Altura Nightvision Typhoon Men’s Waterproof Jacket

The Altura Nightvision Typhoon Men’s Waterproof Jacket is a commuter cycling jacket intended for use both on and off the bike. While it offers sufficient waterproofing, making the detachable hood big enough to accommodate a helmet means it’s oversized when you aren’t wearing one.

Altura gives its Nightvision Typhoon jacket a 10k rating for both waterproofing and breathability, which is a pretty sensible balance for its likely usage.

That level of waterproofing, which is partly the product of a PFC-free durable water repellent coating, is sufficient to withstand generic British rain for a good few hours. I was blessed with uncommonly severe weather on one test ride (lucky me), and it easily stood up to half an hour or so of the heaviest rain it’s ever likely to see.

This seems sufficient for typical commuting durations, for which the breathability also feels adequate. Unzippable underarm vents provide you with further airflow when necessary, as do mesh vents on the back – provided the flaps shielding them from rain aren’t pressed shut by a rucksack, anyway.

The fabric is relatively thick and there’s no attempt to make this packable, so it’s not one you’ll be throwing on for summer showers.

The Nightvision Typhoon is available in two colours: hi-vis yellow and the slightly lower-vis ‘electric blue’ tested here. The reflective detailing is subtle but meaningful with a couple of sizeable patches on your lower lower back and a dappling on the arms for when you’re signalling.

Fit and features

Altura suggests the jacket offers a ‘relaxed multi-use fit’. I tend to reside in a medium-large grey area with most brands and habitually play it safe with size large in cycling gear. I should have paid more attention to that promised relaxation on this occasion though, as the large is near the upper limit of acceptability for me.

As a commuter jacket it isn’t designed to be a close fit, of course, but I’d still say if you’re caught between two sizes, go for the lower one. I suspect the medium would have been spot on for me.

There’s decent length in the arms and a meaningful drop at the rear to keep you covered when stretched to the bars.

The detachable hood is very much cycling specific rather than multi-use, in that it’s sufficiently gargantuan to swallow a helmeted head. Personally, I found this too much. Although the hood impeded my peripheral view far less than I expected, I still don’t really like riding with one. More significantly however, it is so vast as to be all but unusable off the bike, as it’s a battle to keep it from covering your eyes.

Sure, you can cinch it in with the drawstrings, but it takes some serious cinching to get anything approaching a decent fit, and it isn’t the easiest thing to uncinch afterwards. If having a hood over your helmet is a priority, maybe this is the jacket for you, but personally I’d far rather have a workable hood off the bike on a jacket like this.

Rounding out the features are two good-sized zip pockets on the front and another on the chest that is also fairly large.

Value

At £130 the Nightvision Typhoon’s pricing is far from ludicrous, but there are cheaper options, including the brand’s own Nightvision Nevis at £80.

The price difference is because the Nevis is a lighter, more packable option. The excellent Chapeau City Jacket is also usefully packable, although it’s also more expensive at £149.99 – if you can get one. Chapeau may or may not have shut down, saying it’s on an ‘extended cafe stop’ and that, “Chapeau is currently taking a pause while we carefully consider the best path forward for the brand.”

The Galibier Zephyr Adventure jacket (£78) is another affordable lightweight option, boasting a slightly higher waterproof rating of 13k and 12k for breathability.

Further up the price spectrum, I’m currently testing the excellent POC Men’s Motion Rain MTB Jacket at a somewhat intimidating £250. The hood is a more appropriate size for a jacket that looks good both on and off the bike, but the reflective detailing is rather minimal. Review coming soon.

For more options, check out out our best waterproof cycling jackets buyer’s guide.

Overall

If you’re looking for a waterproof commuting jacket that works well on the bike, the Altura Nightvision Typhoon Men’s Waterproof Jacket has much to commend it. However, for a ‘multi-use’ jacket, the massive hood compromises its off-bike usefulness.