Kit Guides

From a first glance, you may not notice too much difference between our Aquafleece® Robe and the Aquafleece® Rigging Jacket. And that’s totally understandable, after all they’re made from the same iconic Aquafleece® material, are available in the same colourways and just look like two long coats. But we’ve been listening to our customers as we’ve been meeting them at shows in the UK this year, and we feel as though they deserve a comparison spotlight so you can make the right choice. Similar they may seem, but let’s take a closer look at what makes these two coats completely different, and find out which one is the best match for you and your lifestyle. We’ll compare the fit, the price and the technical features and function of the two to help you decide. Size Getting the right size for your equipment and gear is essential for experiencing the ultimate enjoyment from your day. Learning the difference between the sizing options of our Aquafleece® Robe and Aquafleece® Rigging Jacket could be the difference between why you purchase one from the other. Robe: One size fits all (Junior available). This gives everyone room to have the option to use the robe as a changing tool. Wear the robe over your wetsuit, zip yourself in and remove your arms to comfortably get changed wherever you need. Adjust the cuffs to suit your arm length when worn as normal. Rigging Jacket: Comes in sizes; Junior, XS/S, M/L, XL/XXL and XXXL/XXXXL and is designed to be ever so slightly oversized, so you can fit your buoyancy aid under when transitioning from rigging to sailing. If you’re looking for more of a day-to-day style, this one might be a better option for you. The Rigging Jacket should come to your mid-thigh and the adjustable cuffs allow you to tailor the wrists to your arm length. Length & Shape We’ve thought very carefully into the shapes of our Aquafleece® Robe and our Aquafleece® Rigging Jacket. Their unique functions and uses mean the lengths are slightly different and here’s why. Robe: The ‘one-size for all’ fit means the robe is much longer in the body than the Rigging Jacket. The robe will come to your mid-calf, or your ankle at the very most. The length is designed to allow you to feel comfortable getting changed, and for keeping the elements off from your whole body after you have been fully submerged in the water. The Aquafleece® outer shell will keep the wind off you whilst getting changed too. Rigging Jacket: The coat should come to your mid-thigh at the front, and it has been designed with a lower tiered back to protect you and your clothing from wet surfaces when you sit down or lean. The longer back also allows for rain and spray to run away from your core, keeping you warm and dry for the rest of the day. Lining It’s the inside that counts the most, and that is certainly true if you’re comparing these two garments. It’s the lining of these coats that truly set them apart in design and purpose, and ultimately complete preference to the customer. Robe: The robe includes a fleece terry lining, which is fully removable. The lining is extremely warm and cosy in very cold weather and exposed elements, but acts double as a soft towelling material to dry you as you change. The lining can be removed completely, including the arms and hood, to allow you to wash the inside of your jacket, so you can freshen up your robe for your next adventure. This is the first changing robe on the market to have this ability. Rigging Jacket: Like our other Aquafleece® range, the Rigging Jacket has a soft and smooth ‘short’ fleece lining throughout, including the pockets. This makes the jacket more lightweight, but with the Aquafleece® windproof shell, this is still a great option for you if you’re prone to feeling the cold, but manoeuvrability is required.  Hoods Not the most obvious comparison to make on coats, especially when made by the same manufacturer, but the hood could be the reason you pick one coat over the other if you’re looking at costs and technicality. Robe: The robe has a spacious hood. Just like the rest of the robe lining, the inside of the hood has a terry lining to aid drying your head and hair. The hood has a soft Aquafleece® shell which keeps the wind off your head. Rigging Jacket: The hood of the rigging jacket is much more structured than the robe, and includes a peaked cap to protect your face from elements such as rain and spray or as a block shield from the sun.* The Rigging Jacket also has a reflective patch on the top of the hood, which is visible when you wear it down, a great safety feature for off-shore sailing and walking in low visibility.  Cost Comparing the cost between the two is an important part of piecing together the aesthetically set apart differences. The features listed indicate that the Rigging Jacket is in fact a more technical product and this is reflected fairly in the price point. Robe: £165 A competitive price for a high tech changing robe, the first on the market with the ability to remove the lining for the purpose of keeping your robe hygienic. The Aquafleece® material has a Polyurethane coating on the outside for water resistance, durability and flexibility. The Aquafleece® Robe being our largest Aquafleece® product, you would assume that it would be the most expensive in the range.  Rigging Jacket: £172.50 The Rigging Jacket price attracts plenty of questions when we compare the two coats. If the Rigging Jacket is smaller in size and length, then why does it cost more over the heavier and larger Robe? The Rigging Jacket may have lighter properties at first glance, but when we take a closer look at the structured hood, this explains the slight price increase as the hood is much more technical than the Aquafleece® Robe’s.  Use Depending on what it is you’re most likely to be doing, taking a closer look at how these coats were designed to serve the customer, the ergonomics that have gone into the process are fit for purpose. But depending on what that purpose is will be the decider.  Robe: Primarily designed for the on-the-go, quick changing, watersports mad individual, the concept of the changing robe has stretched beyond the boat park in the UK. Customers are tending to use them for day-to-day errands such as commuting, walking the dog and even going to the shops. It’s hardly a surprise whilst our winters seem to get colder every year. The robe was created to give the option to change in the most convenient way, and giving the ability to wash this after use, but you can use it how you wish! Rigging Jacket: Rigging by name, rigging by nature. The rigging jacket was created to keep you warm and dry whilst you get ready for your day out on the water. It's also perfect for coaches out on the rib all day long. But like the robe it has transferring powers taking you from the boat park and beyond into everyday activities due to its lightweight feel but weather battling qualities.   photo credit: AASailing We hope that looking into more detail, we've have helped you understand the differences between the two, and have given you food for thought when choosing which one is better suited to you. If you’re still struggling to decide, then please feel free to get in touch with our friendly customer service team if you’re still not sure. *Please don’t use the peak of the Rigging Jacket to protect your eyes from the sun alone, we advise you use proper UVA/UVB protection sunglasses

Originally launched in 2019, this jacket has been an all-time favourite amongst the team at Rooster HQ, as well as our community on and off the water. So much so, we’ve decided to restock it into our core collection moving into the 2023 season. With so much disruption over the last few years with the pandemic unexpectedly hitting us all hard, with the offset hugely effecting the clothing and production industry, it has become more and more apparent to make sustainable choices, not only in the development process but also in the consideration of if we are to keep a product in the collection. This one wasn’t plain sailing (excuse the pun), even though there is a lot of demand, our main priority is always to try to make sure that we have enough neoprene in stock to feed our community. Often the tech casual range ends up taking the hit when priorities have to be considered.  Whenever we do reintroduce a product, we always make sure to make little tweaks to ensure that the product can be the best it can. Often these go unnoticed by the innocent eye, but we know about them. The reason we blend the updates into the current models is so that we can support our dealer/distributor network and limit the consequence of leaving them with a load of ‘old’ stock, with too much product on the market. We’re not a fast fashion brand, so our motto is to only replace when necessary.  Back to the reason you probably headed to this blog - to find out about the development of the Superlite Hybrid jacket. Well here you go: The design team at Rooster are on the constant hunt for the best materials to be used on our products, with considerations into durability, performance, environmental impact, source-ability, end of use, lifecycle, all with the overshadowing reason for sustainability. Sustainability is such a broad term with so many factors dialling into the term.  Can you ever make a fully ‘sustainable’ product? I will leave this question open.  So, after the decision to reintroduce this jacket, the team looked at all the feedback we have had on the previous version, personally and from customers. This particular product was not hard to gather feedback, as I mentioned earlier, it is widely worn by the team. And although the original version was a sturdy and great jacket, we felt that there were some small improvements that could be made to make it functionally even better. Used mainly for active wear, and when doing sports, the jacket now benefits from some extra space around the shoulders so that it can move with you better. As a sailing brand, where many of our community actively partake in other sports like swimming, climbing, and rowing, the lat-gain* can be a real problem. Our latest update to the fit will go a long way for functionality.  As part of our general love and mindfulness for our playground (aka the planet), we also try to, where possible, use recycled fabrics or low impact fabrics. We know this is not the complete answer to solving climate change, but in a field where technical garments are still hugely reliant on manmade ‘plastic’ products for performance, we feel like moving away from ‘virgin’ fabrics, will at least help in the process. Enter the recycled fabrics used on the jacket, with the addition of recycled filling/padding and a slight increase in thickness to give that extra bit of insulation.  The final improvement that we made was to change to a ripstop recycled nylon for the outer shell fabric, as with any jacket of this nature they can be susceptible to snagging. The ripstop outer will prolong the durability of the product, meaning it should last longer and be stronger – we’ve tried to take the worry away from you that you might damage your jacket so you can get on with enjoying it – whether that be on a hike, sailing around the coast or whilst tinkering with your boat on the shore. * large latissimus dorsi back muscles due to working out or partaking in certain sports.