RAB Nimbus Jacket Review

Life as a landscape photographer, needless to say involves a lot of, well, being outside in the landscape. I am always being battered by the elements, whether that is driving rain, freezing snow or simply the warmth of the sun. So I’ve decided that it would be good to review a few of the outdoor clothing items that I wear in the field.

Now, I’m a bit of an enthusiast when it comes to outdoor clothing and I spend way too much on it. Saying that, I have a saying that I use which goes along the lines of “there is no such thing as bad weather, but there is such thing as bad clothing”, so I tend to do my research.

I’ve actually owned the Rab Nimbus now for a few years, so I have put it through the ringer! So, lets begin the review of the Rab Nimbus jacket…

The Rab Nimbus

Overview

The Rab Nimbus is a mid weight, synthetic, insulated jacket. This means that Rab has used Cirrus (featherless) insulation to fill the baffles of the coat. What does this mean? Well, in short, it means that you get the warmth of a down filled coat but without the pitfalls of having down. Its undoubtable that down filled coats are warm, but that does come at a cost. Down coats as warm as they are, suffer from clumping! Clumping forms in down jackets when they get wet, or you scrunch it up too much. What happens is, the feathers inside effectively ball up, leaving gaps in the tubes of the coat (baffles). This will seriously effect the warmth of the jacket if you aren’t careful about protecting it. You won’t have this problem with the Rab Nimbus and its syntactic fill. The synthetic fill also reduces the size and bulkiness of the coat, which also makes it easy to move in. This is important for a landscape photographer like myself.

The jacket itself fits well, which is perfect for keeping the cold wind out and those important warm air pockets against you. With a draw cord at the back of the coat, you can pull it in firmly against you, so the coat fits snug. The coat comes with a hood, which comes with a elastic brim to keep it snug over your head, however, it doesn’t come with a draw cord to keep it secure. I personally haven’t had an issue with it snapping off my head, even in the strongest of winds.

The Rab Nimbus is not waterproof, or even water resistant for that matter. I’ve been caught in this coat in showers and the water has soaked through, but, the coat isn’t designed to be worn in the rain without a waterproof outer layer anyway.

According to Rab, they rate the synthetic filling of the Nimbus to be the equivalent of a 600 down filled coat. I personally would dispute this, but it certainly is a very warm coat, especially for how light weight it is.

One feature I love about the nimbus is the ability to pack it into its own pocket. Its seems such a simply thing, but its so useful when you are traveling and want to pack it away into a backpack or a suitcase. I’ve even used the packed jacket as a travel pillow, which worked perfectly. I’ve also used it as a pillow whilst wild camping on Dartmoor!

I’ve been impressed with how good it looks after years of use! I mean, it literally looks brand new. I have traveling around the world in this coat. I’ve crawled through bushes, slid down hills and fallen over more than once in it, and it still looks brand new.

My Final Thoughts

The Rab Nimbus is up there with one of the best items of outdoor clothing that I own. I really can’t fault it. Its warm, light weight and durable. It has a great fit, and I can move around in it without any restriction. It is snug around the wrists and the waist and it still looks amazing after being batter and abused for a few years.

It has been, and will continue to be a great companion for me on my landscape photography trips during those winter months and cold summer night hikes.

Overall, I would rate this jacket a 5 out of 5 and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending the Rab Nimbus to anyone looking for a warm jacket.

I would also like to make it clear that this is an unbiased review of the coat. I am not affiliated with Rab in anyway, shape or form. The coat was purchased with my own money.

All the best,

Tim Monaghan