Outdoor Research Women’s Aspire 3L Rain Jacket
The new-and-improved OR Aspire 3L GORE-TEX Jacket offers the perfect amount of waterproofing, breathability, and useful features. Even better: it comes in a wide range of sizes and colors.
The first time I tested two dozen rain jackets to determine the best options for women, Outdoor Research’s Aspire II jacket was the only one that had every special feature I was looking for and still delivered on performance. Its latest iteration — the Aspire 3L — builds on everything that made its predecessor so great, now with one huge improvement: A new proprietary 3L fabric that’s waterproof, breathable, and certifiably sustainable.
I had found that the Aspire II jacket’s main drawback was it wasn’t technically savvy enough for heavy-rain outings. But with the new upgrades to the Aspire 3L, Outdoor Research has bumped it up to be a highly technical rain jacket. It works great whether you’re caught in a quick passing thunderstorm at a sports game, or on a multi-hour hike in the Pacific Northwest.
It’s more technical (and well-ventilated) than ever before. This jacket is made with three layers of a proprietary material that’s treated with Nikwax DWR, which I witnessed cause each water droplet to bead up and roll off the surface. The extra layer makes it slightly thicker than the Aspire II, but I found the 3L to be equally breathable on hikes in Colorado and during humid rainstorms in South Carolina (plus, absolutely no water seeped in during our 60-second drench test).
Fabric aside, it has fully taped seams, vents to dump heat and keep you dry, and a well-designed hood with drawstrings to cinch it down when the wind kicks up. My field of vision was clear even with the hood on, which was not the case for each jacket I tested.
It moves with your body. New to the redesign, the Aspire 3L is constructed with what the brand calls “movement-mirroring stretch.” This refers to the strategically-placed stretch panels that are integrated within the 100% recycled nylon shell. These flex in every direction, so you aren’t fighting against your jacket while it’s, say, pinned down by a backpack. It’s a nuanced feature, but one I appreciated the more I wore the jacket.
It comes with helpful features. The Aspire 3L jacket has three roomy, external pockets (all zippered and waterproof), including a chest pocket that’s big enough for your phone. It also comes with adjustable Velcro wrist cuffs.
One feature that sets this jacket above the competition: the OR TorsoFlo vents, which unzip nearly the whole side length of the jacket from armpit to hip via two-way zippers. This way, you can release heat from the top as needed, or add more mobility at the bottom if you’re on a bike or wearing a waist dog leash.
It’s more sustainable than most rain jackets. The forever chemicals, PFAFs, are pervasive in high-quality waterproof apparel. But the Aspire 3L is treated with Dry DWR, a PFAS-free waterproofing method. The coat is made from 100% recycled nylon fabric, and is the first technical apparel in the outdoor industry to be third-party certified carbon-neutral by Climate Impact Partners.
