Klim Badlands Pro Jacket and Pant

Many companies offer ADV gear, but when you whittle it down to RTW-expedition-grade quality, only a handful of brands stand up to the test.

- Jayem Staelens

My plan was to ride Backcountry Discovery Routes for three months, so I wanted the best possible protection against the elements and crashes. After spending countless hours doing online research, the Klim Badlands Pro Jacket and Pant, now in its third generation, ticked off all the criteria on my list.

The Klim Badlands Pro is truly a four-season suit, which proved to be a life-saving quality when, at the end of September, I rode into an unseasonal blizzard that swept across the Alvord Desert in Oregon. Slipping and sliding for hours down muddy tracks in freezing temperatures while constantly wiping snow off my helmet visor, my survival depended on staying dry and warm. My Klim Badlands Pro lived up to its promise, enabling me to stay focused on grappling with the treacherous trail conditions in low visibility.

In a similar incident a year ago, a tire blow-out left me stranded in a blizzard at 17,400 feet in the Indian Himalayas in Ladakh. To survive the bitter cold, I had to enhance my less-than-capable gear with an aluminum foil survival blanket. When you consider that your life may be at stake, Klim’s price tag for the Badlands Pro is entirely affordable.