How we ranked these
The garment class comes first because nothing else on the label measures abrasion.EN 17092 rates a whole motorcycle garment, and its classes run from AAA down through AA, A and B to C. The test house SATRA describes the key difference in terms of armor: “Elbow, shoulder, knee and hip impact protectors are to be present in Class AAA and AA garments as a mandatory requirement, with the hip protectors being optional in Class A garments.” On a jacket that means shoulder and elbow protectors are required either way, and the class letter mostly tells you how demanding the abrasion tests were. The clause number is the quickest way to check a claim: EN 17092-2 is Class AAA, -3 is AA and -4 is A, and the Klim, REV’IT! and Alpinestars pages print the clause alongside the class. Two of the six jackets are AA, three are A, and one publishes no class at all. Our CE armor and garment ratings guide explains the whole scale in plain English.
Then the armor that is really included.Notice what the SATRA quote above does not mention: a back protector. The garment class does not require one, and plenty of jackets leave the back pocket empty. Three of the six here ship with something in it, and only one of those is rated CE armor. The Klim Carlsbad includes KLIM’s Rogue CE Level 2 pads at the shoulders, elbows and back. The Joe Rocket Atomic 5.0 includes a removable spine pad with no rating stated. The FLY Terra Trek includes a PE foam back pad that FLY itself describes as upgradable to its CE-rated Barricade protector. The REV’IT! and both Alpinestars jackets ship with an empty compartment, sized for a protector you buy separately. Armor level matters too: Level 2 transmits less force than Level 1 in the EN 1621 test, and only the Klim and the REV’IT! publish Level 2 at the shoulders and elbows.
Then where the waterproofing sits. This is the spec most listings bury and the one that most changes how a jacket behaves on a long wet day, so it gets its own section below. The short version: a membrane built into the outer shell stops water at the surface, while a membrane worn as a liner keeps you dry but lets the outer fabric get soaked first.
Then the liner and the vents, which are what make a jacket three-season.Five of the six include a removable thermal liner; the Klim does not list one. Only Alpinestars publishes how much insulation is in its liners — 100 g in the body and 80 g in the sleeves on the Andes V4, 80 g in both on the ST-1 — so a warmth comparison across brands is not something anyone can honestly print. Vent counts are easier to compare, and they range from six listed vents on the Klim down to front chest vents only on the ST-1. After those four criteria we looked at fit and size range, and at whether an airbag can be added later.
The picks side by side
Here is what each maker publishes on the four things this ranking turns on. “Not published” means we could not find the figure on the maker’s page or the US retailer listing, not that we assume the worst.
| Jacket | Garment class | Armor in the box | Waterproofing | Thermal liner |
|---|
| Klim Carlsbad | AA (EN 17092-3) | Level 2 shoulder, elbow and back | GORE-TEX Performance Shell | None listed |
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| REV’IT! Sand 5 H2O | AA (EN 17092-3:2020) | Level 2 shoulder and elbow; back sold separately | Detachable hydratex 3L layer, worn over or under | Detachable, fill weight not published |
|---|
| Alpinestars Andes V4 Drystar | A (EN 17092-4:2020) | Level 1 shoulder and elbow; back sold separately | Drystar membrane, construction not published | Removable, 100 g body / 80 g sleeves |
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| Alpinestars ST-1 Waterproof | A (EN 17092-4:2020) | Level 1 shoulder and elbow; back sold separately | Fixed membrane liner | Detachable, 80 g torso / 80 g sleeves |
|---|
| Joe Rocket Atomic 5.0 | A (EN 17092-A) | CE shoulder and elbow, level not published; unrated spine pad | Waterproof-treated shell, no membrane named | Removable insulated, fill weight not published |
|---|
| FLY Racing Terra Trek | Not published | Level 1 shoulder and elbow; PE foam back pad (not CE) | HydraGuard, construction not published | Removable, fill weight not published |
|---|
Shell, liner or layer: where the waterproofing sits
There are three ways to make a textile jacket waterproof, and the six picks here cover all of them. The motorcycle-gear retailer Motolegends gives the clearest short definitions. In a laminatedgarment, “the membrane is bonded, or heat sealed, to the inner surface of the outer, protective fabric.” In a drop-linergarment, “the membrane is suspended from the shoulders of a jacket,” hanging behind the outer fabric instead of attached to it. And some jackets skip the separate membrane question entirely and rely on a treated outer fabric with sealed zippers.
The difference shows up in the rain and at the vents. A drop-liner jacket keeps your body dry while its outer shell takes on water, and in Motolegends’ words, “in heavy rain, a drop-liner garment will hold that water” — after hours at speed the shell can end up waterlogged, and wind chill on a soaked jacket makes you feel much colder. A laminated jacket gets damp on the surface but, per the same source, never wets out, and it dries far faster once you stop. Venting favors the laminate too: with the membrane bonded to the fabric, air through an open zipper “passes straight through to the body,” instead of meeting a windproof membrane hanging behind it. A fully removable waterproof liner vents best of all when it is out, but Motolegends notes that because water can get in through the zipper, a removable liner “cannot be totally relied upon in really heavy rain.”
The drop liner is not simply worse, though. The same retailer says drop-liner gear has historically been cheaper, tends to be warmer because the loose membrane leaves an insulating air gap, and is “more comfortable to wear,” while bonding a membrane to the outer fabric tends to make it stiffer. For a rider who sees a few hours of rain a month, a well-made liner jacket is a perfectly good answer.
Mapped onto this list: the Klim Carlsbadbuilds its GORE-TEX into the shell, which Klim calls a “GORE-TEX PERFORMANCE SHELL” and backs with its “guaranteed to keep you dry” line. The Alpinestars ST-1uses what Alpinestars calls a “fixed waterproof liner,” which is the drop-liner approach. The REV’IT! Sand 5 H2Odoes something neither of those does: its hydratex 3L waterproof layer detaches, and REV’IT! designed it to be worn either inside the jacket or over it. Worn over the shell in a real downpour, it keeps the protective jacket underneath from soaking through, which sidesteps the weakness of a removable liner; taken out on a dry hot day, it leaves the vents with nothing in the way. The Joe Rocket Atomic 5.0 relies on a waterproof-treated shell with waterproof vent zippers and names no membrane, so expect to re-treat it as the finish wears. Alpinestars says the Andes V4has a “Drystar membrane” and FLY says the Terra Trekis waterproof and breathable, but neither says where the membrane sits, so we have not guessed.
Which one should you buy?
Buy the Klim Carlsbad if rain is the main event and you already own warm layers. It is our top pick because it is the only jacket here that is complete from the box: an AA garment, Level 2 armor at the shoulders, elbows and back, waterproofing in the shell itself, and six vents to dump heat when the rain stops. Its honest limit is the cold. Klim lists no thermal liner, so on a near-freezing morning you are relying on a fleece or a heated vest you already own. It is also the most expensive jacket on this page, and Klim prints CE Level 2 for the armor without naming the EN 1621 clause behind it.
Buy the REV’IT! Sand 5 H2O if your day starts cold and ends hot.This is the jacket with the most separate tools: an AA shell, SEEFLEX Level 2 shoulder and elbow armor certified to EN 1621-1:2012, a detachable thermal liner that also works as a jacket off the bike, the over-or-under waterproof layer, and fold-down vent panels on the chest and back. The costs are real. The back protector is an extra purchase on a premium jacket, three layers means more to pack and more to manage, and on the day we checked most size and color listings at the retailer we link showed only a few units left. If you plan to add REV’IT!’s Avertum Tech-Air airbag, the maker says to go one size up.
Buy the Alpinestars Andes V4 Drystar if you want most of that for a mid-range price. It is a fully certified Class A garment with a Drystar membrane, the heaviest thermal liner Alpinestars publishes on this page, extended chest air intakes with back exhaust ports, and Tech-Air compatibility. Alpinestars gives it CE Level 1 Nucleon Flex Plus armor to EN 1621-1:2012 and an empty chest and back compartment, so budget for a back protector. Sizes run to 6XL at the US retailer we checked, which is well beyond most jackets here. For most riders shopping this category, this is the sensible default.
Buy the Alpinestars ST-1 Waterproof if your riding is cold, wet commuting.It shares the Andes V4’s Class A certification, Level 1 armor and Tech-Air compatibility in a cleaner, road-oriented cut with a pant connection zipper, and Alpinestars lists it for a little less. The trade is airflow: front chest vents are the only ventilation Alpinestars lists, and the waterproofing is a fixed inner liner, so it runs warmer on a hot day than anything above it. Alpinestars also rates its armor setup as an EN 17092-6 Class C impact ensemble, a detail it does not print for the Andes V4.
Buy the Joe Rocket Atomic 5.0 if the budget is firm.It is the cheapest way on this page to get an EN 17092 Class A garment with CE shoulder and elbow armor, a spine pad and a removable insulated liner. It is the pick that asks you to trust the most: Joe Rocket says the armor is “C.E. approved” without stating a level, rates nothing on the spine pad, and waterproofs with a treated shell instead of a named membrane. On the day we checked, Joe Rocket’s own online store was listing it on sale below the Amazon price our button shows, so check both before you buy. Our full Atomic 5.0 review goes deeper on the trade-offs.
Buy the FLY Racing Terra Trek if standard sizes do not fit you.FLY sells it from Small to 4X-Large plus Tall versions from Medium to 3X-Large, which is the one thing on this page nothing else offers. It pairs CE Level 1 armor that FLY says conforms to EN 1621-1 with a removable thermal liner and HydraGuard waterproofing. It ranks last for two published reasons: FLY states no EN 17092 garment class, and the back pad in the box is PE foam rather than CE armor. There is also a practical one worth knowing before you order: FLY’s own product page says the jacket “cannot be purchased or sold in California or New York.”
What “four-season” really takes
A jacket can be honest about three seasons. The fourth is a different problem. The insulating liners in these jackets are thin by design so they can come out and pack small, and none of the six carries any heating. Riders who genuinely ride through winter usually solve it with layers under the jacket rather than a heavier jacket: a wind-blocking mid layer, and for real cold a heated vest or jacket liner powered by the bike. A waterproof shell with room for those layers is the right starting point, which is one reason the Klim’s lack of a liner matters less to year-round riders than it first appears.
The other half of an all-weather setup is the lower half. A waterproof jacket over jeans still delivers a wet, cold rider, and several jackets here have a zipper to connect a matching pant. Our riding pants roundup ranks a waterproof touring pant with its own Drystar membrane and thermal liner. If you need more protection underneath without more bulk, our armored base layer roundupcovers the back and chest protectors most of these jackets leave out, and a dry head matters as much as a dry chest — our helmets for rain page ranks lids on Pinlock readiness, closable vents and sealing.
What we left out, and why
The Klim Badlands Pro A3.It is the obvious step up from the Carlsbad: CE AAA certified to EN 17092-2, a GORE-TEX 3-layer Pro Shell, and KLIM’s Rogue EXP Level 2 armor. On certification it outranks everything on this page, and it costs roughly twice what the Carlsbad does. We left it out because at that price it is a different purchase, not a better answer to the three-season question. If AAA is what you want, buy it.
The Scorpion EXO Optima. It is the waterproof touring pick in our main jackets roundup and would belong here on its specs. On our check, the Amazon listing we track for it showed as currently unavailable, and the remaining listings were down to a handful of units in scattered sizes. We do not rank a jacket most readers cannot buy in their size.
Lower-priced jackets sold as “all season.” Search the phrase at the retailer we link and the results include lower-priced textile jackets with “CE armor” and “all season” in the product title. A title is not a certification. Unless the maker names an EN 17092 class for the garment and a level for the armor, there is nothing to check the claim against, and we applied the same rule we use on every gear page: we do not rank a protection claim we cannot check against a standard. The Terra Trek is the closest this page comes to an exception, and it earns its place with a published EN 1621-1 armor standard and a size range nothing else matches, not with its missing garment class.
Mesh summer jackets. A good mesh jacket can be worn with a rain shell over it, but that is a summer jacket with an accessory, not a three-season design. If most of your riding is hot, the mesh pick in our jackets roundup is the better buy.
