Tierra Nevado Jacket Gen.3 Jacket | Tested and reviewed

The Nevado Jacket Gen.3 Jacket from Swedish brand Tierra – available exclusively in the UK from online retailer Trekitt – is a great all-rounder, but is it good enough to make it onto our list of the best waterproof jackets?

Featuring an original, soon-to-be-discontinued Gore-Tex ePTFE membrane, rather than Gore-Tex’s newer eco-friendly ePE technology, you get excellent official stats: a minimum 28,000mm HH and a <6 RET breathability score.

All of the seams are taped and the 3-layer construction technique is impressively protective. The eco credentials are poor (PFCs are used), yet performance is very solid.

The 70-denier fabric feels reassuringly robust and substantial, yet Gore-Tex’s C-Knit backer – some yarn wizardry involving “finely-knitted, circular-patterned polyamide threads” – delivers enhanced comfort and lightness, without compromising on waterproof protection.

The jacket is mid-weight at 470g (men’s small). The fit is true-to-size, with a nice balance between room for layering and snugness for an athletic feel with good freedom of movement.

The feature set is superb, too. The adjustable hood is well-shaped offering good coverage across the face. The Velcro wrist cuffs seal precisely, the waist hem can be cinched-in and underneath each arm you get humongous 44cm pit vents.

Meanwhile all of the zippers are premium, water-resistant components and you get a great orientation of pockets, including a useful internal phone pocket.

Waterproofing and construction

I love the feel of this jacket. It feels robust and protective, with a slight thickness and stiffness to the fabric compared to others like the Patagonia Granite Crest and Highlander Munro V2, which are softer and stretchier.

Consequently the Tierra Nevado Jacket Gen.3 is, perhaps, a little less comfy and certainly a tad crinklier and noisier in-use, but the flip side is that it feels far more durable, strong and protective.

It provides a solid barrier to deflect rain and has a similar-ish feel to Gore-Tex Pro, albeit slightly less rigid. If staying dry is your number one priority, I reckon this fabric is a good choice.

The Tierra Nevado is made from a Gore-Tex fabric (original Gore-Tex, not Gore-Tex Pro or Gore-Tex Paclite or Paclite Plus) with a 3-layer construction, which is a more durable and protective manufacturing technique than 2-layer or 2.5-layer waterproofs.

The membrane in this trio of layers is a 100% ePTFE material, while both the backer and face fabric are made from 100% polyamide. The Gore-Tex has a 70-denier rating, which means it's pretty sturdy and thick (the Patagonia Granite Crest, for comparison, is only 30-denier rated).

All of the seams of the Nevado are sealed and, of course, the jacket comes with Gore-Tex’s “guaranteed to keep you dry” promise. The official, lab-tested hydrostatic head rating is a minimum of 28,000mm, according to Gore-Tex.

I always think this is a very odd way to present the data. Why doesn’t Gore-Tex just give you the exact figure for a specific fabric? It’s a bit like Ferrari saying the F40 has a minimum top speed of 70mph, but not mentioning how high the speedometer can really go. Weird.

Anyway, putting that aside, the type of Gore-Tex used features Gore-Tex’s C-Knit backer technology, which is designed to deliver a “softer and measurably lighter” 3-layer waterproof without compromising on durability and protection.

Tierra describe it as follows: “Gore C-Knit is lighter, softer and more flexible than other 3-layer Gore-Tex laminates, primarily because the inner fabric (backing) is comprised of finely knitted polyamide threads joined to the membrane and outer fabric by a unique lamination method.

"These threads, when 'knitted' into a circular pattern, give C-Knit its amazing softness, lightness, flexibility and breathability, while the hard-wearing outer fabric and membrane are the same as in 3-layer Gore-Tex Pro."

Personally, I think it’s quite tricky, unless you’re very attuned to these sort of things, to notice a big difference between normal Gore-Tex and Gore-Tex with a C-Knit backer. But, certainly, the Tierra Nevado does deliver a good compromise between protection and comfort in a relatively lightweight package – so I guess it does work.

Finally, Gore-Tex is in the process of completely discontinuing ePTFE membranes, which use harmful PFCs in their manufacturing. Instead the brand is switching entirely to a new, eco-friendly, PFC-free ePE membrane.

The Tierra Nevado uses the old-style ePTFE membrane, however. Is this a good or bad thing? Well, for the environment, it’s clearly not ideal. But for fabric performance, it may well be a positive thing. The new ePE membranes and DWRs require more regular re-proofing.

Conversely, the DWR of the Tierra Nevado should (hopefully) last longer, bead better and require slightly less frequent re-proofing, which are all positives for the end user.

Breathability and ventilation

The Nevado Jacket Gen.3 has three tools in its arsenal for tackling the age old problem of hikers over-heating and getting sweaty inside their hard shells: the inherent breathability of the Gore-Tex fabric, the two-way central zipper and the two large pit zip vents under each arm.

The fabric itself has an official, lab-tested RET (resistance to evaporative heat transfer) score of RET < 6, which is universally considered a premium, high-performing level of breathability, so you’re getting good value for money there.

Indeed, Gore-Tex claims this membrane is “extremely breathable”, so – in theory at least – the fabric should breathe well naturally, even without any zippers open. Does it work? I’m a little sceptical. I guess it breathes fine, but it certainly didn’t feel “extremely breathable” to me.

With such high humidity in the Lake District, I still got really hot and sweaty wearing this jacket while hiking quickly uphill, and the top-tier RET score was not a game-changer for me at least.

For further ventilation – to help you dump heat and reduce clamminess – you can unzip the main central zipper from the bottom upwards, keeping the base of the waist hem clipped together using the press stud button.

This helps increase airflow, but – of course – opens you up to water ingress through the hole. A better option is to open the two 44cm-long pit zip vents underneath the arm. In my opinion this helps reduce sweatiness a little, but it doesn’t make a huge difference.

Weight and packability

This jacket hits a nice sweet spot in terms of weight. At 470g in a men’s small, it’s firmly in the mid-range of the market – neither excessively heavy, nor ultralight. This makes it a good all-rounder.

The extra bit of heft and sturdiness only serves to give you reassurance about the jacket’s protective qualities and long-term durability; yet simultaneously it’s light enough to not slow you down or feel too cumbersome or uncomfortable.

Instead, the jacket feels quite athletic and streamlined, despite being sufficiently robust. It’s a nice compromise. Packability is absolutely fine, too. You can roll the Tierra Nevado into its hood, forming a shape about 30x17x10cm. This is more than compact enough and won’t take up too much room in the bottom of your backpack at all.

Size, fit and comfort

I’d suggest this jacket fits true to size (if not, perhaps, ever so slightly on the snug side). I’m 178cm tall and weigh 66.5kg, with a slim, athletic build. In some brands I’m always a small, in some I take a medium, and sometimes I’m annoying, never-quite-satisfied 'smedium' size.

But with the Tierra Nevado, the small size fits me absolutely fine – it’s spot on. There’s room for a down jacket or fleecy mid-layer underneath, yet the cut still feels quite trim and precise, with a nice athletic and agile feel. The jacket moves well with the body and doesn’t feel restrictive.

I like the arm length, which works great for me, with the right volume and no fabric bunching-up. The waist hem has a slightly dropped cut, offering coverage over my backside and over and beyond the top of my waterproof trousers, which is the way I like it, offering better all-round protection from the elements.

Features: Hood, pockets, wrist cuffs, zippers and waistband

I really like the feature set of this jacket. Everything you need is present and the design is well-executed and impressively functional. I can’t really see any faults in terms of the feature list and there’s nothing I dislike.

All of the usual stuff you’d expect is present. The wrist cuffs can be fine-tuned for a waterproof seal using the Velcro hook-and-loop tabs. They fit well and feel comfy and snug enough.

The waist hem is adjustable via two drawcord toggles, one on each side, at your hips. These are easy enough to use and can cinch-in the fit around your waist, if and when required.

In terms of pockets, you get a superb range of options with some innovative design touches. Internally, you don’t get a zippered pocket, but there are two internal stash pockets made from stretchy mesh.

Externally, you get three main pockets – two handwarmer pockets and one Napoleon pocket on the left-hand side of the chest. The handwarmer pockets are placed quite high, so they aren’t blocked by your backpack’s hipbelt straps, and each handwarmer pocket is large enough to accommodate a waterproof OS map.

The main Napoleon zipper reveals yet another zipper inside it, with a smaller pocket specifically designed – I presume – for protecting your mobile phone and possibly other small valuables. It’s not the biggest, but it could house my over-sized Samsung S22 Ultra phone (but only if I took off its chunky protective case).

This feels like a great design touch and a safe, handy place to store your phone, with adequate protection in very wet conditions.

The hood has an excellent design. It features three-way adjustment, with a trio of drawcord toggles – one at the back of your head and two at the sides by your cheeks.

The latter two are housed within a little 'garage' – a nifty little flap of fabric keeping them tucked away, so they don’t blow around in the wind or dangle down too loose, which is often a problem with other waterproof jackets (we noticed this particularly on the Páramo Velez Adventure Light Smock recently, for example).

The visor of the hood is excellent, with a wraparound, awning-like, stiffened brim to keep rain off your face. The shape of the hood, once adjusted, is excellent too, offering excellent coverage across the face. I can manipulate the hood so that only a small window for my eyes and nose is left, thus protecting me from water ingress.

Finally all of the zippers of the Tierra Nevado have a top quality water-resistant design. The main central zipper is a two-way zip, backed by a substantial internal stormflap and it has a little zipper garage at the top.

At the base you can keep the jacket secured together using a press stud button, and then unzip from the bottom upwards for an airy, open structure. On the note of ventilation, you also get two large pit vents, one under each arm. These are very, very long vents – 44cm each by my measurements – meaning you really can vent to your heart’s content.

The zippers on the vents are two-way, although they don’t have stormflap protection, which adds a touch of worry about their vulnerability to water ingress – but this hopefully shouldn’t prove a major issue.

Sustainability

The Tierra Nevado does not have particularly strong eco or ethical credentials. If that’s what you’re after, you’d be better served by the Patagonia Granite Crest, for example, which is made from 100% recycled fishing nets.

Conversely, the Nevado does not feature any recycled materials and – due to its use of an old-style Gore-Tex ePTFE membrane, rather than the new Gore-Tex ePE fabric – it is not PFC-free either, meaning harmful chemicals are used in the manufacturing process.

As such, eco-conscious hillwalkers should, perhaps, steer clear of this jacket, because the Tierra Nevado does not score strongly at all across the sustainability metric.

Verdict

The Tierra Nevado is a protective, fully-featured jacket featuring Gore-Tex technology – but it’s quite pricey and not very eco-friendly.

See how the Tierra Nevado compares against Gore-Tex ePE with the Mountain Equipment Makalu Jacket.

About the author

James Forrest writes regular features and route guides for Trail and has been one of our main gear testers for the last few years. James is based on the edge of the Lake District so when he isn’t off on his latest crazy adventure or challenge, he’s walking in his local fells.

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