The Indian monsoon is nothing to be trifled with when it comes to waterproof gear, so a little before its onset this year, I purchased the Viaterra P300 waterproof liner. I’ve used enough Viaterra products by now to know that they work as intended, which is why I splurged on the P300. There are more affordable rain liners from Viaterra if you’re on a tight budget.
Wearing a rain liner over an armoured riding jacket is cumbersome – there’s no two ways about it. But the P300 eases things to quite an extent. For example, the cuffs are nice and wide, enough so that even if I’m wearing my Grid full-gauntlet gloves, my hand can also slip through without a second thought.
Then, there is the inner mesh lining, which helps with comfort as it lets the P300 slide over your jacket instead of bunching up in areas. It also makes the rain jacket easier to get on and off.
But by far, the most helpful feature is the zipped vents on the front of the jacket. I’ve found that even in the heaviest of downpours, it’s best for my comfort to keep them fully open, and since there is a Velcro closure that keeps the top and bottom of the zip closed, there’s no water ingress at all.
In fact, I remember using this exact trick when I was efficiency-testing the Bajaj Freedom CNG bike at slow-moving Mumbai city speeds for nearly three hours with the P300 on in the pouring rain, and I remember being pleasantly surprised by the airflow that was allowed through to me. This is what makes it worth the extra money for me.
My only gripe is that this jacket is slightly shorter at the front, which Viaterra has done to prevent the jacket from bunching and pooling water. On the one hand, Rishaad liked this feature in his P300, but I found that the bottom two inches of my riding jacket got wet in continuous heavy rain. Perhaps the next iteration can have a slight increase in the length.
Another point is that the hood is removable, which is a great feature, but it would be nice if there was a pocket or some provision in the jacket to store it. At Rs 2,499, the Viaterra P300 is the most expensive of the made-in-India rain liners, but after staying dry as well as reasonably cool for this past monsoon, I can confidently say it’s well worth the investment.
Where: viaterragear.com
Price: Rs 2,499
Also see: Viaterra Holeshot Pro gloves review
Viaterra Munro custom fit pants review
