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The Richa Armada is a high-end jacket designed to take the battle to Rukka, Klim, Stadler and Halvarssons. And this is ambitious because, historically, Richa has very much been a mid-market brand.
But the Armada does have a spec. that is truly a match for the best out there. In styling terms, it is a longer jacket; perhaps not quite ‘adventure’ long, but it’s going to be long enough for anybody, especially with its lowered back.
It’s a laminated jacket made from a Gore-Tex three-layer Pro Shell material. You get Level 2, D3O armour in the shoulders, elbows and back. On the shoulders and elbows, there are panels of both Armacor and SuperFabric. This is impressive, but given all these components we are surprised that the jacket is only A rated under EN17092.
One of the key benefits of laminated garments, other than their resistance to wetting out, is that they offer direct-to-body venting. And so the Armada has loads of vents. Two impressive peel-back panels on the chest. Zipped vents under the arms. Vents on the forearm. Two rather strange little vents on the belt line. And three exhaust vents on the back.
The rest of the spec. is equally impressive. An integrated kidney belt. Five outside pockets; the same again on the inside. A double storm flap. A storm collar. A perforated inner placket. A tab to hold the collar open. Adjuster straps at the waist and on the arms. A drawstring in the hem. Lots of 3M reflective material. Zipped gussets to allow the jacket to splay on the bike. Short and long connecting zips. The jacket comes in three different lengths, but the importer is only bringing it into the UK in the regular length
Nobody has crammed more into a motorcycle jacket than Richa has done with the Armada. But therein lies a potential problem. There’s a lot going on with this jacket, and the result is a garment that we simply feel is not going to be particularly nice to wear or ride in. Sometimes less is more, and whilst one can only admire Richa’s ambition in taking the fight to the big boys, the battle is lost if the jacket is not wearable.
There’s another issue. The price. Richa has no credentials or experience at this end of the market, yet they expect you to pay more than you would for some of the best, technical suits money can buy: for example, the Rukka Nivala, the Stadler Supervent or the Klim Kodiak.
Well that would be the case if you removed the thermals from the Rukka and the Klim. The Richa represents an amazing first attempt at a premium jacket, but we would do not believe that many will be prepared to pay Rukka money for a Richa!
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