UKH

Hi all,

I was hoping for some advice of choosing a waterproof jacket in the light weight category.

Currently short listed are the Arc'teryx Beta LT (355g), Zeta AR (425g) or Theta AR (485g) I have tried both the Beta and Theta on for size and found the medium size for the Beta and small for the Theta, I thought this as odd, I would expect the same size would fit for both, also I wasn't overly happy with the fit of either jacket.

My question is which other jackets should I be looking at as comparison to these, max weight about 500g? All price ranges considered since these are top end jackets.

Thanks in advance

In reply to pban:

I'm in the market for the same, came down to Arcteryx Alpha SL and Mountain Equipment Firefox, partly as they were the ones I could find to try on and are easier to get hold of (there were others in the list, the Arcteryx Alpha FL, but can't justify another £100 on top of the other two!). Getting the ME Firefox, even though the Arcteryx is a better cut, partly due to the pockets n the ME one, partly due to the fabric (not had great experiences with Paclite in the past).

I also looked at the Rab Alpine Latok and Montane Alpine Pro.

What's it for though? Climbing, mountaineering, walking, summer/winter...?

In reply to pban:

I have an Arteryx Alpha SL and can honestly say it's the worst "breathable" waterproof I've ever owned. It's no better than the old boil-in-the-bag nylon waterproofs that we used to have before Goretex.

In reply to JayPee630:


Planned use is for winter walking / backpacking, hense the weight is the important and needs to be able to cope with that all day driving rain we get here in the hills

In reply to pban:

For a heavy duty hard shell the jottnar belgamir shell is the best I've had, including having owned an Arcteryx alpha sv as well. Performance wise it totally blows everything else out the water. Features are simplistic and well thought out, the cut is perfect as well.

You asked why the two Arcteryx shells were different size wise. The alpha sv uses what they call "expedition cut" basically designed to be slightly bigger for layering. Most companies do something similar.

Connor

In reply to connor:

Ah yes, I looked at the Jottnar ones too, the Asmund.

In reply to pban:

The Beta LT doesn't have pit zips, which are a must for me - otherwise I get way too hot, and then get way too cold later as the sweat builds up.
ME Firefox has mesh pockets, which IMO are not good for hardcore winter conditions. They also feel a bit flimsy (as if you shoved a compass in it might rip the pockets).

In reply to pban:

I've had the ME Firefox as mentioned by JayPee for about 2.5 years now. Its goretex active, weighs less than 350g and was really good until the dwr treatment wore off, guessing at around the 18 month mark with regular washing. In my experience this seems fairly common with the waterproofs I've used but they have tended towards the lighter end of the scale so a heavier face fabric might be better.
As an example I wore it today for about 5 hrs in near constant heavy rain and winds strong enough to blow me around. My single grid fleece layer underneath was damp pretty much all over not just in areas close to the openings or the zip. Maybe this dampness could be sweat but generally was fine walking uphill for the first hour until the outside got saturated. Generally though I find the breathability to be very good and often use it as a windshell even in warm weather with pit zips open.
I have tried reproofing a couple of times with tx10 but with limited results so far, this includes cleaning the washing machine first etc. I'll give it another go with a full detergent wash then soap flakes and then a spray on reproofer and see how that goes. If this works overall I'd be happy with the jacket but for regular full on winter use I think something with a heavier face fabric would be better.

In reply to alfmeister:

Thanks, that's useful feedback. TBH I probably wear a waterproof pretty infrequently nowadays so getting a few years out of a waterproof would be fine really.

I tend to wear a base layer and then a mid/outer layer (either a hooded fleece-ish kind of thing in spring to autumn or a light hooded breathable synthetic in the winter) and have given up on softshells/windshirts and just carry a waterproof, so a lighter one that as you say gets worn in strong winds as a windproof as well fits my system much better.