Rufus Roo jacket review thread 17 May 2011 at 11:39AM edited 27 November 2012 at 4:58PM in Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning 97 replies 110.9K views

lottiegirl

My OH tested out the Rufus Roo jacket on a trip to our place in Italy - he flew to Pescara from Stansted with Ryanair. The jacket is lightweight but large - it even looked big on my OH and he is 6' 4''. Not sure how I'd carry it off at 5' 2''. The pockets are large - you can comfortably fit a laptop into the largest pocket. My OH had a bunch of stuff he wanted to fit in (he also took a small rucksack which he decided to carry his laptop in - bit of a wuss if you ask me!!)...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5872592482/

This included a lampshade and 3.5m of tubing for the washing machine, both of which fitted nicely into the large pockets...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5872592886/

Once he was packed up the jacket did look a little bulky: it probably looked a little more natural with the zip undone.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5872593188/

He had no trouble at all at the airport - he wore the Rufus Roo under a denim jacket and the Ryanair staff paid him no attention. We are travelling again in July, and will load the Rufus up then: maybe with a laptop in each pocket! Incidentally the jacket is also pretty good for festivals - you can fit all your wet weather gear, snacks etc into it. We will post again after the July trip: but we are pretty impressed so far. How long will it be until Mr O'Leary gets wind of this trick though?...

superflygal

This is my DH wearing the jacket! He said it was comfortable until I loaded him up with sharp objects.

Found we could fit loads in it. Mind you DH looked like he had 'man boobs'. No problems through security or on board. I think the manufacturers should try differnt colours though!

I should add that the items carried in the pockets were:
1 x nintendo DS
4 x sunglasses
1 x book
2 x kagouls (kids)
1 x pair jelly shoes (kids)
1 x large pack fruitella sweets
2 x extra chewig gum
2 x magazines
4 x passports
1 x wallet
Possibly a few more things but I cannot recall!


Thanks for a great trial and lovely freebie!

SFG x

Baldur

Rufus Roo report

Date of travel: 25th June
Airline: Wizz Air
Route: Luton to Varna

Having filled my hand luggage to the permitted 10kg limit, I loaded the following into the various pockets of the Rufus Roo travel jacket:

6 x Paperback novels, including 3 x double omnibus editions, weight distributed as evenly as possible around the available pockets.

4 x T-shirts

2 x Shorts

4 x boxer shorts

1 x Netbook

The jacket was reasonably comfortable to wear with the above load but I must admit to expecting to be stopped at check-in or security and asked why i was wearing such a bulging coat.

As it happened, no questions or remarks were forthcoming at check-in or in the security check, where I placed the jacket in the tray provided, having first removed the netbook and its protective sleeve for separate scanning.

All in all, the experience was an anticlimax, given my initial concerns about being stopped and the leightweight material of the jacket, and the jacket passed my test with flying colours.

I have since used it when shopping in Bulgaria, to supplement the carrying capacity of my rucksack, and have found it to be an exceptionally useful bit of kit.

Apologies for the delay in submitting my report, my internet access is currently rather limited. I will also have to arrange to post photographs at a later stage, as my camera's USB cable is unserviceable.

Baldur

rcherryuk

Oh great, now they will find a way to charge for overhead locker space!

Seriously though, it's bad enough having to share an overhead locker with the family of five ( with the screaming baby) that have stocked up on fags n booze before flying!

Yet another reason to avoid the budget airlines.

Rob

pete_v

CheeseCat wrote: »

Oh and I forgot to say! I put the jacket in the overhead locker, I don't think i'd be popular otherwise

You'd be more popular with me if you kept it on - the lockers are already full enough without people stuffing thinly-disguised extra hand baggage up there. Last flight I was on I got the last few cubic inches of space for my modest bag, and the people who got on after that had to cram theirs around their legs or have it taken away (to the hold?) by the crew.

Pete

richardw

rcherryuk wrote: »

charge for overhead locker space

is inevitable IMHO.

zzzLazyDaisy

Thanks for the reviews.

Does anyone know if there are there any plans to introduce a smaller size? Yes I know this would also limit the amount of stuff you can take, but with my 5'3" size 12 frame this would drown me!

For the moment I will continue to use my fly fishing jacket which serves the same purpose, and being canvas I suspect distributes the weight more evenly than a very lightweight jacket like this. It doesn't hold as much stuff, but for me the main object is to travel with my hands free and all my precious electronics on my person, and to be honest I wouldn't want to be carrying much more weight than that anyway. The downside is that it is bulky so I often end up wearing it even when it is empty, as it takes up room in my hand-luggage.

Having said that, I would definitely look at this again if they introduced a smaller size.

brenda10

Im sending for one now after I have checked the best price of course. Thanks Martins moneytips, you are BRILLIANT.:beer::money:

rockabilly_raz

Much as I admire you all for trying this, there is a safety and fareness motive for imposing a weight and size limit on hand baggage. We've just returned from Barcelona on Ryanair. Some people struggled to stow their baggage in the overhead bins as the flight was full. If people start stowing their packed jackets as well as their hand baggage allowance then it becomes a system whereby some people are working around the rules to the detrement of the people who abide by them. I suggest that:
1. Stowing these jackets in the overhead bins is unfair on other passengers as you are using their stowage space.
2. Wearing these jackets constitutes a danger to other passengers in and emergency and is also unfair to the passengers you may have to sit next to.
I'm surprised that this web site is advocating this blatant disregard for passenger safety, comfort and fairness. Why not buy some cheap luggage that conforms to the spec of all low costs and them pack lightly. Wife and I managed a week in Montpelier on hand luggage only.
We bought a couple of flylite cases which do the job.

dnl05

I am really grateful that MSE and Rufus Roo gave me the opportunity to try the Rufus Roo jacket, because it was a great help for me during my travels. I was travelling with Flybe from London to Guernsey with only hand luggage.

I was impressed with the really generous pocket sizes at the front of the jacket in particular. I used all of the pockets to pack most of the clothes, socks and underwear for my 1 week's stay in Guernsey. As a result I found that I only had to pack my two rather bulkier remaining items of clothes in my hand luggage.

The jacket itself is 100% polyester, so it is very light in itself. I found that the stitching and zips were of good quality. Because it was made of polyester and I didn't want to risk damaging or stretching the fabric, I felt more comfortable packing softer items of clothes rather than bulkier, heavier items like books. Besides, I didn't want to draw any unwanted attention at the airport by bulking up my jacket pockets too much!

During my outbound flight at Gatwick, I wore the Rufus Roo jacket on top of my normal jacket. I must admit that between check-in and security, I did get a few odd looks at the airport from airport staff and passengers. However, I did not experience any problems during check-in, security or boarding the aircraft. When we landed at Guernsey, I noticed the Customs staff did look at me a bit longer than usual as I was passing through the "Nothing to Declare" section, but they did not stop me. So overall nobody bothered me during my outbound flight, but be prepared for the odd funny look!

During my return flight, I decided instead to wear my Rufus Roo jacket underneath my normal jacket (I had the same number of items packed in my Rufus Roo jacket). As this fairly bulky jacket was not immediately visible to all, I did not get any strange looks from anybody whatsoever. Again, no airport or security staff actually bothered me during my return flight.

So thank you again to Rufus Roo and MSE for this jacket. I will definitely be using the Rufus Roo jacket again for my future flights! :T

The pictures of the Rufus Roo jacket below have my clothes inside the pockets.

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