UKH

Whether you're walking, climbing or running, summer is the time to save weight on your rain shell. We've compared nine at a range of budgets. From the world's lightest 3-layer waterproof to stripped-back alpine shells, there's something here for everyone.

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In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Surprised not to see any of OMM's offerings in the mix.

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Once again an absolute mess of a comparison comparing the berghaus hyper 100 to the alpha fl is like comparing a ultra light ski touring axe with a nomic.

In reply to keepguessing:

Yes one "lightweight shell" is over 4 X heavier than another!

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/raincut-mens-waterproof-jacket-blue-id_8300325.html

Under £7
Waterproof
Very light
Tough
Crap hood
Great in bottom of rucksack

In reply to keepguessing:


That could be reasonably useful couldn't it? And yes, I have ski toured with a Viper as my axe, and climbed a route with my Air-tech Racing!

Pedro's point just shows how amazingly light the Berghaus is!

In reply to MFB
or the mac in a sac range. Yes you do not get the quality but in terms of return for the money such are much better buys. Frankly when you take into account condensation (I sweat a lot) the cheap ones seem to me to work almost as well. I have used them for summer days in the Alps (and scotland) for years.

I prefer the cheap and light over-trousers as they are effective and v. light. The only problem is a lack of side zips so you cant put them on over boots and/or crampons (and you slide down snow slopes very fast!).

How about a review of the v.light cheapies? In fact what about reviews routinely comparing with representative cheapies. Many modern cheap water-proofs are without doubt better than the Peter Storm cags we used to use.

The outdoor gear makers/sellers will not like this!

In reply to Jim Cooper:

Excellent idea. A max price of, say £30.

The benefit of cheap waterproofs is that their DWR treatment is just as good as that on uber expensive brands and, when it inevitably loses its water beading properties, you can replace the jacket.

In reply to Siward:


Or you can do the normal thing and use spray-on DWR.

In reply to John Kelly:








Bin bag mate.

6p-ish a go.

In reply to TobyA:

Would you recommend either? Hell, would you even put them in the same league as each other?

In reply to John Kelly:

I actually got one of these reduced because the colour was unpopular. 3 quid, and the seams are sealed!

In reply to Removed UserFuchs:

Never as good as the factory finish though.

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

I suppose what's missing from this is an argument or discussion of why you would want to be at either end of the spectrum.

It's probably obvious if you're an ultra-runner that the hyper 100 is about as good as it gets, as you're only going to put it on in an absolute emergency and even then the only thing it's likely to contact is a running vest.

What about for summer alpine climbing? - is it better to be at the 100-200g end of this (e.g. 10-15D MH SuperCharger Jacket that they designed for Steck's 82 summits), or the more burly end (e.g. 30-40D Alpha FL) - assuming if it was closer to winter, or you were in scotland, you'd pull out a 40/80D Pro Jacket.

In reply to keepguessing:
It's a good job they've split the review into different sections - ultralight, light-midweight......

In reply to Andrew Sandercock:

I would assume they do not get any advertising revenue off OMM, you could obviously say the same about Innov8.

In reply to keepguessing:


Are you talking about the axes? Or the waterproofs? If the latter, I didn't try either of those models so don't know. If the former, any axe will do if need be for easy stuff - an ice tool just weighs more, and my air-tech racing is absolutely fine up to about II, they have those lovely forged heads so swing well.

In reply to TobyA:

Wrong thread I suspect Toby?

In reply to The New NickB:

I think that's the case - Dan and Alan have explained it before that for the majority of reviews they go to firms that do advertise on UKC and are willing submit a sample for reviewing. I think it came up in the discussion after my Lightwave sleeping bag review, that there was discussion of comparable PHD bags, but as a company PHD don't advertise, so don't do reviews with UKC. UKC/UKH also does a short "call", so this one IIRC was something like: lightweight waterproofs, packable, for use summer alpine or backpacking etc. Then I think companies decide what they want to submit - maybe the jacket they think most closely fits that call, but it might well be a new model or a revamp that quite closely fits but they want potential customers to know about. So in this review from Dan's comments on the Mammut one, it seems they make lighter shells but perhaps don't sell them much in the UK - so this one, while heavy compared to many of the others was what they wanted reviewed!

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:
Well, I bought a Marmot Essence 2 years ago at half price from Sportpursuit. Skied, toured and climbed in it 100+ days. Not the toughest but at £80 I wasn't too fussed about mistreating it. A couple of small holes in it now, but new crampons would have done that to most jackets.

In reply to HammondR:

Great to hear that they last well. But how did you get crampon holes in your jacket!? Either extreme yoga or an attempt while belaying to bravely field a falling leader? :-0

In reply to Siward:

True, but decent enough for a while. Then just reapply.

In reply to TobyA:
At some transition between booting up a steep icy slope in crampons, and putting the skis back on, with rucksack contents (including aforementioned jacket) awry. I need to get organised.

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

And all of them will dump their shed water on your crotch area?

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:
Blue and black Marmot Essence £80 on SportPursuit now.

In reply to HammondR:

Cheers, ordered, that's quite a bargain!