Klim Traverse | Adventure Motorcycling Handbook

Tested: Klim Traverse GTX jacket XL

In a line: Smart lightweight Gore-Tex shell with unobtrusive armour.

Price: £350 from FC Moto.de + ~30% taxes

Weight: 1400g (verified)

Size tested: XL (me: 6″1’/95kg)

• Just enough to do the job
• Looks smart
• GTX Performance ought to keep me dry
• Unobtrusive armour included
• Inner pocket quite big

• For the money you could probably get something as good in the UK
• Inferior venting to previous version
• A bit too black irl – will get hot
• XL = ‘US XL’ so a bit baggy on me

What they say:
The redesigned [2020] Traverse is engineered to meet the demands of unpredictable weather conditions found in full seasons of dual-sport riding. Redesigned with a focus on increased comfort and reduced bulk, you get full weather protection with more durability than a regular rain jacket and less bulk than a fully built adventure jacket. The lightweight waterproof jacket will let you ride all season long with the confidence to conquer the weather.

Review
This is my second Traverse, after owning Klim’s original Overland which got revised to become the Traverse 2 in 2016.

Though I haven’t crashed fast for decades, and fall over at low speed once or twice a year, I never felt protected in my two recent Mosko Surveyors. I’m not sure the Surveyors’ thin, elastic fabric would abrade that well, compared to what we call Cordura. They were perhaps an over-reaction to baking in the chunky Mosko Basilisk, better suited to harder-crashing rallying or non-tropical overlanding. Of course on my 800g Surveyors I could have worn on-body armour or an armoured pullover, like Adv Spec’s Supershirt 2 (right), but who wants yet more clobber? And even then, it didn’t claim to be showerproof so needed something else.
What I really wanted was my old Traverse 2 back. I left it in a Spanish hotel to save weight on a ride to Mauritania that got nixed by Covid. Two years later I’m sure the Klim was long gone.
For what I do (mostly to and from Morocco in the cooler months), a minimalist, wear-all-day, hard rain/rare crash protective shell suits me, with room underneath for layers, when needed.

Your Traverve GTX comes in a ‘lightweight’ shell/body (200D?) with the black areas in tougher 500D – and all of it more robust than my Surveyor. The Gore-Tex Performance is I think one of the better levels. I find expensive membranes breathe properly while still being genuinely waterproof, where cheap membranes err towards waterproofness, and so soon get clammy. I expect the GTX to confidentially shrug off long downpours, at least for a couple of years.

Size wise, XL is a bit big on me; as we know US sizes are bigger than UK. The right fit would be best, but better too big than too small, and my Large T2 was on the tight side. XL will make room for my Mosko electric puffa.

For the first time I’m not drawn to removing bulky shoulder and elbow armour which is unobtrusive, D3O Level 1 LP1. The whole elbow/shoulder armour thing is over-rated: it won’t stop broken collar bones, but will of course lessen more common low sides onto your pointy joints. The four pieces of armour weigh 380g; once removed the GTX weights 1020g, a bit less than the T2 previous version.

Venting may work on a basic dirt bike where you might be better off with a full breathing mesh jacket. I’m usually on a light travel bike with a screen which minimises any venting benefits, unless standing up.Unlike the huge front and rear ports on the old Traverse 2, the T-GTX merely gets two-way armpit vents, but my new small-screened Serow home the other day, I did notice the vents airing when I sat right back to try and ease saddle aches.
I can already tell that on hot days, the black will generate more heat than the vents can purge, but online I liked the colour combo, so that’s what I have.

Pockets on the GTX are basic too: a couple at the hem, another outside on the chest, and all behind water-resistant zippers which will get clogged by dust until wiped down with a damp rag. Inside is a biggish zipped pocket that’ll easily take a passport, wallet and phone.

I’ll miss a rear game pocket which, on the Mosko’s, I found it handy to stash stuff you don’t need frequently but always want with you. The Traverse’s mesh sleeve for the back protector could be put to similar use and I’ll probably get round to installing a big inner drop pocket, as I did on my Overland (left).

The jacket is good and long at the back and in the arms and adjustability to keep out draughts and cold adds up to cinch cords at the hem and on the lined collar, plus velcro cuffs.
More impressions of my Traverse GTX once I actually get to use it.

After 4 years, in 2020 Klim made the Traverse GTX reducing the vent system to a couple of pit zips and adding armour. In 2025 I bought one.

Tested: Klim Traverse 2 jacket

In a line: Smart looking, well vented and lightweight waterproof shell

UK price: £500 (2025)
(bought discounted from Adventure Spec)

Weight: 1025g (verified)

Size tested: Large (me: 6ft 1in/186cm • 205lbs/92kg)

• Light
• Has pockets for armour
• Dark grey is neither boring black not dull silver
• Vertical back vents work with a daypack

• Costs a lot
• Not an all-season coat without a heated liner or puffa
• Not convinced by cuff vents
• Miss the arm cinch straps from the Overland
• Left in a hotel in Spain in 2020 ;-(

What they say:
The KLIM Traverse line of completely waterproof, extremely durable and functional off-road outerwear is the benchmark in all-conditions comfort. Still unmatched in the industry, Traverse is the one solution trail and dual-sport riders can count on to deliver the most enjoyable ride in the most miserable conditions.
This generation of the Traverse receives an intelligent redesign to match the off-road legacy of our Dakar lineup’s improvements including a refined fit, updated reflective materials, and intelligent ventilation system improvements. As durable as ever, better fitting and with an increased comfort range, the Traverse is designed to take the threat of rain out of your riding equation. Ride all day, any day, every day in absolute dry comfort.

Review
As with some of my bikes, my Klim Overland was a jacket I’d have been happy to keep were it not part of my self-styled job to keep trying new things. Then in 2016 they dropped the Overland and replaced the original 2010 Traverse with the updated and much lighter Traverse II I have here.
Pitched as a light, trail-biking jacket, rather than high-speed touring coat, it’s more or less the same as an Overland but without armour included, elbow cinch straps and less reflectivity too. Plus it comes in a less dreary range of colours. Besides the ubiquitous black there’s a dark olive green and the slate grey I have here.

The light, Gore-Tex 2-layer nylon 66 body shell fabric and spread of durable 500D Cordura patches over the arms broad match the Overland – just about adequate for 4-season riding if helped by a heated vest, and up to crashing with a bit of armour. The main zip is two-way, with a velcro rain flap and rain gutter.
The adjustable, velcro-tabbed microfleece collar is less of a tight fit than the Overland – or at least it has a velcro closure, not pop studs. And there’s the same adjustable bottom hem to keep draughts at bay.

Vents are the best arrangement I’ve used for truly effective airflow: two huge slanted zip vents on the front (easily opened and closed on the move), with matching smaller exhaust vents at the back (less easily operated with the jacket on, even at a standstill). Vertical back vents still work when wearing the typical daypack.

They’ve added lower arm vents to the Traverse II which I’m not convinced are that useful when you can just open the velcro cuffs. The rationale is that all vents enable you to keep cuffs, front zips and other adjustments closed so armour doesn’t dislodge too much when needed. Although I rarely use it, it’s good to have inner pockets for optional elbow, shoulder and back armour.

Inside there’s the same lightweight mesh liner while will support the addition of some mesh drop pockets, as I did on my Overland (left). Or, you can use the rear vents to access all the space between the mesh and the shell.
In large it’s a snug fit on me with not much room for too many bulky layers, but that’s what a good heated vest is for. For that, I found the arm-cinch straps on the Overland were good at pressing the heated liner down on to the arms for added warmth. If it’s a long ride you can do as much with elastic or straps.
Other than that, I much prefer the slate grey and nearly black colouring, even if reflectivity has taken a back seat on the Traverse II. Looking forward to Traversing some miles with testing downpours.

Sadly, in March 2020 I left my Traverse 2 in a hotel in southern Spain for what was to be a ride back from Mauritania a few weeks later. That didn’t work out then Covid struck. A year and a half later I doubt I’ll see my T2 again. I am sad.

I’d consider buying the redesigned 2020 Traverse GTX (left). It also looks smart but now simply has pit zips for vents so offers much less flow-through, but less leakage potential too. After a couple of seasons with a Mosko Basilisk then a much lighter Mosko Surveyor non-membrane softshell, I bought a Traverse GTX.

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Klim Traverse GTX jacket

Tested: Klim Traverse II jacket