Years ago I invested in my personal safety with the purchase of a Scorpion XDR Commander jacket. Since then I’ve spent about 10 years and over 50,000 miles abusing it with annual riding through all four seasons (rain, snow, and Sun). I rode it through 100 degree days in wide open country. I rode it in 27 degree mornings down the highway. Days and days of endless pouring rain. With all that in mind we can turn this into a ten year review of my experience with a great piece of riding apparel.
We’ll start with all the bits that have worn out, mostly because I’m a bad news first kind of guy. The hook and loop (commonly known by the brand name Velcro) of ten years ago could be compared to how sandals from the 1800’s compare to a sneaker from now. Let’s just say that if you have any jacket that’s 10 years old and has hook and loop then it’s most likely toast. The Commander is no exception. The cuffs loop gave out in year one and have been flapping free ever since. I don’t snug my cuff anyway. The liner loop stays closed tolerable after all these years. I had to hand stitch new loop for the storm collar because I continued to use it each year.
The second bit was the waterproof zippers on the chest vents. They are the fancy coated zippers and are laminated to the outer layer of the jacket. Like all good things the lamination has come to an end. I think I got about 8 years in before the zippers started to de-laminate. Again I hand stitched the zippers (very difficult, bytheway) and prolonged my journey.
Zipper pulls take quite a beating. Open close, open close, open close, stuck on the liner . . . dag nabbit! After 6 years I lost a vent pull. 9 years and the main pull on the jacket started to fail. Still attached but it’s only a matter of time. None of the zippers themselves have blown. Not too bad considering I close all the vents in the morning and open them in the afternoon 5 days a week.
And now the good bits. If you inspect my jacket you will notice the shell has taken all impacts without so much as a scratch (minus the two holes I burned into it years ago). I’m impressed every time I hit the ground. Full disclosure, I’ve never had a high speed letoff (don’t intend to), but I’ve been down more than once and this jacket carries on. It’s been comfortable and conforming for all these long years. I’ve always found it to be stylish and functional. The stitching has remained tight and the jacket was always ready for anything I could throw at it. Xtreme Distance Rider was as apt a sentiment as one could place on such a high quality jacket.
Unfortunately I must address the big purple elephant left in the room. Yes a purple elephant. With all the sun, rain, and more sun my once super cool black jacket is now a less cool black jacket with purple accents. I suppose I could hit it with some shoe polish, or two dozen sharpie markers, but instead I decided it was time to put the ole elephant out to pasture. Time to look for a suitable replacement.
Luckily I didn’t have to look for very long because I already knew I wanted the Scorpion Yukon jacket that came out a few years back. As luck would have it I bought one the moment my wife said I could and despite a certain carrier that shall remain unnamed for legal reasons, it arrived and was put to the test right out the gate. Check back in ten years and I’ll post up my Changing of the Guard 2.0 review. We’ll see if the Yukon can outlast the OG XDR Commander.