The Paramo Velez Rain Jacket is a waterproof/breathable rain jacket without a waterproof/breathable membrane like Gore-Tex. Rain jackets with membranes can only vent water vapor in a gaseous state, while Paramo clothing like the Velez Jacket can vent water vapor and liquid in the form of condensation or perspiration, leaving you much drier.

• Gender: Men’s (women’s available)
• Pockets: 4
• Piz Zips: No (but there are upper arm vents)
• Velcro Cuffs: Yes
• Adjustable Hood: 2-way, with bendable wire brim
• Hem Adjustment: Yes
• Zipper: 2-way
• Weight: 24.2 oz (Men’s L)
• Pros: Stay drier because the jackjet can vent liquid, not just water vapor, warmer than jackets with waterproof/breathable membranes
• Cons: Heavy, too warm in hot weather, Expensive

How does the Paramo Velez Rain Jacket work? It has a soft, quiet microfiber exterior fabric and an internal mesh backer that lines the torso and sleeves. This makes it a comparatively heavy rain jacket to wear, weighing 24.2 oz in a men’s Large. The exterior of the jacket is treated with PFAS-free Nikwax DWR so it sheds rain, which beads up and rolls off the jacket’s exterior surface.

The Velez Jacket has bicep vents that can be used as pockets instead of pitzips

The mesh backer hangs loose inside the jacket and absorbs water vapor, liquid condensation, and liquid perspiration. It also insulates the jacket by trapping warm air inside and creating a temperature differential that helps transport moisture through the microfiber exterior in gaseous or liquid form. The Jacket can still release moisture when the DWR coating wears off, but at a reduced rate through the microfiber surface or through vented pockets. Paramo’s marketing spiel likens this process to animal fur, calling it directional venting, but I think it’s far less mystical or magical than they try to make it out to be.

There’s no reason why you can’t wear the Paramo Velez Jacket when it’s not raining, like winter, but I’ve found that it becomes uncomfortably warm as the temperature approaches the mid-50’s Fahrenheit. When I wear it in colder weather, I usually take off my mid-layer because the jacket’s mesh liner makes it too warm to continue wearing.

The vented torso zips and pockets are hipbelt compatible

Temperature Regulation

While the Velez Jacket doesn’t have pit zips, it offers several very effective venting options. These can help reduce the jacket’s internal temperature when worn, so you perspire less.

1. The jacket has a two-way zipper so you can be vented from the front. Two snaps at the base of the zipper help keep the zipper tracking properly.
2. There are two mesh-lined chest vents that, when opened, lead to zippered handwarmer pockets, which are hipbelt compatible and also made of mesh. You need to be careful when using these to store items so they don’t accidentally fall out, although this quickly becomes second nature.
3. Instead of pit zips, two vents over the biceps can also be used as pockets. Items stored in them can drop down your sleeves into the gap between the mesh liner and microfiber shell, but are easy enough to retrieve.
4. Both sleeves have velcro cuffs, so you can pull them up your arms to dump excess warmth.

The Paramo Velez Jacket has a mesh liner.

Velez Jacket Hood

The Paramo Velez Jacket has the best hood I’ve ever used on a rain jacket, and one that is designed first and foremost for hikers and not climbers or skiers. It has a rear volume adjustment and buried cords in the front that let you adjust the size of the face opening. There’s also an extended brim with a thick, shapeable wire and a high neck to protect you from driving rain and wind. My head sits in the back of the hood, well protected, even in driving rain. Rain jackets made in the UK frequently have great hoods, but this one takes the cake.

Performance

The Velez Jacket is great to wear in colder weather and during the shoulder season months between winter and spring, when it can snow or rain. It sheds extended rain quite well but shows some signs of wet out where the DWR coating has worn off and the exterior fabric has become saturated. Despite that, the interior of the jacket where it touches my baselayer, remains dry and comfortable. That’s very different than when I’m wearing a waterproof/breathable jacket with a membrane, where the interior will become cold and wet due to condensation, soaking the clothing underneath.

The outer fabric becomes wet when the DWR coating wears off.

Is the superior performance of the jacket due to the mesh liner or the lack of a breathable membrane? That’s a hard question to pin down, but I think it’s both. The mesh liner is good for wicking moisture to the exterior fabric where it can evaporate, while the lack of a membrane means that the jacket can vent liquid condensation or perspiration, something that waterproof/breathable jackets with a membrane can’t do. The combination means that you will stay warmer and drier longer with the Velez jacket.

Recommendation

The Paramo Velez Jacket is a waterproof/breathable rain jacket that does not have a waterproof/breathable membrane like Gore-Tex, which gives it the ability to vent liquid condensate or perspiration, in addition to water vapor. Lined with a wicking mesh, it creates a temperature differential that moves moisture from your skin to the exterior of the Jacket where it can evaporate more effectively. While comfortable in cooler weather, the Velez Jacket becomes too warm to wear as temperatures increase into the high 50’s or higher.

Disclosure: Paramo donated a jacket for review.

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