Vulpine Dulwich Riding Smock

Tell us what the jacket is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

The Vulpine Dulwich riding smock is a casual riding piece of outerwear.

Vulpine says: "Taking inspiration from classic Mod styling, the Dulwich Riding Smock is versatile and lightweight. Easy to pop over your head, when the weather takes a turn for the worse."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the jacket?

Vulpine lists these features:

PFC-Free DWR treatment for wind and water resistance

Elastic adjustable hood & waist

Side zip, to aid putting on & taking off

2 x pockets - 1 large front zip pocket & 1 zip rear pocket

Curved cuff shape to allow extra length when in the riding position

Reflective rear label and piping details at cuffs, to aid low light visibility

Metal eyelets at underarm panel to aid venting

Internal hanging loop

Biodegradable packaging

Fabric Composition:

73% Recycled Nylon, 27% Organic Cotton

The Dulwich smock has a soft, cotton-ey feel to it; I was quite surprised to find out it was 73% recycled nylon, with just 27% organic cotton.

Thumbs up for the amount of recycled material used in its construction. There is a chunky chest zip, to allow more airflow, and a similar chunky zip used on the deep front pocket. There are metal eyelet holes under the armpits to also aid ventilation. There is also a small side zip, which makes putting the smock over your head easier. The front zip and cuffs have small patches of reflective material. The hood and waist have elasticated drawstrings on them to tighten the fit. There is also an additional small pocket on the rear right hand side of the smock.

The overall fabric of the smock seems quite hardwearing; it's more in the small details where I had a few niggles. The front pocket zip has a flap of material over it, and the zip can snag around this material. The zip was also a bit stiff, so I used a bit of silicone spray to help ease the zip movement. Some loose stitches have become apparent around some of the hems as well.

Although they haven't failed, the zip pulls (the metal dangly bits on the zips) on the side zip (the one to take the smock off with) and also on the small rear pocket do seem quite delicate, so I would take care pulling on these. It would be more reassuring to have a more chunky zip on the side one, particularly, as it's so frequently used to take the smock on and off.

It's water resistant rather than waterproof, with a DWR coating in the cotton layer, and under light showers the water beads off, so it can cope with light drizzle.

After about 25 minutes in persistent rain, the water started to seep through into my clothes underneath. I wouldn't choose it for a commute if it was definitely going to be lashing it down, but it's good to see it can cope with a little bit of precipitation.

Breathability is good; I didn't get hot and bothered. The material is fairly thin, so below about 10°C, you can feel air permeating through the fabric and eyelet holes.

It fits well in the body: I was testing a large, and with a 42-inch chest and broad shoulders, still had a good few inches of space underneath for a shirt and jumper. The fit is a little tighter at the arms, but I thought this was good so as to avoid too much flappiness. There is also an elasticated waist toggle to further help reduce flappage.

The cuffs have two buttons for adjusting the cuffs tighter as needed.

The side zip makes it much easier to slip the smock over your head.

My only bugbear with the fit was with the hood. When adjusting it, it's kind of like a drawstring bag, and pulls completely closed over your face. I wear glasses, and it just pulls completely over them. Even if not wearing glasses, it still intrudes on your vision too much. A semi-rigid peak as part of the hood would have resulted in a better fit and a better look.

Large for me, with a 42-inch chest, 34-inch waist and broad shoulders, was fine.

It's a good weight; I didn't find it overly heavy. Because of the fairly thin material it can roll up into the front pocket and easily squeeze into a rucksack. I measured it rolled up as 15cm x 10cm x 10cm.

The comfy feel, for me, is the highlight of the smock. It's very comfortable to wear both on and off the bike. I didn't feel that it restricted movement, and the airflow is good due to the permeability, front chest zip and small underarm eyelet holes.

At £120 I think it's OK value, given its feature set, in comparison with other casual upper body wear on the market.

How easy is the jacket to care for? How did it respond to being washed?

Washed out really well on a 30 degree wash, with no staining apparent. Reproofing will be needed to keep up the water resistance.

Tell us how the jacket performed overall when used for its designed purpose

For casual riding and short trips, the smock performs pretty well; if you have a commute of a few miles then I think it would be a decent choice, apart from in a massive downpour, or in very cold weather. Its ideal temperature range is around 7-14°C. Nice and breathable, so I never felt too hot in the office in it.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the jacket

Comfortable on and off the bike.

Bright colour.

The big front pocket is handy.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the jacket

The drawstring hood is a poor fit.

The zips can get snagged, and the side and rear zip pulls feel a bit delicate - plus the small rear pocket one can be tricky to open if you're left-handed.

Use this box to explain your overall score

As a garment for casual short rides in spring and autumnal weather it's pretty good, but there's room for improvement: the hood is a poor fit on the face, and the zips can get stuck (and the zip pull feel delicate). A bit more resistance to rain would be good, too.