I had a GPS attached to and made for a useful release when handing the GPS off to a teammate.

The inner pockets are differently sized, the left being easily big enough to hold a full OS map and the right is a neat little pocket ideal for a phone without it getting lost in a cavernous space. If you do fill all four pockets, as I did, you’ll look a little pigeon chested but this bulk fits between the chest strap and waist strap of a rucksack and is actually very comfortable.

The final pocket is on the left wrist, a fully waterproof panel and zip, it would be useful for a compass or route card but in honesty I had everything stowed so neatly in the chest that I didn’t use it.

The main zip runs up between the chest pockets, behind a fold-sealed double layer baffle which never failed me in the weather we had. The two way zip also means you can open the bottom of the jacket for calls of nature, using a climbing harness, or dumping excess heat. The top of this zip does up to cover your chin in harsh weather, and is felt lined for comfort.

The hood is very protective and will take a helmet underneath too if climbing. The ‘halo’ drawstring means you can achieve a good fit, and the wire rim really holds up in the wind.

In summary, I'd say the Stratus Jacket is unbelievable for the price point, solidly waterproof and certainly robust with plenty of well thought out features. I’d recommend it for Spring, Autumn and Winter, as it’s warm and windproof. Waterproof and breathable in good measure, a jacket you can count on.

In closing, I wanted to say a huge thank you to Keela for not only providing us with the Stratus Jacket and three Cairn Jackets for our fundraising trip (which in itself is an awesome gesture!) but also for their continued support and encouragement in all our outdoor pursuits.

All the best

JD