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The Vapour Rise series of RAB garments are designed to provide comfortable insulation and protection from the wind without causing you to overheat if you start climbing up something, or the sun comes out. To achieve this Nirvana a garment needs to transfer moisture away from the skin or base layer so you remain dry and comfortable.

I tested the Vapour Rise Summit Jacket on a recent hiking trip to Scotland at the end of August, the weather was good but on the top of a Munro it can still be cold and windy, and if you get any cloud cover the temperature drops fast.

The first two days were cloudy and wet (with no views to speak of), but I had sunny and warm weather after that. I wore the Vapour Rise Summit Jacket all the time when the weather was poor, when the weather was good I wore it when it was windy or cooler, walking at altitude.

Insulation

As an insulation piece the jacket was perfect, it's hard to imagine needing more insulation when actually hiking (unless it's winter) and it certainly delivered on flexibility, I was able to wear it when hiking in a valley and keep wearing it when ascending to the summits. It's possible some might find it too warm, the VR Summit Jacket is the warmest in RAB’s Vapour Rise range and fast movers who generate a lot of heat may prefer a lighter weight piece.

There are a lot of products to keep you warm but what sets the Vapour Rise garments apart is comfort, the internal lining provides much of the insulation and it's soft to the touch and wicks moisture away fast. Vapour Rise has been around for many years in various guises and I found previous incarnations annoying because the fabric in the sleeves didn’t slide very well and rucked up when putting the jacket on. This problem is completely solved by using a different fabric inside the sleeves that glides perfectly over other clothes.

The hood is lined too, which helps in cold windy weather.

DWR

Choosing when to put on a waterproof can be difficult, although we did get quite a bit of rain a lot was either wet cloud we were walking through or short showery conditions. The DWR on the Vapour Rise Summit jacket buys you a little time when trying to decide if it’s a shower or a more sustained period of rain.

It’s a PFC free DWR so it's eco-friendly from that point of view, it's effective at making droplets bead on the fabric but it’s not very resistant where pressure is applied such as with rucksack shoulder straps or hip belts. Since this is not its primary function though, I’d rate it as pretty good.

Fit and Features

I bought my normal  RAB size and it fits perfectly over a thick base layer. I was surprised to read it has a helmet compatible hood as it doesn’t seem overly large and won’t offend anyone who doesn’t want to wear the jacket for climbing.

There’s a volume adjuster on the back of the hood and it can be cinched around the face in challenging conditions but you may well be reaching for that waterproof if it's that bad. The peak at the front is okay, I guess, it’s doing something but wearing a cap underneath the hood will provide way more protection.

Love the cuff adjustment, it’s a low-profile hook and loop but also there’s a stretchy dart section which keeps everything snug.

The pocket arrangements are good though the side pockets are compromised by a rucksack hip belt, this doesn’t bother me, the most pockets I use on a jacket when backpacking is the chest pocket anyway, and even then only rarely, preferring to use the hip belt pockets on my rucksack or pockets in my trousers for very light stuff. Side pockets in the Vapour Rise Summit Jacket are ideally placed for after the hike, when in the pub.

Note, the lighter Vapour Rise jacket (Vapour Rise Alpine Light Jacket) only has two chest pockets, which is a better arrangement for backpacking I feel.

In Summary

The  Vapour Rise Summit Jacket is a very comfortable insulation piece ideally suited to hiking in cool windy conditions at altitude, it will shrug off a short shower and will keep you comfortable over a wide range of exertion levels.

It may be too warm for some, in which case there is the  Vapour Rise Alpine Light jacket which does the same job but is not as warm and arguably has a more hiking friendly feature set.

Mark Richardson
Mark was the founder of Ultralight Outdoor Gear back in 2006 and has completed long distance backpacking routes in some of the remotest parts of the world. His favourite hikes have been Torres del Paine (full circuit), the John Muir trail and the Markha Valley trail (Ladakh, India). Although semi-retired Mark has not lost any enthusiasm for minimalist backpacking and is tackling Scotland’s Munros choosing multi-day backpacking routes over the more usual guide book excursions. Read more from Mark Richardson