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Sometimes you get an item of clothing that as soon as you put it on it feels right. Montane’s Alpine 850 Nano Down Hoodie for me is one of these. A very lightweight down jacket that for dry days provides plenty of warmth as my outer layer and then gives me a lot of comfort as a middle layer when the rain is falling.

As of October 2024, the Alpine 850 Nano Down Hoodie is the second lightest hooded men’s down jacket and the lightest women’s hooded jacket that we stock. So it’s understandable that it doesn’t come with many features - two zipped hand pockets, elasticated cuffs, hem, and hood and 10D ripstop fabric. This though hasn’t deterred me from using this regularly, as there is a lot more to shout about than the weight of the hoodie.

The close fit certainly helps to keep me warm. If I do layer up, a baselayer and a fleece fit underneath the hoodie but this doesn’t affect my ability to move freely in the jacket. Montane say that it has been tailored for movement and suggest it can be used for a huge range of fast and light activities from low level to high-altitude, all in cold conditions and I can certainly believe this. Given how light and thin the Alpine 850 Nano is, it allows for plenty of room even under an athletic fit waterproof jacket.

The hood fits really snug over the head, a clear sign of how close-fitting it is and how warm it should keep you. I do have the very small issue that if I need to put the hood up, I have to lower the main zip to give it some stretch to get over my head before zipping it up again. Thankfully this can be a quick process even with gloves on.

My only other small niggle is the length of the jacket. This stops just below my waistline which, sometimes, is too short for some layers that I wear.

Montane do supply a stuff sack with this - making use of this as it packs down is great, although we all know at some point the stuff sack will get lost. The hoodie can be squashed, although not as small, into the pockets. The pockets can’t be zipped up once it is stuffed away though, but that’s not a huge issue - this shape also makes a great pillow if you’ve got a window seat on a flight.

Montane have put a lot of focus on the thermal efficiency of this jacket, adding a new element to the down filling. The 850-fill power of the ExpeDRY™ goose down contains gold. Non-toxic gold particles to be exact. I’ll have to quote Montane here as my knowledge of gold in clothing is literally limited to this one jacket. The goose down “… has non-toxic gold particles bonded to it for fast-drying performance and industry-leading warmth.” It “….works because gold particles vibrate water molecules, just like heat, to speed up evaporation to a rate faster than the absorption rate of down and manage moisture from the body too.” You would never know this was there unless you’d read about it, but I’ve yet to feel uncomfortable or sweaty in this jacket, so they are certainly doing something right by including this.

I’ve loved this jacket since the moment I first tried it on. Super lightweight, really comfortable on and offering a lot of warmth for its weight. I can’t actually remember the last time I left the house without this, even when going to the shops or just walking the dog. Due to the small pack size, it’s the ideal piece to have with you, even buried in your rucksack if the weather is grand.

Rob Farquhar
Rob has always enjoyed being on a bike ever since he was a child. It started out with road bikes but he now prefers mountain biking. Since moving closer to the Yorkshire Dales and now the North York Moors he’s started to do more walks and is hoping his 18 month old, stubborn, dog will start to join him on some soon. He has completed the Coast To Coast (C2C) on his mountain bike, the Yorkshire 3 Peak challenge twice, has attempted to hike up Ojos Del Salado; the highest volcano on earth and highest peak in Chile. He also enters at least one mountain bike event a year, just for a laugh. Rob has been working in the outdoor retail industry since 2012. Read more from Rob Farquhar