Helstons Stoner mesh jacket in brown

Let us not beat about the bush. When it comes to mesh jackets, we here at Motolegends are huge fans of the Marrakesh. It’s a heck of a bit of kit. Woven with super-strong 1000 denier Cordura it’s AA rated, it flows more air than a standard mesh jacket, it comes fully kitted out with D3O, and it’s the most comfortable motorcycle jacket you’ll ever wear. But at £400, it is not inexpensive.

If you’re not up for that, then your best option might be what one might term a standard mesh jacket which, basically, is what the Helstons Stoner is. The chassis is made from a sturdy technical fabric, which means a heavy-duty Nylon of some description. But what allows air to flow through the jacket is the mesh panelling that runs up the front of the jacket and down the back. You also get mesh up the insides of both sleeves.

In terms of protection, the Stoner is A rated, which is what you would expect of a mesh jacket. It is not, after all, the kind of jacket you’d expect to be wearing at high speeds. Obviously you get CE armour in the elbows and shoulders. But Helstons is unlike other brands in that it always supplies its jackets with back protectors as standard.

You get two pockets on the outside and a wallet pocket inside the jacket. There are adjusters at the waist and Helstons’ usual ridiculous poppers at the sleeve that they reckon are required under the CE legislation, even though nobody else does.

By the way, if you look on Helstons’ own website, you will see that they suggest that the Stoner has a waterproof membrane. This isn’t correct; neither is their website’s suggestion that the jacket has elasticated panelling up the sleeves.