Why We Chose The Adidas Terrex Techrock Gore-Tex Pro Jacket: Well-built, top-level performance, very lightweight for a four-season shell
We reckon most people, at one point or another, will have owned some clothing or footwear made by Adidas. If you grew up in the ‘80s, you probably had a pair of shell toe Superstars or Stan Smith trainers. If you grew up in the ‘90s, it was more likely to be a pair of Predator football boots, or maybe a pair of ‘poppers’: those three-stripe track bottoms with side press studs that were the height of teen fashion.
You might not have worn much of their outdoor kit though. Adidas only truly entered the outdoor scene in 2008, when it launched its hiking and climbing-focused Terrex brand. Since then, the range has expanded massively, and now covers the full spectrum of clothing, equipment and footwear. The latest range also includes some real top-of-the-mountain kit, including the Techrock Pro jacket, made with Gore’s high-spec Gore-Tex Pro waterproof-breathable fabric.
Who is the Adidas Terrex Techrock Gore-Tex Pro Jacket for?
This technically advanced mountain-ready shell was developed by Adidas in conjunction with their elite team of high-altitude athletes, including German Alpinist and boulderer Fabian Buhl. As you might expect then, it’s built for nailing hardcore climbing and mountaineering routes in seriously gnarly conditions.
“The Gore-Tex Pro fabric performs superbly.”
In short, if you’re an all-weather adventurer and need a rugged and reliable waterproof jacket, this might be the shell for you. Why look at the Techrock rather than rival offerings from other outdoor brands though? Well, this one brings Adidas’s distinctive style to the summits, for one thing, but more significantly it’s also lighter than many other similarly-specced jackets. That’s an impressive bit of design from the German brand.
Materials and Construction
The Techrock Pro is made from three-layer Gore-Tex Pro fabric, which sandwiches the membrane between a rugged nylon face and a soft knitted tricot backer. This ensures top-quality waterproof-breathable performance, excellent moisture wicking and maximum comfort for a hard shell.
It’s also a striking-looking jacket, particularly in the brighter yellow- and gold-hued colourways. It’ll certainly help you stand out in the mountains, which wins you brownie points from a safety perspective as well as style points. Mountain Rescue will find you much easier to spot in an emergency scenario. Having said all that, it comes in black too if bold colours aren’t your thing. In all cases, you get the brand’s trademark three stripes emblazoned on the hood.
Features
The Techrock ticks all the boxes for a technical shell. You get a high, protective collar, combined with a fully adjustable, helmet-compatible hood, two large external chest pockets complete with water-resistant Vislon zippers, fully adjustable cuffs and hem, and a highly water-resistant two-way main zipper. That’s pretty much the standard feature set for a mountaineering shell, but all the elements are present and correct, and well designed too. There are no added extras, but that befits the Alpine-style design ethos: all you need and nothing you don’t, providing maximum functionality and minimum weight.
That latter point is a stand-out feature. The Techrock tips the scales at just over 400g in a men’s medium, which makes this one of the lightest all-season, winter-ready mountain shells around – comparable to premium brands like Arc’teryx.
