I needed to buy a waterproof jacket for use when working. I also have a Gore-Tex jacket from Craghoppers, which is excellent, but I didn't want to ruin that jacket by using it for working every day. I have a few other Regatta products which are well made, so, for around £25 I thought this Matt Jacket from the same company would be a good buy.
The Regatta Matt Jacket made with Hydrafort material.
The jacket is well made, with good strong stitching, and zips that look like they will last. The XL size was a good fit, for me. The jacket goes just beyond waist level, but doesn't cover my bum. This is fine for a working jacket as it gives more freedom of movemet, and I can always wear waterproof trousers if I suspect there will be heavy rain. The aforementioned Craghoppers jacket is longer, and does cover my bum. If I get caught in an unexpected, heavy downpour in that jacket I will be better protected.
The Regatta does have two downsides. The first is that the inside pocket lacks a zip. All the other waterproof jackets I have owned had a zipped pocket in the inside. By convention I've always used these pockets for storing my car keys. I don't feel safe having my car keys in an un-zipped pocket. I suppose this is one of the cost cutting measures Regatta took to keep the price down to £25. Nevertheless, it wasn't something I realised before making the (online) purchase.
To-day, I decided to test the jacket on a long hillwalk. This wasn't my intended use for the jacket, but I wanted to see how it would perform. This is where I discovered the jacket's second downside. It completely traps sweat, the Hydrafort material isn't in the least breathable. I had a wicking base layer, so I didn't have any sweat next to my skin. However, the layer between my top fleece and the jacket was sopping wet. The worst areas were my arms and across my shoulders, where air couldn't circulate even though I had the front zip open. To-day, it was a cool 4°C, so goodness knows what it would be like on a warm day. On the upside the Hydrafort material does seem to be completely waterproof.
These two downsides are disappointing, but I just have to accept that a £25 jacket has to cut some corners somewhere. I still consider my jacket to be a good purchase.