Review: Adventure Spec Supershirt

Another type of tail tidy...

If you've been following up-and-coming UK ADV gear company Adventure Spec, you'll be aware that for the past two years they've been developing an armoured shirt to meets Europe's stringent AA standard for motorcycle protective gear. Last year, Adventure Spec revealed their development program and offered early adopters a chance to get one of the first production items. I immediately plunked down a buck to hold a place in the pre-order line. Today, after a year of development delays and then a website ordering demand that appeared to have set servers on fire, I finally was able to purchase and receive one of only 48 or so "Supershirts" allocated to North American customers. While I haven't had a chance to ride in the shirt yet, here are some initial observations that may help you determine if this is the right gear for you when the Supershirt is officially launched and inventory becomes available later this summer.

For reference, I'm 183 cm tall (6'-1") and 91 kg (200 lbs) of generally athletic build, but carrying a bit more middle than usual. My chest is 107 cm (42") and waist about 88 cm (34"-35") depending on pants and how many tacos I've just eaten. For most riding gear I seem to fit a Large, so that's the size of Supershirt I ordered. It fits perfectly: snug but not uncomfortably tight, with perfect sleeve length to slot my thumbs in the holes and not have wither bunched fabric or numb thumbs.

Adventure-Spec does not seem to have listed technical details of the Supershirt on their web site, and I'll leave it to them to do that. Here I'll only cover my observations and first impressions.

The first thing I noticed is the surprising weight of the shirt. Mine weighs 1710g in Large, although the tag indicates 1670g. The material is tough and stretchy, and a little coarse. It appears to be two types of fibre woven together with the outer face material (which is dark gray to almost black) probably an aramid abrasion material and the inner layer (light gray) being more of a comfort/structural layer. It is not a mesh structure: you can barely see light through it and only if the light is bright and you stretch the material. 

Given the roughness of the weave, it should allow sweat to escape reasonably well. Wearing the shirt with a 150-weight Merino wool T-shirt on underneath, I found it warm but not uncomfortable in my workshop's ambient temperature of 24C with high humidity (it was raining). I didn't find the inner material to be uncomfortable or grabby on my hairy arms. 

The Forcefield armour is all Level 2 and substantially thicker than the Level 1 armour in my 2018 Klim Carlsbad jacket. When putting on the Supershirt, I find I snag my fingers on the pockets inside the sleeves that hold the armour. One solution would be to add some Velcro to hold the pockets closed (and reduce the risk of tearing them) but for now the snagging just feels like a minor annoyance that I can avoid with practice. 

The back armour does not extend to the lumbar region and I immediately noticed this when I first put on the Supershirt. It felt much shorter than the D3O armour in my Klim jacket, but measuring proved me wrong. However, it is significantly shorter than the back armour in my AlpineStars armoured shirt shown in the pic below (more on this shortly).

Back protector is about 16.5" long.

The AlpineStars back protector extends over the lumbar region. 

The AlpineStars jacket/shirt makes an interesting comparison to the Supershirt because like the Supershirt, it has back, shoulder, elbow, and chest protection--as well as a kidney belt. However, it is clearly not designed to be worn as an outer layer and I've mainly used it under my Klim jacket or a Klim Pro jersey which is tougher than a regular jersey. The AlpineStars mesh has proven to be quite fragile under normal wear. It's torn just putting on the garment, so I've been reluctant to wash it.

The AlpineStars mesh is fragile and the armour isn't removable. 

Here's the Supershirt's Forcefield armour compared with the Klim D3O.

The back protectors are almost identical in shape and size.

The Forcefield is about twice as thick as the D3O, as needed to get that Level 2 protection (versus the Level 1 of the D3O). 

While the back, elbows, and shoulders all use the same yellow armour, the chest uses three layers of black material bonded together in the centre. 

All of the armour feels like the type that hardens under impact. I imagine it'll conform nicely to my anatomy once it's warm and I've worn the shirt for a while. 

The elbow and shoulder protectors are also similar to those in my Klim jacket, although twice as thick and Level 2 versus the Klim D3O's Level 1. 

Here's how the Supershirt fits with just the light T-shirt on underneath. (Where'd that belly come from?!) On a hot day, I'd probably ditch the T-shirt because the Supershirt is going to get sweaty anyway, so why create more laundry?

The Supershirt fits under my Klim Carlsbad jacket (size Large; armour removed) just fine, and I didn't feel that mobility was too restricted. I don't know how the current CE-rated Klim Carlsbad compares, but I would think that its improved forearm design helps mobility. I never really liked how the forearm zips work on my 2018 jacket: they're impossible to zip up without stopping my ride and removing my gloves so I can hold the ends of the jacket sleeves. Won't need to bother with that when wearing the Supershirt!

The Klim jacket with armour removed weighs 1310g. Adventure Spec offers their "Singletrack" waterproof jacket which weighs 710g. While I agree with Adventure Spec's philosophy of "light is right", the combination of Supershirt and Singletrack jacket weighs 2412g compared to 2010g for the Klim Carlsbad with armour in. Of course, with the Adventure Spec combo you're getting certified Level 2, AA protection (versus Level 1 for the Carlsbad) as well as a chest protector. The additional protection comes with a weight penalty. I think the main advantage of the Supershirt in this case is you don't need the jacket: the shirt alone serves as the outer layer. So really, you're comparing a lighter, breathable (but not waterproof) protective layer with a waterproof (but not breathable) and heavier jacket. 

While the Supershirt should be great for hot-season riding, what about shoulder seasons or cold days when you need heated gear? Here's my First Gear 90W heated jacket over the Supershirt. No significant mobility issues. 

Of course, it's unlikely I'd wear just the heated jacket over top (although that's an interesting idea to test). So here's the whole shebang layered with the Klim on top. 

This made me feel more like a sausage and my forearms were noticeably less comfortable. But it does work, and usually when it's cold and wet for me (like 10 hours of rain at 8C) it's because I'm stuck on a long highway run and not trying to navigate technical trails where more mobility is required.

To meet AA protection requirements, the Suupershirt sleeves require thumb loops. No discomfort using them inside my Held Steve gloves (size 9.5 Long, by the way--fantastic gloves).

One thing that doesn't seem to work with the Supershirt is my Atlas neck brace. I have the brace adjusted to fit over my Klim jacket, so it may be possible to readjust it to open a bit wider on the Supershirt. As it is, the brace doesn't sit on my shoulders, even with the chest strap. It just springs up. I don't always wear the neck brace (it interferes with my Kriega R15 pack), but it would be great to have the option and have it be comfortable. 

Speaking of necks, if Adventure Spec is reading this (hi Greg!) I recommend scooping the front of the neck hole lower by about 1cm. It's in just the right position to chafe a little bit, but that may ease up as my Supershirt breaks in. 

Overall I'm impressed with the quality of this shirt and would summarize it as follows.

Pros:

• It's one, breathable layer offering CE AA protection. Wow! I anticipate this transforming how I enjoy my riding, especially in hot weather. 
• It's comfortable to wear but tough material. Construction quality is high.
• Armour is well placed and held snugly in position. 

Cons (well, suggestions really):

• Although the garment has been tested and certified to meet the CE AA rating, I'd like to see the back protector extend to the lumbar region as that can be a high-impact area (as with the tail bone) in trail riding. 
• Neck hole could be a wee bit lower in front.
• Armour pockets could use a tweak so fingers don't snag so easily on them.
• Adding a second, lower pocket pouch for the back protector (or a Velcro sizing adjuster in a single, larger pouch) could allow the use of a longer back pad for lumbar protection if desired. 
• Adding a couple of Velcro strips on the back would make it easy to attach an optional kidney belt (a.k.a. belly modifier...ahem).
• Cost. I received a "VIP" discount as a result of being an early-adopter a year ago and feel the price even at full retail is fair considering the quality of the garment. However, as a Canadian, the combination of USD to CAD exchange rate coupled with an exorbitant shipping/brokerage fee from UPS ($160!), taxes, and duty brought my final price to CAD$568.81--almost double the cost of the shirt. The regular retail cost to Canadians will be significantly more than that (no VIP discount). In my experience with ordering international goods shipped to Canada, it's often been much cheaper (and faster) to order direct from the EU, Japan, or Australia than from the US. I would like to see more vendors offer Canadians more fulfillment options. I raised these points with Adventure Spec and they recognize the issue and are considering options.  

Major kudos to the team at Adventure Spec for launching the Supershirt. Version 1 looks great and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it works out over time.  I'll try to update this review later this summer once I've had a chance to do some long rides with it.