Icon Hooligan Mesh Jacket - a review

Lately friends and family have been bombarding me with endless motorbike accident stories; and while I usually laugh these things off, a couple of them made me think about things a bit more. So much so, that I actually went out on the search for a jacket with a bit more protection than my trusted Loser Machine hoodie. What did I find? You ask, well the wife hooked me up for father’s day with a sweet Icon Hooligan Stealth Mesh Jacket.

like henry ford said, "you can have any color you want; as long as its black"

One of the main reasons that I haven’t worn a full on armour protected jacket is because they usually fit like shit. Most jackets seem to be made for 110 lb mini dudes, as they are cut super slim and short, while at the same time being bulked out so much at the shoulders that you look like an extra from Iron Man, wack. Additionally, i don’t dig on looking like Rossi while getting my morning coffee so I’ve been on the constant search for a well fitting leather or mesh piece.

Thankfully in the case of the Icon, the jacket fits more like a streetwear jacket rather than some wack street racing strait jacket. Additionally, the black on black, on black is clean and fits my favourite color profile: black on black. Yep, the jacket is shorter at the front than how I would like it, but the rest of the fit makes up for it, as it fits more like a hoodie than a classic motorcycle jacket. The jacket is also comes with a zip in/out liner which is pretty cool and makes the jacket great for a variety of weather. Speaking of weather, we are still experiencing weather that resembles March rather than mid June, so needless to say I have been riding the jacket with the liner zipped in all the time. The jacket is also loaded with padidng without looking like its loaded with padding (if you know what I mean) and fits nicely without making you look like you are trying out for a milli vanilli video.

Coming in at around $200 CDN, I would say that this jacket is definetley worth its price. Its packed with CE approved armour (even comes with a full back protector), vents amazingly well, and also looks more like something you could wear around town rather than only at your local bike meet. Yeah, i know some of the icon stuff is a little too Affliction styled, but this one is mellow and low key; Nice work icon.