For adventure bike riders especially, a jacket/pant/glove combo is like the body of a car. It has to take the brunt of the elements, the wind, the bugs, the road grime and debris, while also keeping you comfortable, protected, dry and mobile. How does the Sand 3 Adventure Suit from REV’IT! do all these things? Well, stick around and find out.

The Sand 3 is the third iteration of this kit from REV’IT! and they position it as a “Swiss Army Knife” of adventure suits. Both the Sand 3 pant and the jacket have three layers – outer shell, zipped-in Hydratex waterproof liner, and zipped-in thermal liner. Starting with the shell, it is made from PWR 500D, which is REV’IT!’s proprietary take on Cordura material. It consists of polyamide yarns woven in a ripstop pattern, which has a high melting point and tear/abrasion resistance.

The Sand 3 suit’s Seeflex armor is lightweight, pliable and breathable while still providing CE Level 2 protection.

The Hydratex layer has a three-layer construction itself, with a protective tricot layer on both sides of the Hydratex breathable membrane. The thermal liner is the last, simplest layer just to add some insulation when the temps drop. As for impact protection, the shoulder, elbow, and knee pads are all SEEFLEX CE Level 2 rated. There are also hip pads which are SEESMART CE level 1. Both of these are a molecular armor that hardens on impact and are developed in house by REV’IT!.

Ventilation is taken care of with six vents on the jacket (two chest, two full arm, and two back) and the pants have front thigh vents. The zippers are super beefy making them easy and fast to open and close.

The Sand 3 gloves are designed to be breathable while offering basic impact and abrasion protection for the street. They are constructed with a hybrid textile, stretch mesh and goatskin leather mix with TPR protection patches on the knuckles, thumb, and lower palm. They also feature Temperfoam self-contouring protection foam under the knuckle protection and are touch screen compatible.

How It Performed

At 5’ 8” and 215 pounds, I’m on the shorter and wider side of the rider spectrum. In casual clothes, I wear an XL shirt/jacket and 36 or 38 pant depending on brand. I ordered an XL in the jacket and XL Short pant and, overall, the fit is good. For me, as with most jackets, the arms are too long, but not to the point of being a hindrance and the torso is comfortably snug with the liners and roomy without. Our other tester (6’ 2”) did not have an issue with the sleeve length on the Sand 3 jacket. For a more streamlined fit, there are four torso adjustment straps to tighten up the jacket (you can also tighten these to help pop the chest vents open more), and an adjustment strap on each forearm to secure elbow armor in place.

The Sand 3 pants have a more Euro/slim-fit and are tight around my thighs, to the point where my mobility was slightly affected. Opening the thigh vents in the front gave me just a little more flexibility making getting on and off the bike easier. The pants have adjustable sliders on the waist belt to cinch it tighter, but these are probably my least favorite features of the whole suit. Starting with the adjustment, the two hip adjusters are hard to slide tighter by yourself. While riding there really isn’t an issue with staying cinched, but walking around off the bike, they would begin to loosen up and let my pants slide down making me hike them up every time I wanted to get back on the bike.

The gloves were a touch on the small side for a large. I typically have no issues with large gloves and the finger and thumb length were perfect. It was just felt like middle portion of the glove didn’t have any stretch and I would get a cramp on the outside edge of my hands. The goatskin leather is soft and control feel was good, not great. REV’IT! claims that the fingers are touchscreen compatible but for precise movements, they weren’t always as accurate as I would have liked.

Venting

A stand out feature of both the jacket and pant is the ventilation. You can unzip the whole length of each sleeve making for massively effective cooling vents. The upper part of the arm vent is held together by mesh backing and the section on the forearm has no mesh, just an open vent to your skin. Also, there are two full chest vents and two large back vents. On top of that is the fact that the outer shell material of both the jacket and pant breaths really well itself. All the vent zippers have big, easy to use pulls and the zips themselves are burly and easy to operate while riding.

Long arm vents go all the way up the arm for maximum venting on hot days.

On the flip side, the shell by itself doesn’t keep you that warm. I definitely needed both liners to keep the cold out on chilly mornings. It was probably somewhere in the low 40s fahrenheit and both waterproof and thermal liners were used to keep from getting too cold. REV’IT! might say it is a four-season kit but I would say it is more three-and-a-half season if you live somewhere with legit cold winters. Here on the West Coast, I could wear this jacket and pant year-round and relish the massive vents and breathable shell in the scorching summer heat. The gloves do a good job of venting for street/ADV gloves, but aren’t going to replace off-road gloves for trail riding. If I knew it would be hot all day or I would only be on the trails, I would opt for lighter gloves. But for a mix of street and dirt, they are a good compromise.

Storage

Storage on the Sand 3 is excellent. The two front pockets on the jacket are easy to get into, are very large and have a snap closure. Behind those are arm warmer pockets that you can slide your hands in from the side. They don’t close to actually store stuff, just nice to have when chillin’ by the fire. The back lumbar pocket is huge and can easily store the liners, or three water bottles, or your whole tool roll if you wanted. I could also use the chest vents as extra storage in colder weather when I knew that I’d keep them closed – they are deep enough to hold your phone or key fob easily. Also, the thigh pockets on the pants are very large and have a flap and snap closure that is easy to get in and out of.

Fleece lined hand warming side pockets are non-zippered for easy access.

Luckily I didn’t have any real world testing of the shoulder, knee, or elbow pads. But I can say that they are comfortable and softer than D3O, especially on cold mornings when D3O armor can be super stiff and hard to wear. The protection is also adjustable within their dedicated pockets. There are different Velcro spots to move the pads higher or lower to fit your body. But if you don’t wear full length underwear, the mesh liner can rub your knees a little raw on a long trip – a little patch of fleece would be helpful. It would also be nice if there was a little more street abrasion resistance on the shoulders, elbows, and knees and the jacket came with a back protector, although it does come with a pocket for an optional CE Level 2 Seesoft back pad that costs just $50. The hip pads in the pants are super thin and you don’t feel them, but it’s nice to know they are there.

Even though the shell is super breathable, it keeps the wet out from a quick shower or misty conditions. It isn’t claimed to be waterproof but can keep you dry in the rain for about five minutes – enough time to whip out the waterproof liner. Speaking of, we didn’t have any leakage when faced with wet weather with the waterproof liners installed.

Extras

Out of all the jackets I’ve ever worn, I’ve gotten the most compliments on the Sand 3. A lot of people say, “Nice, I like that color.” I think the combo of the not-so-common ‘dark blue’ with the symmetrical, not-too-busy lines make for a good looking suit. Also there are a few spots on the chest and shoulders to attach a REV’IT! neck brace if so desired.

The collar has a unique closure system that lets you snap it close, then adjust the opening on your neck with a slider mechanism to the desired position.

Another unique feature is a convenient snap-close button system on the collar that allows you to easily adjust the tightness on your neck with a slider mechanism. Although, one small gripe is that the retention system to hold the collar flap open is hard to use. There is a loop that hooks on a bent peg that is difficult to attach with gloves on and doesn’t always stay put when you do manage to get it hooked.

The Sand 3 gloves have a pull tab that makes getting your gloves on easy.

Who Is It For

The Sand 3 Jacket and Pant are for the hardcore adventure rider that wants one kit it do it all, yet lives somewhere that doesn’t get too crazy cold. In the west or south, this could be the only kit you would need. With the liners out, the jacket is relatively light, offers great mobility and is comfortable. With the liners in you could handle a cold deluge no problem. But for freezing temps and icy conditions, the Sand 3 might be a little too breathable. This adventure suit is also for the long-distance traveler who needs a good amount of storage because they don’t like wearing a backpack – the front, back, inner, and pant pockets got you covered.

Our Verdict

Hands down, this this one of the best ventilated full-function jacket and pant combos we’ve tried in this price range. Sure there are lighter-weight pieces that might vent a little bit more, but you don’t get close to the CE Level 2 protection, storage, and versatility of the Sand 3. So far, durability wise, the only issues after thousands of miles and a year of riding in the Sand 3 is that the reflective patches on the shoulders and upper back are starting to fade. There have been no rips, tears, broken zips or pulls – the suite still looks almost brand new. Very impressive for how much we’ve used this set of gear.

REV’IT! Sand 3 Specs

Shopping Options

Photos by Stephen Gregory

Author: Sean Klinger

With his sights set on doing what he loved for a living, Sean left college with a BA in Journalism and dirt bike in his truck. After five years at a dirt-only motorcycle magazine shooting, testing, writing, editing, and a little off-road racing, he has switched gears to bigger bikes and longer adventures. He’ll probably get lost a few times but he’ll always have fun doing it. Two wheels and adventure is all he needs.