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Picking a waterproof shell jacket can make your head spin. The lightest jackets will be ideal to keep pack weight at a minimum, but how will they hold up when used under a backpacking rucksack with several days of food?

This was the conundrum when deciding on a jacket to use for the TGO Challenge. It needed to offer dependable protection for a crossing of the mountains of Scotland in May but also pack small and be lightweight.

I have a few preferences when selecting a jacket –

• 3 layer fabric tends to be more durable and feels more comfortable against the skin when in short sleeves.
• Pit zips for fast venting of moisture when the going gets hard
• Not bothered with a chest pocket, it just reduces breathability by adding an extra barrier to vapour transmission.

Having looked at the options, the Montbell Storm Cruiser jacket ticked all the boxes for this adventure.

Build

The build quality is superb, with great attention to detail. Montbell use a single piece of fabric to make the jacket using a technique that they call K-Mono Cut. This means fewer seams so there is less chance of leaks, and fewer seams make the jacket lighter and pack smaller.

The hem seam is bonded to stop it from holding water and durability.

Made with 3-layer Gore C-Knit technology, it offers exceptional weather protection with a hydrostatic head of 50,000+mm but also high levels of breathability with a MVTR of 35,000.

I have used the jacket in some torrential downpours and it has kept me dry as you would expect. The breathability of the jacket is impressive and even when it got a bit sweaty inside after working hard uphill, as soon as the pace lessened or the gradient reduced, it soon cleared the moisture from inside.

The 20D fabric is lighter than most Gore-Tex 3-layer options and in my opinion, is far superior to Paclite. It packs small and has a soft feel now it’s been used for a while, it’s not crinkly like some shell jackets.

The lightweight of the fabric does mean that it won’t keep you as warm as a heavier weight 40D+ fabric, but that was never a problem for me.

Features

It packs down into the provided stuff bag and has a small pack size, about the size of a large orange.

The 2 hand pockets are generously sized and positioned high so are still useable with a rucksack hip belt and easily big enough to fit an OS map.

One thing I like about this jacket is that it hasn’t tried to please everyone. It’s firmly pitched at hiking and trekking use, so the hood isn’t helmet compatible. This makes it fit much better without loads of excess fabric bunched up when cinched down. Why do so many brands insist on making most jackets with a helmet compatible hood when very few users will ever need that?

The hood is 3-way adjustable with 2 elasticated cord adjusters and a Velcro adjuster at the back so that you can ensure a close fit with no loss of vision. The Velcro also allows the hood to be retained when not in use, so it doesn’t flap about.

The pit zips are easy to open and close on the move. I found them ideal for venting some moisture on steep climbs or when moving quickly.

Fit

The cut of the Storm Cruiser is quite short in the body compared to some, but this does seem to be the norm now for lightweight jackets.

The sleeves are a perfect length for me. Long enough not to ride up when using trekking poles, but not so long as to have loads of excess fabric where the adjustable cuffs are cinched.

Overview

The Montbell Storm Cruiser is a great all-round jacket that was ideal for the TGO Challenge. It strikes the perfect balance of great features, lightweight and durability for all your adventures from Spring to Autumn. 

Danny Pearson
Dan is a keen distance walker who loves to geek over the latest gear. In the last few years, Dan has completed a couple of TGO Challenge crossings of Scotland (with another planned for 2024), GR221 in Mallorca, Dales High Route and Hadrian’s Wall plus countless other self-planned routes. A keen mountain biker but finds he doesn’t bounce so well these days when the inevitable happens. Read more from Danny Pearson