Nov 25

Nov 25 Haglöfs Roc Nordic GTX Pro Jacket (2020)

Haglöfs Roc Nordic GTX Pro Jacket (2020)

Type: Shell / Use: Active / Face: Nylon / Insulation: n/a

Technologies: GORE-TEX Pro 2.0 Most Rugged, Most Breathable, and Stretch

To entry-level gearheads, each and every product can feel like an adventure in itself. This fabric does this. This feature does that. And they could have only come together in this particular fashion, to enable this particular purpose. A flip through a catalog (remember those?) promised joys of discovery, plural. Part of it was novelty: who knew these particular things existed? But more than that, there was inspiration.

Every so often, a jacket comes across my radar that just gets me excited in that same childish way.

While I wouldn’t recommend the Haglöfs Roc Nordic GTX Pro to many, you - and your inner catalog kid - need to know about it.

Let’s start with the headline: the Roc Nordic features all three varieties of GORE’s new GORE-TEX Pro 2.0 in the same garment.

Around this time last year, GORE announced a second generation of its venerable GORE-TEX Pro fabric. Gen 2 would see the base GORE Pro textile speciated into three distinct flavors: a geared-for-durability “Most Rugged,” a higher-flowing “Most Breathable,” and a… uh… stretchy version called “Stretch.”

Arc’teryx relaunched the Alpha SV by cutting it all in Most Rugged. Norrona made their latest Lofoten from Most Breathable. Haglöfs, however, went #fullsend.

Each block on the Roc is a different shade of GORE Pro. Most Rugged highlights the shoulders and cuffs in red. Most Breathable joins it in yellow around the body. On the back, two panels of GORE-TEX Pro Stretch in black complete the jacket.

The Roc’s construction is nothing short of a technical achievement. These colorblocks form more than the Belgian flag - they form a 28,000mm/day+ piece of breathable waterproofing. As if building a garment in GORE Pro wasn’t hard enough, joining three different inputs - one of which is built to move ~20% - into a cohesive piece of high-output everything-proof almost seems like a pipe dream. Yet, Haglöfs pulls it off. And it’s fucking awesome just to see and wear.

I got to wear the shell around Colorado on a recent trip, and let me tell you: I looked for excuses to bring it out. High winds? Roc time. Snowfall? Roc time. Yeah, yeah, Wolverine photo meme, whatever. But this is the stuff your inner child loves! This is the stuff that makes the search worth it!

“All 3 GORE Pro’s in one hardcore mountaineering shell.” That’s the headline. So what about the body?

Function-wise, the Roc Nordic is every bit as mega as its spec deck would have you believe. Yes, it’s windproof and waterproof and much more jacket than you need - even on a 14,000ft ridgeline with 40mph gusts. Yes, it won’t breathe nearly as well as less-extreme shells. Who cares? It’s fucking awesome.

This is the point during most GORE Pro reviews where I refer to jackets like the Alpha SV, Exposure/2, or Raptor MiG as “overkill.” But the Roc Nordic isn’t overkill. In the spirit of Halo Infinite: it’s M-M-M-MONSTERKILL.

The Roc Nordic isn’t uncomfortable for a Pro shell. Cut for athletes and weighing 551g in size Large, it’s second only to the significantly-heavier Raptor MiG (750g) on my list of apocalypse hardshells that I enjoy wearing day-to-day. It’s also surprisingly breathable - perhaps less to do with the Most Breathable membrane that dominates it than the 40D nylon face fabric covering it, but hey, it flows.

What makes it so murderous is its pure ambition.

The Roc Nordic is packed with features: neck toggles, hood cinches, snaps, zips, expanding pockets, and yes, even a smartphone-saving “device pocket” insulated with Primaloft Aerogel. Putting on this jacket, even the most truculent Weekend Warrior can’t help but be humbled. There are people in this world to whom every nook and cranny on this jacket serves a purpose. For the Nordic alpinist and the catalog kid alike, it’s an absolute feast. But to the outdoors-adjacent style guy, it can get overwhelming - especially since the result of this breadth, aesthetically, is an unpolished look compared to contemporaries.

Part of that impression may come from its sheer scale. Your CoatChecker stands 6’4” tall and typically wears a size Large. The Roc Nordic - ostensibly fit for Haglöfs’ similarly tall Swedish countrymen - sits about 3 inches below his hips. In a size Medium. Here’s an artist’s interpretation of what it’s like to wear around town.

But I think the lion’s share of it comes from how the Roc Nordic chooses which of its features to digest and which to display.

Busy-ness to a point is charming when it comes to outdoors gear, and I think Haglöfs - most Scandi brands, in fact - generally finds a balance. That said: the Roc Nordic seems almost in between two identities. Black contrast zips hit like blunt instruments. Metal and ribbon fixtures seem at odds with its tech sheen. Most grating for daily wear, the combination of expanding hexagonal chest pockets and extended single-color body make the jacket almost top-heavy.

It’s neither the utility belt chic of a Klattermusen Draupner nor the streamlined shine of a Houdini Rollercoaster.

The result is an extremely ambitious outdoors jacket that wears like an extremely ambitious outdoors jacket, and little else. If that’s what you’re going for, the Roc Nordic is a Swedish pop hit. If it’s not, you’re going to have real trouble making this mesh with jeans, let alone chinos that don’t scream #hikingpants.

Overall, the Roc Nordic is an insane piece of functionwear that deserves consideration from athletes, gear guys, and threadheads alike.

At $750, it’s in the same stratospheric price range as other overkill hardshells. As for function: it’s packed with features, built to move, and comfortable for a GORE Pro carapace. Plus, there’s the barroom (remember those?) story of it using all three types of Pro 2.0! I’m certain that its use of all three membrane types is not the leading factor behind the Roc Nordic’s athleticism, but seriously, kudos to Haglöfs for taking a crazy idea and executing it.

It’s just that inability to style it that’s preventing me from turning my childish lust into wear-twice-a-week love.

While I loved using the Roc Nordic on the trails, I felt borderline self-conscious wearing it casually, even in mountain towns. No matter what I wore with it - black cargos, brown cords, sneakers, boots - this megashell dominated my outfit in a way that its contemporaries, even the similarly-vibrant, just did not.

The catalog kid in me loves everything about the Roc Nordic: the tech, the features, the sheer ambition. The city rat adult with a closet full of Vans and Uniqlo? Well, sometimes he doesn’t want to look like a catalog.