Western Rise Meta Shell Review
The rain jacket that’s not a rain jacket. But it is.
Western Rise Meta Shell Review Introduction
Western Rise is always looking to take that standard thing that everyone knows is useful for travel - and make it better. Make it minimal. Make it more urban (as so many of the travel gear items are related to the outdoors - just think of all those people dressed to hike K2 on the train but are just going into a small town to eat gnocchi and look at a cathedral, lol). But, this just seems to be their mission. I feel like they want to show that “technical” doesn’t need to be outdoorsy, or make you stand out. That last part is key, too, I think.
The Meta Shell was a HUGE kickstarter project for them. This thing sold out quickly. And, after some production challenges (can happen to anyone) they finally were able to release it mid-last year and get it live on their site. This shell promised to be a three layer rain jacket that kept the rain out, but didn’t look like the aforementioned K2 kit, and didn’t crinkle like last year’s Christmas wrapping paper when you moved or compressed it. How’d they do?
This is my review of the Western Rise Meta Shell rain jacket. It’s a highly technical, 3 layer membrane system without all the hiker-ness and plastic feel to it that you find in most rain layers. Like many Western Rise items, there may be a trick up its sleeve that makes it relevant for travel. Or maybe up its back is more appropriate? More on that later.
In case there are no current sales at the time of reading - head all the way to the end to grab a quick 15% off code.
As always for full transparency, I did ask Western Rise to send me a piece for review and they were kind enough to say yes. That said, they had no input into the review itself or my comments on the jacket that you see here. This is not sponsored. I do use affiliate links which help to support the site if you decide to use them to make a purchase, but you’re under no obligation to do so and there’s no additional cost to you. Thanks for stopping by!
-Need travel insurance? As an American, our health care system is complicated and your regular insurance might not cover you abroad. For international travel, I’ve been using World Nomads for years. They have adventure packages that cover most hiking and even ice hockey. Be sure to read all the coverage information (it’s laid out very well on the site) to make sure it’s right for you, but be sure to give them a look. I find their rates quite competitive and the quotes are free! -
Meta Shell Overview
We eluded to (fine, we flat out said it) that the point of the Meta jacket is to replace your plasticky, crinkly rain jacket you normally take with you when you’re out and about or when you travel. No more neon yellow colors laced with construction-safety orange highlights making you pop out in a crowd or scare any nearby wildlife away from 3 clicks. At least, that’s how they see it. You might like that, and that’s OK too. But back to the overview!
Beyond just the looks, Western Rise wanted to make this jacket a bit more comfortable while wearing. And it’s an interesting idea. Three layer rain jackets aren’t new. They’ve been around for a long time and are some awesome, and frankly indispensable, tech for when you are wandering. But I’d not really call them that comfortable.
The Meta jacket is still using a 3 layer system with an inner membrane, has all the same performance goals as those other jackets, but is made of softer, better feeling materials. It’s meant to feel better against your skin, move with you, and help you blend in better.
For those keeping score, this jacket is vegan and BlueSign approved, in case that’s an important concept you identify with.
Material stats from the site:
Exterior Fabric: 4 way stretch, matte, knit polyester
Middle Membrane: 4 way stretch polyurethane with one-way moisture pass through
Interior Fabric: 4 way stretch polyester jersey
It retails for $225 USD as of March 2024 and comes in black, blue gray, and navy for color options. Mine is the navy option. There are a few times per year that they do in fact do sales, however.
Meta Shell Rain Jacket Features
Fabric Close Up
Per usual, Western Rise focuses on minimalism but typically packs the tech regardless. Usually, that’s in the fabrics they choose to use, so let’s start there.
All fabrics used in this case have 4-way stretch. That might sound common today, but to be honest I don’t know many RAIN JACKET SHELLS that have this. What this does is promote a freedom of movement you don’t often get.
The fabric is also meant to be breathable. The inside fabric can wick moisture as well because it’s a jersey fabric. This is meant to help fight the clamminess.
On the website, they mention it’s anti-microbial and anti-odor. While they don’t get into specifics, my guess is that it’s treated with Polygiene, something WR does in quite a few of their other products. If I ever get clarification from the brand on this, I’ll update this part.
A big hidden feature here is that the jacket is packable into itself, but takes it a step further. It packs into an actual, usable sling. No kidding. Now, it’s not a huge open sling that you can pack full of tons of stuff (Why would you do that - the minute it rains are you going to dump your stuff out? Lol.). But, you can put your phone, wallet, etc. in it.
Rounding out the rest of the features are basically the items you’d expect a rain shell to have so these should not be mind blowing. There’s a hood with a cinch cord in it, LOTS of seam taping around the jacket. YKK aquaguard zippers on the main zip, as well as the pockets and the sling front pocket (though the packing zipper is not water resistant). Inside there’s a nice media pocket that easily fits your phone.
The Fit of the Western Rise Meta Shell
Fit is solid on this one. Some pictures below. It’s slim without being tight, and I’m not crazy slim. I’ve got wider shoulders for my height. For reference I’m about 5’6” and 136-140lbs depending on the season and how many holiday cupcakes I’ve eaten.
For the most part I’d say this fits like a rain shell should. Which is kind of what you want.
The Performance
Let’s talk about the performance. Being up front, I was questioning how well the soft fabric would keep out the rain. When would it “wet out”? Would it be quicker than others? For reference, I’m a former owner of a Marmot Precip for years, and now mostly use Columbia OutDry (which is actually hydrophobic). So I’ve got pretty good measuring sticks as the Precip is one of the most recommended in the space for value and the OutDry is completely waterproof and can’t wet out.
I wore this around NYC for multiple months testing out the rain. From November through the end of March. A few times in March I wore it in actual downpours while walking my wife to the train, and the good tester that I am, I did not use an umbrella. I’ve put a few pictures here from when I got back - you can see a clear delineation between where the jacket was and where it wasn’t - both on the hat and the pants legs. Two important areas.
A few of these shots also show how much of the water beads on the jacket due to it having DWR (I THINK). Always cool.
I took two VERY scientific extra steps here on this jacket (sarcasm alert, but I do think they were fair tests). The first time I wore it, I kind of felt like my hands were feeling wet in the pockets. So, for all the next tests (including the ridiculous one I’ll mention in a second) - I put paper towels in the hand pockets to see if they got wet. While walking around in the downpours, they in fact, did not. I will therefore just chalk that feeling up to some humidity caused by the membranes and such. Kind of makes sense. But, no water on the paper towels while walking around for about 15 minutes in a downpour. I frankly don’t think you’ll be stuck in longer than that - you should be actively trying to find shelter if you get caught in that scenario.
The second (more ridiculous as I mentioned) test that I did was to also hop in the shower with this jacket on and used the hand-spray tool to just pretty much blanket myself in the chest and shoulders and front of the jacket. While at this point the water did soak into the outer layer - t-shirt and shorts underneath were nice and dry. I would say I did this for a good few minutes straight - more water than you’re going to get pouring on you in real life unless you’re under a waterfall or in a protest gone astray.
Oh and not to mention - had the paper towels in the pocket for that test, too. Totally dry. Nice.
The Good
Have to start with giving Western Rise credit for what they set out to do - they accomplished that. The fabric on this thing is quiet and it’s very, very soft in terms of hand feel. The stretch is legit and honestly I’ve never had a shell that felt like this material. The Precip is pretty common rain jacket material, and the OutDry is heading down the road of being full on Gorton’s fisherman coat, but much much lighter weight and thinner. What I mean is that it’s waterproof. Water can’t get in it. The Meta Shell blows these away in terms of feel and is just soft and nice. No sound to speak of comparitively.
Performance. See above in case you skipped it. Don’t skip it.
Look: Nice and minimal - they accomplished this as well. It just looks like a normal shell/outer layer and is quite subdued in color options.
Let’s talk about that sling trick. Is it a gimmick? Yeah kind of. But frankly it does work. So if you’re heading out with some clouds and rain in the forecast, you can put your phone or wallet in the front pocket and just wear this in sling form. If it rains, unpack it and you’re good to go. No need for another bag or anything. That said, you can also just put this in a packable day pack for more carry versatility and volume. But I like that the option is there.
The taped seams everywhere. They weren’t messing around with this.
The Bad
I had two beefs with this jacket overall. Neither of which should be considered deal breakers, and one of them very easily fixable.
The first, is a classic me problem but there are plenty of shorter folks out there so I want to call this out. When fully zipped up, the neckline is pretty “tall”. Compounding this is the fact that I have a pretty big beard as well. But for those with this combination, you probably won’t be fully zipping this up. Or, you will have to go the route of zipping it OVER your beard and just getting through the storm scenario you’re in. But it wasn’t comfortable to fully zip up based on my neck length. The model in the photo on their site - you can see he’s got no issue so if you’re not short, you can ignore this. Again, “me” problem. That portion of the coat gets pretty stiff due to the beefy sealed zipper as well, so it doesn’t fold over easily when slightly unzipped.
The second is more of something that needs a production fix, but an easy one. With the cuff snaps - I noticed there is a plastic backing on them and they have sharp edges. Not enough to hurt you but it’s irritating.You feel them for sure. Now, I had an early production unit so this might already be fixed. But when wearing short sleeves, or if my shirt cuffs rode up a little, these plastic backs on the snaps were not comfortable on my wrist.
I would suggest they fix that with quickness if they haven’t!
Final Thoughts On My Western Meta Shell Review
So there you go. Western Rise has come out with quite a few jackets over the years and they really do approach them with a tech-first kind of view. The Airloft line (Airloft Shirt Jacket Review here) was one that took technical fabric and put it at the forefront of the piece. The Meta Shell is another one that carries this same spirit.
Its purpose is nothing new and the model used is nothing new (3 layer). But it turns the fabric portion on its head. This jacket is truly stretchy, is truly soft, and is truly minimal - all things they set out to make.
The Meta shell makes a great companion to daily life or traveling - and it’s no heavier than my reversible OutDry jacket which I found impressive. It’s certainly much more toned down in terms of looks.
In my testing, it kept me dry as a bone and certainly as dry as my previous rain jackets. I found it took longer to “wet out” vs. my formerly owned Precip as well. Even then, the layers and fabric seemed to still keep the water off my clothing, so it still worked. I also only experienced that in the unrealistic shower test. And, you can't forget about my completely dry pocket paper towels. Good stuff.
If you’re on that internet search of “best rain jacket for travel” - don’t sleep on this one. “Best” is still a pretty subjective term so I won’t use that here. What I will say is that this is the most low-key (looks), stretchy/movement based, and softest material rain jacket I’ve ever seen. It’s quite comfortable and if those are properties that are appealing to you vs. the Kilimanjaro tackling, hiking focused look - then you should at the very least check this out for yourself. I found it kept its promises.
(I should note - my shots at hiking gear are in jest. I also love some of those looks. I’m just making my points with some humor, noting that this is the opposite of that vibe!)
In case there are no sales going on - use WANDER15 for 15% off your purchase! (Cannot be combined with Sales)
As always with most brands, I’d suggest buying directly through their website for best service.
Wander more - and wander smarter everyone.
Like My Content? Feel Free To Buy Me A Coffee!
Head on over to our Travel Clothing Reviews page for more reviews like this or more travel friendly clothing reviews like the Under 5’10 Pants review or the Venustas Heated Jacket Review.
Please be sure to subscribe below, and follow us on Instagram @alwayswanderofficial for photos from our wanderings, and updates for when we post new articles and reviews!