Rukka Kalix 3 jacket review

Everybody knows Rukka. The gear they make is not necessarily for everyone, but if you're going to be finding yourself doing a lot of riding in the cold and the wet, then it's got to be admitted that nobody does it better.

The gear is beautifully made. Equipped with the very largest, Level 2 armour, Rukka's suits are also particularly protective; even those that are only A-rated for abrasion resistance. With one exception only, all of Rukka's waterproof suits are equipped with Gore-Tex membranes, which means that waterproofing is guaranteed for life. On top of this, of course, all Rukka's technical wear comes with a six-year warranty.

Now a lot of people think that Rukka is expensive; and it's certainly not inexpensive, but if you do a lot of miles then you might well find that a Rukka suit offers the best value for money. There's a reason the Police, medics, Bloodrunners, riding instructors and couriers tend to gravitate towards Rukka. And it's not because it's the cheapest.

But the Rukka range is ever-changing, and navigating your way through the collection can be confusing. So before I talk about the new suit in detail, I am going to try and explain where the Kalix 3 sits in the Finnish company's collection, relative to their other outfits.

The best, although not necessarily the highest rated, or most expensive, suit in the Rukka firmament, is the Nivala. With stretch built into its outer shell, it is super-comfy, and super expensive. It would have been the perfect suit for the Police. And it's the suit that every Police rider wanted to wear. But because many of the Police's buyers wanted to tick an AA box for abrasion resistance, they asked Rukka to produce an AA rated version of it. Now, if these buyers had done their homework they would have realised that a Rukka A-rated suit is way more protective than anybody else's AA suit, but we're talking about pen-pushers here, and these guys really like to protect themselves by ticking boxes.

Well, the Kingsley that Rukka brought out in response to this request has an AA rating, but with budget cuts and the like, what ultimately became clear was that most Police forces, and particularly the Met., could not afford it.

Ironically, the Met., somewhat embarassingly, therefore ended up buying into the Kalix 2, a suit so old that it actually pre-dated EN17092 entirely. It had been CE rated by the Finnish authorities for their local Police, but in reality nobody knew how the suit would have fared if tested to the new standard.

In essence, the Kalix 3 has been produced to give the Police an AA-rated suit that they can actually afford. That is its raison d'etre.

But obviously the Kalix 3 is not exclusive to those who ride professionally. It will also form part of Rukka's civilian range. And so what we are going to do is explain where the new Kalix sits relative to other similar-priced Rukka outfits like the Kemi, the Comfo-R and even the Voyage-R.

The simplest explanation would be to state that the Kalix 3 is Rukka's least expensive, laminated, Gore-Tex outfit. And it is.

One up from the Kalix is the Voyage-R. Like the Kalix 3, it's an AA-rated, Gore-Tex, laminate suit. But it's got lots more bells and whistles, so the jacket, for example, comes in at £1100 rather than the Kalix's £700. Which makes £700 for the Kalix jacket seems like a bit of a bargain, given the various warranties, the Level 2 armour it comes with, and so on.

In truth, the Kalix is more aligned with both the Kemi and the Comfo-R, both of which come in at around £800.

The Comfo-R comes with a Gore-Tex membrane, but it's a drop-liner one rather than a laminated one. For 90% of bikers this should not be a problem. Only a very small proportion of riders really need laminate gear. What you get with the Comfo-R that you don't get with the Kalix is stretch in the outer fabric, so it's a much more comfortable suit. Drop-liner garments are warmer too. The fact is that we like drop-liner garments. They are totally reliable and easy to live with. But of course lots of bikers have convinced themselves that if there's a rain cloud on the horizon they need a laminated outfit. Nonsense, obviously, but it is what it is.

The Kemi is the other suit that comes in at more or less the same price point as the Kalix. It too has stretch in the outer fabric, so will be nicer to wear than the Kalix. The problem with the Kemi is that it doesn't have a Gore-Tex membrane. So you get Rukka's six-year warranty, but not Gore's lifetime one.

The other thing that cannot be ignored is that, like the Nivala, both the Kemi and the Comfo-R are single-A rated. Because of Rukka's huge armour that doesn't mean a lot with a Rukka suit, but there are a lot of people who are more concerned about how a suit performs on paper than about how it will perform on the road.

But, on paper, it cannot be denied that the Kalix 3 appears to offer a lot. It's AA-rated. It costs less than Rukka's Gore-Tex, drop-liner suit. And less than their laminated non Gore-Tex suit. Again, on paper that's a bit of a slam dunk.

Of course, we would always recommend trying a suit on, and comparing it with those outfits that do a similar job. £700 for a Rukka laminated jacket, and £600 for the matching pant may seem like a bit of a bargain. But not if they look awful, don't fit, and are uncomfortable to ride in.

In truth, the Kalix 2 was not the nicest bit of kit out there. It is still to be seen whether its replacement is going to be a whole lot better.

The Rukka Kalix 3 jacket

I am going to go through the spec. quite quickly. It's not that it's not relevant or important; it's rather that a list of attributes can be a bit dull. But here goes.

The jacket's outer shell is re-enforced with extra layers of 1500 denier Cordura on the shoulders and elbows. (It is this, by the way, that allows the jacket to achieve its AA rating).

The collar is lined with neoprene. There are volume adjusters on the biceps. You get Velcro flaps at the hem. There's a full-length zip that allows the jacket to be attached to the pant. On the outside of the jacket there are two water-resistant, zip pockets.

The membrane is a Gore-Tex, two-layer, laminated one that ensures there won't be any wetting out.

There's Rukka's own, huge, Level 2 armour in the shoulders and the elbows. You get vents in the shoulders, up the flanks, and in the back.

And that's it. There's nothing wrong with the Kalix's spec., but you might want to know what you don't get that you do get with some Rukka jackets.

Well, there's no thermal liner. There's no neck protector concealed in the collar. There are no zips at the ends of the sleeves, and you don't get GTX cuffs. There's no stretch in the outer fabric. Nor is there any concertina banding to aid comfort.

There is a pocket for a back protector, but it's not included. Same goes for a chest protector. That's probably about £500 or more of added features. So one might suggest that the Kalix jacket is not genuinely a bargain. Rather it's a case of Rukka being able to bring the price down by removing some of the bits that make a jacket nicer to live with.

The Rukka Kalix 3 pant

As is pretty much always the case with Rukka, and indeed most manufacturers, the construction of the pant reflects that of the jacket.

So that means a two-layer, Gore-Tex, outer shell with 1500 denier reinforcements. The largest, Level 2, D30 in the knees and hips. A couple of pockets. Long zips at the bottom of the legs sufficient to accomodate any touring, and most adventure, boots. Incoming, but not outgoing, vents on the thighs. A full length connector zip. And an adjustable waist.

Again, what you don't get is any kind of thermal lining. You also don't get braces which, on a pant like this, we would always recommend.

What you do get are three different leg lengths, which we think is vital if you want Rukka's non adjustable armour to sit in the right place. In fact, most retailers will only carry the regular and short lengths. But we will carry the long-legged version too.

The pant comes in at £600, making the suit a total of £1300.

Our conclusion

For us here at Motolegends the Kalix 3 is a slightly fraught proposition.

And that's because, for many of our customers, comfort is a, or the, critical factor. If you ride for pleasure, and not for work, you don't want to be wearing a suit that's not nice to ride in. And that's why we like suits like the Nivala, the Kemi and the Comfo-R.

But even we cannot argue with the value offered by the Kalix 3. There are obviously cheaper suits out there, but very few offer the package you get with Rukka, so we stand by our assertion that the Kalix delivers a lot for the money.

If you are the kind of rider who buys on the basis of ticking boxes, as opposed to trying stuff on, you will find it difficult to ignore the Kalix 3.

An AA abrasion-resistance rating. A six-year Rukka manufacturers' warranty. Four pieces of huge, Level 2 armour. A Gore-Tex, laminated membrane with a lifetime waterproofing warranty. And pretty decent venting. At this price point we don't know of anything that comes close.

We really cannot find fault with the Kalix 3. The only thing we would suggest is that, if you're interested in the suit, come and see us. Try it on. Make sure you get the right size and the right leg length. Sit on the bike here in the shop. Compare it with any of the suits I've mentioned in this bulletin. You may come to the conclusion that the Kalix is indeed the one for you. But equally you may find that you're going to enjoy riding more in another suit. That's why we're here.

Finally, for those who think the Kalix is still expensive, there's a little exercise we sometimes go through. Basically, you're guaranteed a six-year minimum working life with a Rukka suit. Take the £1300 cost of the Kalix 3, and divide it by six. That's less than £220 a year this suit is going to owe you. And if you do a lot of biking, it seems to us that that's not a lot of money.

you could look at it another way. We offer 12 months, interest-free finance, although strangely nobody else seems to these days. You'd pay a £130 deposit, and then 12 monthly payments of less than £100, after which the suit would still have five-years' guaranteed life left in it. Does that make the Kalix 3 expensive? Well, in a world where a pack of cigarettes comes in at not far short of £20, we think not. After all, that £100 a month is equivalent to about three cigarettes a day.

The fact is that if you want or need a Rukka suit, despite what you might think, you probably can afford one!

You can buy the Rukka Kalix 3 jacket and pant with free next day UK delivery online, or visit our store in Guildford to try on a suit.