Weise Navigator textile jacket review: The cheap, safe, and stylish sweet spot?

I will be honest: I prefer to wear leather jackets when riding. Their various inconveniences aren’t that inconvenient to me. But I’m unique, and I’ll concede there are a lot of things to like about a textile jacket. They can be more comfortable, more versatile, more functional, and, of course, they look more appropriate when riding an adventure bike.

The curse of any textile jacket is that it naturally wears out faster than leather. A £1,500 Rukka jacket, for example, is really only guaranteed to last five years – a fraction of the lifespan of my Hideout Touring leathers. So, when it comes to textile gear, there is a strong incentive to focus on the affordable end of things, trying to find the sweet spot on the Venn diagram of Cheap, Stylish, and Safe.

The Weise Navigator is one of the few jackets that sits pretty much dead center in that diagram. I’ve been wearing one for about six months now, clocking up thousands of miles in almost every weather condition. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Weise Navigator Specs

Key Features

Class AA safety rating and Level 2 Armour: AA is the second-highest classification for abrasion resistance, making it best suited for touring gear. Weise equips the Navigator with CE Level 2 armour in the shoulders and elbows. More notably, it includes a CE Level 1 back protector—something most competitors refuse to give you at this price point.

Visibility: The jacket only comes in black, which does you no favors at night. There are small strips of reflective material dotted about, but not enough that I would rely on them.

Pockets: The Navigator has seven pockets in total (with the thermal liner attached). You get two large Velcro cargo pockets up front, a zippered waterproof breast pocket large enough for a modern smartphone, and a map pocket at the rear. The thermal liner adds two handwarmer pockets and an inside patch pocket.

Ventilation: There are two large chest flaps that can be zipped open and pinned back to allow massive airflow, plus a small zippered exhaust vent on the yoke.

The Standout Feature: Laminated Waterproofing

In textile gear, there are generally two ways to stay dry: a removable waterproof inner membrane (a "drop liner") or physically bonding the waterproof membrane to the outer fabric (lamination). 

Drop liners breathe better, but the outer shell quickly saturates in the rain, making the jacket heavy, cold, and slow to dry. I rode Scotland’s NC500 in a drop-liner suit a decade ago and was miserable because my gear never fully dried overnight. Never again.

Laminated garments stop water at the surface. They keep you warmer and dry almost instantly. The drawback? They are usually incredibly expensive. The Weise Navigator stands out because it is one of the few laminated jackets on the market for less than £500.

(A quick caveat: If you’re facing an eight-hour slog through a named storm, no jacket is truly waterproof. I always carry proper waterproofs just in case).

Look, fit, and feel

The Navigator is a good-looking, sturdy piece of kit. I would happily use it as my go-to touring jacket, but there is one rather large problem. Literally.

Weise’s sizing is wildly inconsistent. A size M Weise Outlast Houston jacket I owned years ago fit perfectly. This size M Navigator is far too big.

It fits OK across the shoulders and arm length, but the neck opening is large enough for two of me – a flaw made worse by a useless slide-adjustable collar button. The belly area is equally voluminous. My friend Morgan occasionally rides with his dog strapped to his chest; I could easily tuck that dog inside this jacket with me. The jacket desperately needs a bottom hem adjuster to cinch up the drafts.

Sizing Advice: Try this jacket on in a shop. Failing that, buy it from a retailer with an excellent returns policy. You may need to drop a size.

Once you figure out the sizing, comfort is excellent. With the puffer-style thermal liner in, it’s cozy enough to wear all day. With the liner out, it’s light and unrestrictive.

Wet-weather performance

I’m confident the laminated fabric works, but I can’t be certain. After a 150-mile motorway ride in the rain, my shoulders and upper arms were soaked through.

It’s possible the waterproofing simply gave up against hours of high-speed rain (equivalent to a tropical storm), but I blame the massive neck opening. The water likely bypassed the collar and soaked into the exposed front of the non-waterproof thermal liner, wicking up to my shoulders.

I’m also wary of the main zipper, which isn’t waterproof (it relies on a Velcro storm flap). This was the fatal flaw on my old Weise Outlast Houston jacket, and it’s a potential ingress point on naked bikes.

Cold-weather performance

When it’s not raining, this jacket is brilliant at keeping me warm. And I am a rider who gets cold very easily.

At motorway speeds, I am "happy-comfortable" for up to 45 minutes in 9ºC weather wearing just the Navigator, the thermal liner, a T-shirt, and a sweater. (Note: The thick thermal liner eats up a lot of space, so you can’t stack too many base layers without restricting movement).

The thermal liner itself is a highlight. It looks like a standalone lightweight puffer jacket. When you finish riding, you can take off the outer shell and wear the liner to the pub without announcing to the room: "I’m a grubby biker."

Hot-weather performance

Most of the photos in this review are from my week riding the new Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 Mana Black in India, where temperatures hit 35ºC. I was worried about wearing a black jacket in that kind of heat, but the Navigator was surprisingly comfortable. The huge, lung-sized chest vents pull in a massive amount of air when pinned back. When paired with the (admittedly oversized) neck opening and unzipped cuffs, the airflow is superb.

One quirk: there is no built-in way to hold the storm collar open for airflow. My workaround was hooking the Fidlock button of the collar to the Fidlock connector on the left chest vent. 

Based on how well it performed in India, I’m confident it it will handle a British summer without breaking a sweat.

Verdict

You can find "better" jackets than the Weise Navigator, but you will pay markedly more for them. Its closest rival is likely the £400 Oxford Stormland Dry2Dry, which lacks a back protector.

For the price, the Navigator is an excellent four-season touring jacket. The construction is solid, the materials feel durable, and the laminated waterproofing is a massive premium feature at a budget price point. If you understand its limitations in torrential rain – and if you can find one that fits properly – it is worth the money.

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