Relwen Quilted Insulated Tanker Jacket Review

The Relwen Quilted Insulated Tanker Jacket looks pretty tame for an insulated jacket, which we like. It doesn’t overemphasize with super bulgy baffles, bright colors, or in-your-face branding. In fact, it looks more like a typical windbreaker from afar. All of this is to say that it’s not intimidating and quite lowkey, despite its superb ability to keep us warm when it gets really cold.

Peep closer, and you’ll also find thoughtful touches underneath the modest exterior. From its slick polyester liner to having a zipper closure backed up by snap fasteners, this jacket showcases the brand’s attention to detail. Still, it’s not perfect, nor will it be the end-all and be-all of all jackets. So, without further ado, let’s see this jacket’s greatest strengths and where it falls short.

The Rundown

The main material on the outside is cotton flannel twill (73% nylon and 27% cotton blend), which gives it a classic aesthetic that we like. It has a matte look that stealthily hides the baffles’ pattern without eliminating it to keep it more inconspicuous. It’s also fairly soft to the touch, which allows it to crease relatively cleanly whenever you bend and move around. In case you’re wondering, we’re sampling the Navy colorway for this review, though Camel, Dark Loden, and Steel Gray are available to choose from at the time of writing.

The jacket’s interior is an interesting contrast to the outside. Meanwhile, the exterior features classic styling, and the polyester liner has a ripstop-like pattern and loud color. This sample’s liner is green, but the color will depend on what colorway you choose. More importantly, this liner is polyester, with 100% recycled fill material between it and the exterior cotton twill. These multiple layers don’t feel very thick but insulate well.

The Pack Hacker crew tried it out in 25°F weather (about -3.9°C) with only a sweater or a thick shirt underneath for short periods, like walking across the parking lot, driving to work, and the occasional stroll down the street. The cold eventually gets to you if you stay out for too long and the wind blows strong enough. If you’re staying out for extended periods, more insulated jackets like Patagonia’s Nano Puff and Micro Puff still perform better and have a more travel-friendly weight.

One of this jacket’s more subtle design features is how it tucks openings. For example, the jacket’s hem is adjustable through a cord, and there’s a snap fastener at the opening’s bottom corner. You lock this in when you’re walking around to prevent cold air from getting in, but you unlock it so you can sit more comfortably. The collar has a 90% polyester and 10% rayon liner, which helps seal in warmth but is also really soft and comfortable against the neck, especially if you lock the topmost dual snap fasteners.

The cuffs have two snap fasteners each to help seal ingress points from cold air. However, they’re still relatively loose compared to more tight-fitting down jackets. Some breezes still flow through, but it’s not a huge deal since we’re not using this jacket for prolonged periods outside.

This jacket has a fair number of pockets on the outside, including a flap pocket, a Napoleon pocket (the sideways opening one near the chest), and two hand pockets, all lined with soft, felt-like fabric. Hand pockets are more or less a standard feature on most jackets, and we like to keep smartphones and keys there so they’re easy to access. On the other hand, the flap pocket (the one with the snap fastener) is sized perfectly for most smartphones, so it’s not a bad idea to use it for that purpose. That leaves the Napoleon pocket for a wallet, though we’d prefer an interior pocket for that.

Unfortunately, the lack of any interior pockets is a glaring omission on this jacket. A wallet—with its many hard-to-replace IDs, cash, and credit cards—is an item we prefer keeping as close to us as possible. After all, it’s hard to notice if something falls out of a relatively thick jacket like this. Fortunately, the Napoleon pocket does have a zipper, so that’s at least reassuring.

On that note, both the zippers and snap fasteners are from YKK. If you’re not in the loop, we’ll tell you that YKK is a well-established brand that makes reliable zippers. That said, the one on this jacket is fairly chunky, so it can stick partway through zipping, requiring you to do a double-take. It’s not a jam, per se, but a small hitch worth noting.

Interestingly, this jacket also has a set of snap fasteners alongside the zipper. This may seem redundant, but we think it’s a convenient alternative if you want certain parts closed while leaving others open. Plus, the snaps add to the classic look of the jacket.

That’s really the gist of this jacket. It’s a simple but stylish jacket with many features and good attention to detail that keeps you warm.