Dainese Kirby D-Dry jacket in green

The Dainese Kirby jacket is a lightweight, summer jacket that is going to cover a lot of bases. It is equipped with a waterproof membrane, which means that it’s going to keep you dry in most situations. As a drop-liner jacket, it’s not going to be what you need in five or six hours of heavy rain, but most of the time it is going to keep you bone dry. 

It’s has no venting, but it’s so light and easy that you’re not going to overheat in it unless you’re in the desert. The jacket comes with a pop out thermal liner. It will do a job, but most people will remove it and leave it in a drawer somewhere, because there are nicer and more efficient ways to keep warm.

There’s lovely flexible and soft armour in the elbows and shoulders. A back protector is not supplied within the price, but there’s a pocket that is perfectly sized to accomodate a Level 2 protector in a size known as T8. You get three pockets on the outside. Adjusters at the sleeve ends and a strap arrangement for fastening the neck. The Kirby is rated ‘A’ under EN17092.

You are not going to undertake more than a 20-minute, daily commute in a jacket like this. And you wouldn’t go on a European tour in it. But if you’re looking for a jacket for popping out on a Sunday morning; if you are looking for a jacket for going into town, if you’re looking for a jacket for a ride down to the seaside, then the Kirby may be exactly what you are looking for. It’s a classic, throw-on jacket, very much in the mould of the Halvarssons Lysvik.