VEAR 'Legs Jacket' Waterproof Trousers Test

Hello there. In this video, I've been given the opportunity to test a pair of prototype waterproof trousers. So, without further ado, let's get on to testing them. Now, the manufacturer is called VIA, and they're called the Legs Jacket, which might seem like a bit of a strange name for what is essentially a pair of trousers. Now, because you don't need to take your footwear off to fit these trousers, They do essentially go on a little bit like a jacket so it's quite an apt name really which you'll see when I come to actually fit them and over the next few days I'm going to be going out walking with them. I'm basically going to be sitting out in the rain with them. And I'm also going to be going cycling in them as well to test not only the waterproof and breathability of them but also to test the comfort and whether they actually stay in place as well. So far I'm pretty impressed with them but there is a few minor points that I'll be running through in the video which I think could improve them. So if you're interested in a prototype pair of trousers that you can put on like a jacket, please watch on. Now, before I actually start the various tests that I'm doing in this video for these trousers, I might as well just play you some of the VIA promotional videos instead of me slavering on about what they're made of and all that nonsense. I'll just splice in a few clips from their own website now. Introducing the Legs Jacket by VIA. Easy to use and comfortable to wear. Take it on in under 15 seconds and always stay dry. Sleek and stylish with a slim design can be comfortably worn over jeans and other pants. And it's waterproof, windproof, and breathable. The legs jacket is easy to store and carry. The back pocket acts like a bag when turned inside out, which also prevents the water from dripping. Pack it in less than 30 seconds and transport it easily after the rain stops. At night, this special material becomes highly reflective to keep you safe in the dark from any angle. This way, you can look good during daytime and be safe at night. You also need to protect your feet. That's why VIA comes with a removable shoe protector. The Legs Jacket by VIA is great for commuting, cycling, golf, and any outdoor sports. Okay, let's get on with the first test, which will be a cycling test. Okay, travel about 10 miles, right up onto the hilltop, just beyond a place called Concert. It's actually a place called Houndsgill Bridge. About 194, 196 feet high. It's a really tall viaduct where trains used to go over back in the day, but now it's a cycle path. Now that I'm up here, I'm going to put the VIA pants on and see what they're like when I go back. My hands are absolutely frozen. My feet are frozen. In fact, my whole body is really, really cold. It's only one, two degrees above freezing. And I haven't come up here very fast, so I'm absolutely frozen. I'm going to see if these add an extra dimension as far as insulation, windproofing, and hopefully, if it starts to rain, waterproofing as well. I may have to test the waterproofing on a different day. These guys coming past on the bikes are probably thinking, what the hell is he doing talking to himself? They feel pretty nice. Let's get on the bike and generate some sweat and see what happens. I'm not going to bother with the shoe protectors because I've got good quality outdoor cycling shoes on. Can't see the point in them unless they've got sort of dress shoes, you know, like smart shoes you'd wear for an office, which I don't actually own. Notice that the wind doesn't get through. I've got up to about 25 miles an hour. Couldn't feel the wind getting through. I still feel very comfortable whilst I'm pedalling. But one thing that they definitely need, they need some sort of strap here to tighten them up, to bring them in at the bottom. They're just too flappy. That's going to get caught in the chain. And I've already got mucky marks. On this one, where it's been touching the chain where the oil is, so that is something that needs addressing. You're going to have to tuck them into your socks, which is defeating the object of wanting to shed the water over your shoes, or you're going to have to put cycle clips on. Again, neither of those are ideal. It should have a strap or two straps on here, just velcro, to tighten that up to bring it in. That's one observation I've made so far. Okay, I've gone about another kilometer or so uphill. It still feels fine. Still fitting okay. That bottom of the trousers wearing against the sprockets and the chain is a real issue. I'm going to try putting the shoe protectors on see if that'll pull them out a little bit and keep them away from the chain. That's not going to make any difference. That doesn't pull them out. It's not going to make any difference. I'm bummed out at that because I really, really like the idea of these trousers. They've been fine when I've been going for walks in the woods and I wear big outdoor boots for that, like shooting boots. Being able to put waterproof trousers on without taking those off, without the risk of getting any muck down inside the legs of the waterproofs is a really good idea. So if you're kind of just walking around in the woods or if you get caught out in the shower, this seems to be a good idea. But... For cycling, the fact that the bottom of them are just too wide and flappy is a massive issue. I wouldn't recommend them for cycling in their present incarnation, but these things are still under development. You know, they're not the finished article. The guys who sent me this made that clear. This isn't the finished article, so they will make changes based on what people who are testing them notice and give them, by the way, feedback. Alright, it still feels okay. I'm not getting cold, so that means I probably haven't generated much sweat in here, or if I have generated sweat, it's got out. I've got about another 8km to go home. I might film something on the way back, I might not, but either way, I'll see you at some point before I get home. Almost back home now. It's in sight, about 300 yards away. I've got two issues with these trousers. They feel fine. My legs aren't claggy or sweaty or anything, and I was fair pushing it, as you can tell by my red cheeks, red arms, so they feel fine, but there is that issue of the rub on the right leg where the chain is, it just needs a couple of straps, just a couple of velcro straps, one, two, there, that would solve that problem, and also I've noticed when I was going down the hills and I wasn't really pedaling, it was quite windy, the wind was coming round. And it was chilling my back. These were sliding down a little bit. Riding down like that. And I wasn't up and down out of the seat. I was in the seat all the time. So it would be really beneficial if instead of a square cut, they could come up like that. Like a raised cut at the back would just help to protect the lower part of your back. I know ordinarily if you've got waterproof pants on, you're probably going to have a waterproof jacket on as well. But a lot of cycling jackets are very short. If they ride up and trousers ride down, you're going to get that back exposed and you're going to end up getting a bad back. So they're the only two issues that I've found so far when I've been cycling. And it was quite a ride, so that's not bad. You know, as I say, these pants are in development. I'll give them a waterproof test next, I think, because unfortunately it hasn't rained. That's the area where it's been rubbing. You can just see the muck off my chain and off the sprocket. That's not going to do the waterproofing down there any good, and it will wear it there as well. It's constantly in contact with a part of the bike. So just adding little Velcro straps on here, pull it in, would solve that problem. My legs aren't too bad. Certainly still warm enough. That feels a tiny little bit claggy, but it's certainly not wet. There's no visible moisture anywhere. Even the few hairs that I have on my legs aren't stuck to the body, so it hasn't got that wet in there. That's a very good sign. That would indicate that this is pretty breathable. As I say, it was certainly windproof as well. And the second test, which, to be fair, is probably what these trousers will be used for mostly, is the walking about stroke trekking test. Now, I've had to wait about a week and a half for good weather, i.e. bad weather, to test these trousers. So, there is a little bit of a delay between the cycling one, which I wanted to do in good weather. And the walking test, which is what I wanted to do in bad weather. Okay, just in case it doesn't come out very well when we're doing the landscape shots, that's how much it's raining. Quite a lot. Certainly more than a drizzle. That's proper rain. Right, the rain's fairly coming down now. Got our Gore-Tex jacket on, so that's going to keep us nice and dry on the top half. I've got high wicking trousers on, which doesn't mean to say that there's some pagan cult. They're wicking in that they wick the water away from the body. They do get wet, but they wick it away. I don't want to walk about in wet trousers until the sun comes out, hopefully. So, imagine we've got a backpack on. Whip this fella out of the backpack. And I'm going to put these on in real time. I think the company says it takes about 15 seconds. And I would imagine that's one of the guys that developed them, taking 15 seconds. So, see how long it takes me from the time when they come out of the bag. I'd say that was pretty good, it certainly wasn't 15 seconds, I'm sure it was longer than that, but they're on, and I should have a waterproof bottom half to the body now as well, let's see. Now hopefully you'll have noticed that when I put these trousers on, I did not have to take my boots off, I've got quite high boots on, they're approximately 10 inches high, with a lot of eyelets, and it would take a hell of a lot longer to put ordinary trousers on. If I had to undo all of them. So as I said previously in the video, I really like the idea that you don't have to take your footwear off to fit these. Obviously, a normal pair of waterproof trousers, you don't necessarily have to take your footwear off as well. You can just plough through them. But if you've been walking through the fields through cow muck and all manner of mud and mess, you don't want that scraped all the way up the inside of your trousers. And that's what these trousers are seeking to eliminate. Hopefully they'll eliminate the water as well. I'll have a good walk for about an hour or so. Probably take a few breaks in between to talk to the camera. And we'll see how they perform. Here's a good test for them. We've got some long vegetation on the other side of that fence there. So I'm going to spend a few minutes walking backwards and forwards through the long vegetation. And see if they keep the water out when there's grass and old nettles and so on thrashing them constantly. So far on this walk. These trousers have not restricted my movement at all. I've been able to climb over gates, fences, fallen logs. Pretty good on that front. Okay, we're back home now. My hat's soaking. Just spent half the time with my hood down. I'll check my top half, bone dry. Well, that's a real surprise. Where the zips are, I was honestly expecting a wet mark to be all the way down there. But by the looks of it, they haven't let any water in at all. Now, just an example of how easy these things are to pack away in the bag, which is actually the back pocket. You locate the back pocket with the word VIA on it, unzip it, flip it inside out, and you push everything inside of there. As I say, ideally, that wants to be done when the trousers are dry, not when they're wet. There you go. We need to go back in our backpack when they're dry. Let's do a close-up of the trousers there. That's the right leg. Obviously, the zip from the VIA trousers was all the way up here. And although these trousers are now getting rained on, up to that point they were still totally dry, even down the bottom where I had a lot of water splashing up over here when I was walking through the fields, so that's good. There you go, you can see how well they've protected my boots. This is bone dry, that's where the trousers came to. Underneath that obviously is wet, so that is very good as well. That's where the zip was down there and that's totally dry. So really, in summary, yes, they work very, very well. They are reasonably easy to put on, but you do have to practice it maybe two or three times before it becomes easy, I would say. The first couple of times I was thinking, where does this bit go? Where does that bit go? But when you realise that you just put opposing pockets, one on the front, one on the back, bring it together, zip it up, once you get the first one done, it's obvious where the next one goes because it's your other leg. So it is pretty quick to put these on, and the fact that you don't have to take muddy boots off to put them on is a real bonus. That's what attracted me to them in the first place. And I was interested to see if they were actually waterproof, which they were. They were comfortable, they didn't restrict movement, but there were a few points that I would like to address that would make them better. So I think what I'll do, I'll just put these together as if they are fitted on a person, and I'll just give you a little rundown of the three things that I think would make them better. I've already mentioned them in the video, but I'll do it when we're actually looking at the trousers, so you can see exactly what I mean. Now a lot of people are probably going to say that they would like to see Velcro where the flap is that covers the zip. But I didn't really find that an issue. The water didn't get in. Obviously it wasn't absolutely pouring down for hours and hours and hours, but I was out for about an hour and a half and it was very, very wet. And I was walking through long vegetation and it didn't leak in at all. So that isn't an issue for me. The first thing was when I was cycling, the bottoms of them or the bottom of the right hand leg was, wasn't catching, but it was rubbing on the chain and also on the large sprocket on my mountain bike. Eventually that's not only going to cover it in oil and muck but it has a chance of catching on that sprocket and actually tearing the bottom of this so a simple velcro strap on the bottom of there just to pull them in close to your legs would alleviate that, that would stop that from happening, that's point number one. Point number two was also cycling related and that is the back of these, in an ideal world I'd like to see them cut a little bit higher. Because when you're leaning down, pedaling up hills, like most trousers, they come down a little bit over your backside, exposing your lower back. A higher cut would keep the bottom of your back protected. When you think about it, these are all pretty minor points. As I say, it isn't in full production yet, and things will change. The third thing was, on the waist, I would just like to see a slightly bigger strap. That's a reasonable length of Velcro there, but if that was double the length, if this was double the length, it would give you the option to tighten it up much more around your waist. Now, I didn't find that they were flopping down at all when I was walking, but when I was cycling, I was aware that they were wearing their way down a little bit, and I wasn't up and down out of the seat. I was just in the seat all the time. I think that was a pretty fair test video, using them in the circumstances that they would be used in. Um... But what do you think? I would like to hear your views on them in the video description. I've pointed out what I think are the good points and what also could do with a little bit more work. But really, I just want to hear your thoughts as well. Okay, before I go, I would just like to thank the VIA company for sending me these trousers out to test prior to their production and eventually release, hopefully. I wish you the best of luck with them because I do think it is a very, very good idea. They perform well. And with a few little tweaks, they could be excellent trousers. Thanks very much to everybody who tuned in out of interest to watch this video as well. It's the first time I've ever tested anything outdoor related that is in the prototype stage, so it was quite an exciting thing to do. Even though, you know, at the end of the day it is just a pair of trousers. I get excited about strange things. And if I get the opportunity again, I would love I'd love to test any other prototype outdoor gear in the future as well. So if anybody has any ideas about what they think about these particular pair of trousers and also how they could be improved by the good points and bad points that you see, please put them in the video description. I'm sure that Veer will take a look at those comments and take them on board. Thanks very much for watching. See you in the next video.