In reply to Nic Barber:
Hi Nic,
Sorry for the delayed reply. Rather topically, I was up in the North Pennines recceying a load of the Pennine Way, ahead of the Summer Spine later this year.
Tangents aside, here's the answers to your various questions:
- How has the DWR/beading held up over time?
Like almost every jacket these days, it doesn't stand up as long as they used to, as a result of the progressive reduction of PFCs used throughout the fabric and materials, that previously allowed them to bead for a lot longer. As such, you're going to have to wash/re-proof it relatively regularly - especially if you're putting it through frequent use.
- How does the material deal with having a rucksack over the top of it over time.
I haven't found this to be a problem, and have been using it a lot over a 6+ month time frame; however, this is - at least in terms of the jackets overall lifespan - a relatively short amount of time and the wear you'd expect to experience with this is quite progressive, occurring quite slowly over time. Thus far though, after a lot of use, it's not showing any signs of wear, which is impressive given the relatively minimalist face fabric used.
- is there enough room at the back to wear it over a 3L bumbag.
The cut on the Spine Jacket is pretty slimline and having just tried this with my fairly fitted medium, my 3L bumbag definitely doesn't fit underneath. There'd be the potential to size-up, but even then I can't see there being enough volume around the back. On the flipside, I have managed to fit it on over a minimalist running vest, although it was pretty snug, and realistically I'd just try to get it on underneath if I could (however it would work in an emergency).
- same question as Qwertilot - how does it deal with being scrunched up in bags (obviously when not in use I'd try and keep it hung up wherever possible) and how small does it pack up?
It doesn't pack as small as some of the superlight/minimalist models that are out there, but then again - you wouldn't expect it to. That said, for a fully fledged three layer GORE jacket it packs down impressively small. I've attached some pics below, next to a softflask bottle, for context (I could probably have packed it smaller, but it's easier to do that whilst stuffing it into wherever it's going to be packed, but then you wouldn't have been able to see it).
As far as repeated stuffing/scrunching is concerned, it seems to handle it very well on account of its 13 denier face fabric being fantastically soft. It's a very different experience packing an 80 denier GORE PRO jacket, that's for sure!!
- What colour does it come in
It's available in the blue colour I've got on review here, and a much brighter/bolder red.