If you haven’t come across 7Mesh, the brand was formed by ex-Arcteryx employees looking to take cycling clothing to the next level. Based out of the mountain bike mecca that is Squamish, BC, the Pacific coastline makes for the perfect outdoor lab while developing its products. I’ve been fortunate enough to have got my hands on quite a few 7Mesh products over the years, and found its jackets to be the best performing waterproof tops I’ve ever tested.

The Cache Anorak uses 7Mesh’s new Airmap fabric, which prioritises breathability over waterproofing.

Design and specifications

Compared to the 7Mesh jackets I’ve tested in the past (like the superb 7Mesh Skypilot), and most of my winter wardrobe to be honest, the Cache Anorak takes a completely different approach. For starters it’s incredibly soft and stretchy, with a fabric that feels more like a thin softshell than a typical 3-layer waterproof membrane.

Second, it uses a pullover design with a half zip and kangaroo pocket at the front. Laying my cards on the table here, I’m not a fan of smock jackets. They are harder to take on and off, they don’t allow you to open up the front fully for ventilation, and the kangaroo pocket is one of the most annoying designs in outerwear as the contents just fly around and punch you in the gut everytime you go over a bump. 7Mesh does offer a jacket version of the Cache, but it doesn’t have a hood, so not directly comparable.

Let’s park the styling for a moment and talk about the fabric. The Cache uses 7Mesh’s new Airmap fabric that aims to be as breathable as possible while remaining weather resistant – the key word there being ‘resistant’. And 7Mesh doesn’t publish any figures for waterproofness or breathability for the Airmap fabrics, so it’s impossible to compare with other brands.

Airmap comes in one, two, and three-layer options, and 7Mesh places these fabrics in different areas of the garment according to the requirements. In this case, that’s three-layer for the body and two-layer for the rear side panels, hem, and cuffs. Unlike most two-layer fabrics, there’s no need for a liner, or a rubberised half layer, so the interior of the Cache is silky smooth, helped by the flat, taped seams.

It’s also important to point out that the Airmap fabric is impressively eco-friendly. The face fabric is 83% recycled polyester with a high concentration of spandex at 17%. And while the membrane is virgin polyurethane, the backing is 100% recycled polyester. The DWR is PFC and PFAS-free and Bluesign approved. In my experience, that does impact the waterproof performance, but from talking to brands, this is something that is being worked on and improvements are coming thick and fast.

In terms of features, the Cache gets a hood, drawcord hem, elasticated wrist cuffs, a brushed interior fabric around the chin, and the whole jacket packs into the kangaroo pocket, where clips allow you to strap it to your frame.

The Cache’s hood just about fits over a hood, but it’s a heck of a stretch and way too restrictive.

Performance

As much as I hate pullover jackets, the 7Mesh’s deep front zip made it easier than anticipated to take on and off. I didn’t need to remove my helmet, but a wet or muddy helmet will transfer that dirt to the interior of the jacket if you take it off mid-ride.

I found the kangaroo pocket really frustrating. It has a generous capacity, which is actually a big problem, because stuff just rattles around even more inside it. If I used it to carry more than one item, they just bashed into each other all the time, and even with one thing in there – like a phone – it just bounced around against my stomach and pulled the stretchy fabric down at the front. On top of that, the dual layer pouch means there are three layers of fabric at the front of the jacket, which reduces breathability. In fact, this area got noticeably warm testing the Cache back-to-back with a number of other jackets.

The kangaroo pocket restricts airflow thanks to its multiple fabric layers and is too big to hold your gear without getting tossed around.

The stretchy fabric is nice to have, but the cut of the Cache is so generous it feels unnecessary. My medium sample came up more like a large, with baggy sleeves and body that flaps around like a flag in the wind, and while descending. Only the hood is under-sized, only just fitting over an open-face helmet.

In terms of waterproofing, I found that the fabric would start to leak after around 30 minutes. In that respect it underperformed against previous 7Mesh jackets – which have always been exceptionally good – and high end rivals, such as Patagonia. I also found it wasn’t particularly breathable, despite the Airmap claims.