Thursday 20 November 2008

Bargain clothing

Just a quick post as I am itching to tell anyone who dares stand near me for long enough.

On the last trip Paul and I were both really pleased with all of recent purchases and it was really starting to feel as though we’d found our flow with kit for the hills. However, during the changeable weather throughout our last trip, I’d noted that my layering system was a bit amateurish. The first area for improvement was a wind shirt. When the wind picked up on the move, the wind-stopper fleece was too hot to use (besides the fact its not that wind proof) and so I was adding my Marmot Precip. This was OK but still got quite warm on the move whilst a bit cold when standing. I looked at the Montane website and eventually spent some birthday money on the 2007 Featherlite Smock from Bob and Rose - on offer at £22.99. What a revelation! At 100g this thing works amazingly well for what is essentially a very thin pertex top. I’m hoping that this will work really well over my base-layer or mid-layer depending on the type of activity.

The next hole in my armour became apparent though on that night spent on Yewbarrow. The strong winds that evening really chilled the core and despite wearing all my clothes (save for gloves and the base layer for my legs) I found that standing about waiting for food was a chilly business. The tent was an option but the sunset was nice and it wasn’t raining for a change that day, so seemed a waste not to be outside.

A down or synthetic insulating layer was needed so I started looking around. There were a few options but all a bit pricey at this time of year. I’d wanted light, warm and extremely packable so looked primarily at the down jackets. I had considered the Montane Anti-Freeze, the PHD Minimus Down Jacket, the Mountain Equipment Xero and the wild card the Alpkit Fillet Vest.

Long story cut short, I decided that Christmas needed to be dealt with first and forgot about it (for about a day) and then noticed that Paul from Hike-Lite had a demo Montane Anti-Freeze on offer. At less than half price I couldn’t hesitate, I emailed a few queries and I couldn’t resist for £65.99 inc delivery – result. Review to follow on both of these items after the next trip on the 28/29th November. 8 days and counting…..

2 comments:

Martin Rye said...

PHD should have been the down jacket. I have one and love it. I also got one of those wind shirts from Bob a while back. Great ain't they. Good choice there.

Marcus said...

Hi Martin,

I was tempted by trying the PHD gear after all I've read but the bargain won the day I'm afraid. Great service too as the jacket arrived today by recorded delivery. Its seems pretty much perfect (as far as cna be judged from wearing it in the house) for the money.

Those featherlite are the dogs...