Macna Ascent jacket review

The Ascent’s concept, one has to acknowledge, is brilliant. The benefits of a down jacket, combined with the benefits of an electric one.

The core electrical components of the Ascent jacket are exactly the same as Macna’s longstanding Centre jacket. The Centre jacket never generated the highest levels of heat; just 50 Watts, as opposed to the 90 Watts of, for example, the Warm&Safe heated jacket. But for those of us who don’t get up at five on a November morning to commute into work, the Centre jacket was more than enough. It was warmer than anything that wasn’t heated and, of course, as it was powered by the bike it would generate heat all day long.

The Ascent will do the same. And more. Because of the jacket’s down filling, it will trap warm air in the way that no other heated jacket does.

But let’s be clear. As a standalone down jacket, the Ascent is no Klim Maverick. it’s no Rukka Down-X. It’s no Arcteryx. It’s a down jacket, the constituent parts of which are 90% duck down and 10% duck feather. Yes it will trap heat, but at this kind of price you are not going to get the the very highest ‘fill-power’ rating.

We’ll come on to talk about all the technical aspects of the Ascent jacket, but the only downside we have come across is that it takes the jacket a little longer to warm up. With the Centre, the heating panels were almost in touch with the body. You could very swiftly feel the heat that was being generated. It takes longer with the Ascent because it’s the air inside the down that is initially being heated. This is not a problem. Ultimately, the jacket stays warmer, and for longer, because the heat is being held within the down.

It is just nonsense to suggest, as some people do, that there is anything complicated about heated gear.

All you need to do is connect a harness to the bike’s positive and negative terminals. The connecting lead then hangs down on the right hand side of the bike, poking out from under the saddle. You then connect the lead from the jacket to the lead from the battery. And that’s it.

Now with some brands you have to buy a separate Bluetooth controller to adjust the level of heat that is being generated by the jacket. But not with Macna. You can still adjust the heat, of course, but there are two simple ways of doing this. You can either use the rubber button on the right breast of the jacket. Or you can download the Macna app., and control the heat levels via your phone. Really, in the world of heated clothing, it doesn’t get cleverer or more simple than this.

One of the issues with heated jackets is making sure that the bike generates enough electrical power to power the jacket when it’s turned up to the max. The Warm&Safe, for example, should not be used on bikes much below, say 400cc, but the Ascent jacket, like the Centre, is rated at only 6 Ah, so the jacket can be used on nearly all bikes, although it might not advisable on a long ride on a 125 at night!

The good news, though, is that the Ascent can be used in conjunction with a BMW Can-bus socket, which limits the draw to 5 amps. The other option that is available with the Ascent is to use a portable, 12v battery. Now we are not always great fans of going down this route because inevitably a portable battery will run down. It doesn’t make sense, therefore, to use a portable battery if you’re riding on the bike, especially as the jacket will generate more heat if it’s connected to the bike.

But off the bike, it’s a slightly different matter. The Ascent will work just like any other down jacket, but if you can suffuse it with a little extra, electrically-generated heat you could stay warmer off the bike; and for quite a bit longer. On the lowest setting, the portable, 12v battery will generate heat for more than three hours. On the highest setting, you would get an hour and a half. Of course, you could always carry a spare battery if you needed more time.

Getting colder than you need to on the bike does not make sense. You simply cannot ride safely if you are shivering with cold. You will ride better and more safely if you are comfortable. It’s as simple as that. Remember, the Ascent is only a jacket, but what needs to be borne in mind is that if you are keeping your core warm your heart will be pumping warm blood all around the body, meaning that you will be warmer all over.

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