qman8
I cannot attest as to why your Kilimanjaro felt flimsy, or why it didn't fit properly or why it didn't zip well so I won't venture a guess except to say maybe it was one that shouldn't have made it out of the factory? I've experience none of those problems with either of my Kilimanjaro's. I had my jacket for ten years and it served me very well. I've had great service from the company even when it clearly was my fault they repaired it without any problems.
My new jacket has some different things that I have to get used to like no cuffs on the sleeves, just a Velcro strap. Not sure if I'm going to like that but my initial impressions are that it's decently made, zips well, warm with liner in, liner takes no time at all to move in and out of jacket and it's very affordable. I haven't experienced any problems with the liner being outside the sleeve, everything fits proper.
The Kathmandu looks nice and I'm surprised it isn't giving you the service that it should especially in the water proof department. If you were to call them they'll take action first by sending you some Nik wash and water proofing. It's definitely worth a phone call. I would be upset too if my new jacket that claimed to be water proof wasn't holding up.
I've done two short trips last year with the new Kilimanjaro and one was the "it rained all weekend" Fall Colors ride. Jacket kept me warm and dry. So far so good but we'll give it a good test this coming riding season.
