MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Got a very old single lined Berghaus waterproof which is now leaking through the seams, been looking for a replacement in the high street this weekend, had a quick look, but most I have seen, look more fashion based than practical.
Can anyone here recommend me something?
Preferably with a liner, removable would be a bonus, plus fleece lined cuffs and a decent hood that keeps the rain off your glasses 😉
Reasonably priced (up to £200? well if it lasts not too worried about the price)
Ta.........
Was looking at some very, very nice Rab eVent ones earlier today. Great value, and the bestest fabric I've ever used. Great hood, really well made too. Not sure about the fleece cuffs, as they'd restrict ventilation, IMO. IIRC they were around £180 as well. Made in the UK, which is nice.
Am sure lots of other people will blindly preach the Gospel according to Gore, but I am a massive eVent evangelist! It's so much more breathable, and just as waterproof. (Don't listen to the "but Gore's more waterproof" bit! How can it be [i]more[/i] waterproof than waterproof?)
What do you want to use the jacket for? Going to the shops? Mountaineering? Fell/mountain walking? Winter alpine climbing? How hot / cool do you run?
The problem with fleece-lined cuffs, fwiw, is that they tend to wick rain up into the sleeve of the jacket, so not such a good idea really.
There are loads of good options out there. For sturdy UK hill use, Mountain Equipment do a good job as do some of the Berghaus jackets. Rab's stuff is very good too, though the hood isn't as good in really foul conditions as the ME one.
I'd agree that btw, that eVent is good stuff. Finally, if you run cool, and don't give a stuff about aesthetics, Paramo - i have to admit - works very well indeed. If you run warm though, you'll boil.
Cheers CF will have a look, there was so much rubbish in the High Street, I don't know why I bothered looking there in the first place tbh. 😉
Of the high street outdoor brands, only Cotswold can come anywhere near a real outdoor shop. Well worth a trip to Covent Garden if you get a chance, Slush & Rubble, Ellis Brigham, Field and Trek and Cotswolds, all within fighting distance.
Failing that, try and find a really good independent. My current fave is Great Western Camping in Salisbury. Really good people, really good service and great advice/stock.
The problem with fleece-lined cuffs, fwiw, is that they tend to wick rain up into the sleeve of the jacket, so not such a good idea really.
Good point BWD, never had a fleece lined sleeve, just thought it might be a bit more toasty, might give that option a miss then.
Going to be used mostly for hill walking, walking the kids to school, walking the dog, bunged in the boot of the car, just in case.
I run hot btw, got totally soaked today walking my brothers dog over the peaks of the Malverns today. For a small dog (Yorkie), it can produce some weight in dodo!
I'd go look in a specialist outdoor shop - Cotswold [i]is[/i], by the way, a specialist outdoors shop - eVent is probably your best option for breathability which, in practical terms means looking at either Rab or Montane, they both make decent all-round jackets alongside their alpine / lightweight stuff. Montane [url= http://www.montane.co.uk/productdetails.php?productid=191 ]Superfly XT[/url] and probably a [url= http://www.rab.uk.com/clothing/shell/bergen_jacket---96/ ]Rab Bergen[/url].
But there's plenty else out there and I'd definitely consider one of Mountain Equipment's longer-cut all-round mountain jackets, even though it won't be quite as breathable.
You could look at [url= http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/index.php ]PHD[/url] for British made as an alternative to all the stuff made in Vietnam and China.
Paramo Velez 😉
TK Maxx.
Loads of really good value stuff; Lowe Alpine Gore-Tex stuff, etc...
Unless you're going to be running in it, or need something that packs down light for some reason, I'd get something that is long and heavy, in the basic Gore-tex or similar, rather than fancy expensive lightweight stuff like Paclite / eVent. It'll just be more waterproof, and more durable. My big goretex jacket is about 15 years old now, and still stops rain getting in. It's been up lots of proper mountains too, not to mention being used as a bike waterproof in really bad weather, for canoeing and a ton of other things. You're probably looking at around £100 at most for something like this. Having a long jacket means you hardly ever need to bother with waterproof trousers either, which is nice.
Joe