See also:
Adventure Spec Linesman
Klim Overland
Aerostich Falstaff (waxed cotton)
Aerostich Darien
Mosko Moto Surveyor
Mosko Basilisk
Klim Traverse 2
Klim Traverse GTX (soon)

Quick look: Adventure Spec Gravel Jacket

In a line: Well featured, fully armoured, all-season shell for cooler or faster rides

Price: £549

Size and Weight: XL; 2520g or 1440g without armour (verified)

What they say:
The Gravel Jacket is a CE AA certified, highly durable, lightweight, waterproof, breathable adventure touring jacket. It combines everything Adventure Spec has learned about extreme off road and trail riding into the lightest adventure touring package. The Gravel Jacket is designed to be partnered with the Gravel Pant. It is constructed from a three-layer waterproof fabric that features a blend of Cordura Nylon 6-6 for high abrasion resistance, and PU film for extreme water resistance and breathability. Additional protective panels and removable level 2 armour protects back, shoulder and elbow impact zones. The Gravel Jacket and Pant is designed to keep you comfortable and safe while adventure riding on road, gravel and trails.

I had a close look for review purposes, took some photos, then returned it.

Quick Look
Adv Spec’s Gravel Jacket came out in late 2024 with matching Gravel pants. Up till now most of AS’s apparel has been gear for more active enduro or trail bike riders who value minimal clobber and may be layering up and down throughout the day. At £549 The Gravel is their top of the range CE AA, all-season jacket pitched at touring riders on bigger Adv bikes which are suited to long road miles and easy gravel trails. Using non-proprietary armour and PU membrane help keep the price down, while ticking many other boxes.

Out of the box the Gravel feels hefty with all the armour in place, and once on, the fabric is pretty chunky and stiff too – at least while new and compared to what I’ve been wearing lately. (Fyi: I am 6ft 1in/186cm, 210lbs/95kg.)

The 500D, grey nylon body fabric is an abrasion resistant, 3-layer bonded laminate, sandwiching a no-name membrane. That’s the best way to do it, compared separate zip-in liners found on cheaper gear which I like to think have had their day. Oddly, the contrasting woven, 240D kevlar reinforced polyester abrasion panels are also 3-layer. You’d think any simple, tough abrasion-resisting patch would do, and in fact according to the AS table, this 240D is less abrasion resistant than the plain old 500D shell fabric (which is how Aerostitch do their impact-area patches), but helps add a textured look to the jacket. This additional layering will improve water resistance but reduce breathability. It also means these impact-prone areas get no less than seven layers of protection if you include the armour pads underneath. You’re elbows, back and and shoulders will be well protected from impacts.

Size wise, new and stiff out of the box the XL Gravel initially felt a bit tight on me. But once the back protector was removed it felt much more comfortable, even wearing my Mosko electric puffa over a denim shirt – a typical riding set up for cooler temps. Sleeves are long, so is the back while the front is short. More dims below.

Adjustability includes two cinch pull tabs along the hem sides – it took a close look to work out how to operate them – plus velcro cuffs and another cinch at the back of the neoprene-edged, unlined collar.

Armour
Underneath and inside, five pieces of A-Spec-branded armour sit in pockets velcro’d to the shell’s interior. I wonder if an included back protector is mandatory to secure a CE AA rating. While good insurance for high-speed crashes, as said, I found the Gravel much more comfortable without the back plate (as I do with most jackets). On the scales this back pad weighed 565g, or over 20% of the jacket’s overall weight.

An elastic waist strap is sewn to the nylon sleeve housing the back pad (above left; below). They call it a ‘kidney belt’ but that’s something else: a stiff girdle-like band which MX racers use to support the lumbar region and keep their organs in place. All this stretchy band does is pull in the base of the back protector which may help keep out draughts. That could be even more effective with a couple of belt loops on the sides of the inner shell to pull everything in. When not used, the belt dangles down, or you can tuck it out of the way behind the back armour (below right). You’ll also notice a half-zip to join up to Gravel pants for the same draught eliminating effect.

On the arms, the two pairs of shoulder and elbow armour came in at 514g. I’d be happy to leave those in place, but by comparison the more pliable and slimmer D3O on my new Klim weigh 380g and could be easily swapped into the Gravel’s armour sleeves.

The whole elbow/shoulder armour thing must be another CE requirement, but it won’t stop over-the-bars broken collar bones. Some jackets I’ve had included a bicep cinch strap to pull in baggy arms out of the mirror line, while also keeping otherwise loose elbow armour in place. If you’re serious about armour, remove everything from the Gravel to save over a kilo, and wear something like A-Spec’s padded SuperShirt. It’s yet more clobber, but will probably be way more comfortable and effective.

Venting air flow looks a bit constricted on the Gravel, but then I’ve not actually tried it. On the forearms you have a couple of short, mesh-backed zip vents (above) which it’s hard to see being very effective. There’s another set on the upper sides of the chest with exhaust vents on the shoulder behind (below left and right).

Apertures are on the small side and will be better than nothing, but as on other jackets, the trend for mesh backing means they can’t open fully to get a flow on. For more venting you might as easily open out the cuffs and unzip the one-way front zip, then do some of the poppers back up. Or, do as Dave did in the Comments, and cut open the mesh to maximise the flow.

Pockets add up to a couple at the hem (below left), and another pair outside on the chest but behind the poppered storm flap (below right) which means you don’t need to open the main zip to access them. Water-resistant zippers up here mean that a passport, wallet and phone ought to be well protected from downpours, but condensation in a pocket may add humidity.

On the back is a huge ‘game pocket’ with studs over another water resistant zip. I find pockets like this a handy place to stash essential but rarely needed items which you never want to be parted from. It’s a long time since I’ve been as supple as Olga Korbut, but I was able to open both poppers and slide the zip while wearing the jacket. They don’t mention it, but inside the game pocket is a buttonhole slot to feed out a long hydrator hose. It would have to come out around the neck – close enough to your mouth – but means you can dispense with wearing a hydrator daypack, another clobber ‘win’!

For comparison I tried on my new Klim Traverse GTX (to be reviewed). It felt flimsy by comparison – or you could say it felt a whole lot lighter and less clobber-like, while still being Gore-Tex waterproof and armoured at the arms.

As I found with Mosko’s similar Basilisk, the Gravel Jacket would be too heavy for the sort of easy trail biking I do in Morocco. Road touring on a big Adv you’ve already surrendered off-road agility for all-conquering road manners, and something like the Gravel Jacket, or even the full outfit, will add to your feeling of invulnerability.
Thanks to Adventure Spec for sending out the Gravel for a quick look.