Alpkit – what’s good?

I have a gift voucher to spend at Alpkit. I have three items from Alpkit, but have sent back a few things too: Here are mine:

The Good:

Katabatic Jacket. I wear this everyday from around Oct to March. The only downside is it isn’t waterproof…. although I have been completely soaked in it and still toasty!
Griffon Micro Fleece. I have 2 of these and wear them often.

The not so good:

Argonaut Jacket. Seemed an ok jacket apart from the price, even when discounted at £85. For the same money I could have a better featured Rab (also discounted) or a similar jacket for much less from Trespass
Viper Head torch I sent this back as position ratchet wore out. The torch just flopped right down. Alpkit took it back without quibble and did say an improved model was on the way. I bought a Petzl instead…… which kind of brings me onto another point, why do Alpkit bother with items like these when established companies can do them better for the same money?

The “can’t remember”:

Woodsmoke shirt. Can’t remember why I returned this

Anyone else got any recommendations for stand out items from Alpkit?

Live in my woodsmoke shirts but didn’t pay anything like the current rrp for them.

I too think that Alpkit are low on value these days. 🙁

Not sure if your into camping but if you are:

Hunka XL Bivvy – Is waterproof, tested many times and its never failed

Pipedream 400 sleeping bag – cannot be beaten for price/weight / pack size / warmth  – especially when on sale.

I have the Quark head torch also excellent value which cannot be beaten.

Have a few other bits like the 600ml titanium cup (what can i say its a cup) and the spork, dry bags etc.

Also have the EZ Sleeper sleep mat – which is currently about £21 the Thermarest equivalent is £60 I believe.

Much of those bought years ago and still going strong. Never had anything fail on me.

No i’m not sponsored by or do I work for Alpkit 🙂

Apart from the dodgy battery holder on the early headtorches, never had a problem with any Alpkit kit.

Currently got a couple of tshirts, walking trousers, 3/4 bibs, thin waffley zip up hoodie thing that I love and a big waterproof walking jacket.

Gourdon rucsacs. They are (were) cheap and simple and work for all kinds of stuff.

I really like their Jeanius jeans.

Avoid the waterproof jackets

Been disappointed with their stuff for a while now.

Used to offer mid range quality for budget prices.

Now they don’t offer much value for money at all.

I have a fair few bits of Alpkit errrr kit.

The only thing I you can still buy that I own is  the Arnison trousers which I really like.

The Primaloft jacket I have they no longer sell but I really like it and would buy one of their current ones without thinking twice about it.

I really like the mtb shorts (Floe) wear them for mtb and commuting 3 days a week to office, 18 months in and they still look like new.

I had a Griffon fleece that very quickly became baggy and saggy and didn’t take long to became thin and worn out, looked like a old man’s cardi in the end. Wasn’t massively impressed. I’d hesitate to buy from them again, they seem to be on just the wrong side of the cheap-good value spectrum

I keep looking at their various sales and not buying. Sizing and quality are too erratic/weird.

Bouldering mats are decent. 🙂

I’ve bought many things from Alpkit over the years but my last three ibig ticket items tems can be summarised as follows;

My Alpkit waterproof jacket failed in just over 12 months – not remotely waterproof even for a passing light shower.

My Alpkit primaloft mid layer is less than a year old. The zip cursor comes off all the time / the teeth on the zip don’t mesh together nicely so it bursts open – just a cheapo zip used. Guy in the shop said he’s had a few back in but Alpkit Repairs only offered for me to pay full price for a new zip replacement. Their actual words were along the lines of “I managed to zip it up without it bursting open so clearly there’s not an issue”. 🙄

My Alpkit winter weight down sleeping bag sheds feathers by the duckful ever time I use it and on account of the zip experience on the jacket I’m reluctant to actually rely on it for winter camping.

The above constitutes well over £500 worth of most recent items, and all of them have been frankly crap.

Alpkit were once a really good brand. Now the only good thing about them is their marketing. The quality of the products are little better than anything you’d get in Sports Direct.

Griffon Fleece – Very good
Trail running shorts – Good
Pipedream 400 – Very good
Cloud base inflatable mat – Good, wouldn’t pay full price though.
Aeronaut2 tent – not so good (the design creates a pocket for water to sit in on the front section of the tent)

All were bought with vouchers I had when I bought my Camino, which has been brilliant.

I’d steer clear of the waterproof coats though based on friends experiences.

Most of my Alpkit stuff has been fine.  Old 3 layer waterproof is still fine, no delamination etc. Viso tent is solid after a lot of nights use. Small items like drybags, torches etc, all fine. The only item that needed a warranty return was a pair of jeanius jeans. But fixed, so fine.

Prices seem to have gone up quite a bit over the years, but then so has nearly everything.

Katabatic is excellent, really nice design and it’s a perfect fit for me.

Heiko jacket is also well used as a light warmth layer in milder seasons.

Have loads of their Headtorches (Vipers and another one) and they’re all good.

Their clip flask is really good as well.

I too have had bad experiences with the waterproofs. I had a Balance jacket which I returned after about a week on a bike tour getting soaked in the first 20 mins of rain each day. I have a pair of Parallax trousers which are similarly poor but unfortunately I’d had them for ages before discovering this so didn’t reckon I could return them.

Always check the Sale at Needlesports before you place your order.

I appreciate that doesn’t solve the OP’s question. Their Dryrobes look good, as do their swimming wetsuits.

I always wanted (and to be honest still do) one of their Jura smocks as it looks like it would be perfect for so much of my outdoor autumn/winter/spring life but the fit is just really weird. the large size has really short sleeves but the XL  (which seems to have the chest measurements of a large in everything else that I own) sleeves are so long the completely cover my hands with a couple of inches to spare. The price has gone up on it significantly in the last couple of years too – the sale price now is the same as the RRP a couple of years ago.

My rigid Frontier on the other hand is my most ridden bike these days though, absolutely love it.

I’ve had good use out of my Gravitas waterproof jacket, however it does need looking aftee like any other semi-permeable clothing. I’ve recently checked the price though, and they are now 10-20% more expensive than other, better options from premium brands like Enlightened Equipment, Outdoor Research and Z-packs, so I have no idea why you would buy one. The days of Alpkit being surprisingly good value at 60-70% of the likes of Rab etc are looooooooong gone

I think you have to pick and choose to be honest. Some of their stuff’s very good – Sonder bikes, the Ordos tents, bits of clothing like the Katabatic and the Morphosis, the sleeping bags are decent for the price, but not as slick as brands like Rab and ME – other kit a bit agricultural. They’re still a relatively small brand with limited resources and a much smaller design team than some of the big names, so it’s not that surprising really.

I’ve known the guys who started Alpkit from back before they founded the brand and they’re great guys who really do just want to produce good kit and get people outdoors. It does sometimes feel like they’re so keen to have a really wide range of stuff that it’s not all as thoroughly developed as it could be, but it’s not as straightforward as people may think.  The whole extended design and production process when you’re working with factories in the far east can be problematic and they won’t have as much heft with the factories as the big, international brands.

Oh, also, the missus has one of their heavyweight woollen jumpers and it’s lovely, Really nice fit, proper solid feel, very warm. Not cheap, around £140 from memory, but genuinely good to the point where I keep almost buying one myself.

I’ve got a few bits ‘n’ bobs, and generally happy with them all.
Koros stove – great, very light, robust, powerful. Needs the windshield thingymajig around it if used outside the tent porch, but with that it’s very functional
A couple of titanium pots/cups – they do what they say on the tin (or titanium, actually).
Summer-weight CloudPeak 140 sleeping bag – not used it much yet, but it’s light, small and packable.
Filoment hoody down jacket – has been worn almost every day since last autumn, mainly walking the dogs and knocking about locally, but it does what I expected. The original version with the DWR coating would have been useful a couple of times; just go with a shell if it looks like rain coming.
Assorted bikepacking luggage and frame bags from about 10 years ago – also not much used tbh, but perfectly serviceable for occasional use.
Presta (20litre) rucksack from about 6 or 7 years ago. This is the first one I pull out of the cupboard for a summer hillwalk or a winter bike ride, every time. The only complaint with that is that the hipbelt pockets are a bit small.
Viper headtorch, also of a similar vintage. It’s not had a hard life, but no problems with that either.

Yes the prices have gone up, but still good value if you buy stuff in the sales and using the discount codes. Best stuff I’ve bought is:

Griffon hoodie: just the right weight for being active

Sequence jeans: my favourite jeans

Brukit: not light but bigger than many other similar heat exchanger stoves if you need to boil a lot of water

Gravitas waterproof: very light and packable, I take it everywhere. You have to be careful with it, but I’ve had mine years still going strong

Jaran 3 tent: msr Hubba copy for 3 people, a bit bigger inside but not that much heavier. Palatial inside really.

I don’t rate the pipedream 400 sleeping bag at all. I’ve bought cheaper/better bags for my eldest and Mrs.

Oh yeah and the airlock xtra dry bags are a good balance of toughness and weight

Bloc trousers and Work shorts are good, for me. Merino pants, and the trail (running) cap is comfy and works well under helmets.

Really lusted after a Hiro jacket for a while – finally ordered and the fit was small/odd so didn’t go bigger.

The first and by far best thing I bought from them was a Gourdon bag, still gets lots of use.  Its genius is its simplicity. Take a dry bag, stick some straps on it, and that’s pretty much it.  Great idea, well made, fantastic value – in that order.  Can’t help but feel they’ve lost their way

I’d forgotten about the Gourdon. I’m on my second. What makes that stand out to me is that (whilst simple) it’s pretty innovative. Most of their stuff sails close to the IP wind of cloning of other better know brand designs.

Still got the gift voucher to spend…

Attempted to spend it in the last few days as there was a sale on, even went into the shop. I almost went for a Hiplok chain today but found the sale had ended. As the current sale is over, there is now no point buying anything until the next one.

EDIT: Actually the sale still seems to be on, just the Hiplok chain is no longer reduced…. but the point still stands. There’s no point buying anything out of the sale periods