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Hailing from Cheshire, Mountain Equipment should know a thing or two about wet weather and protecting you from it – and they do. One of the pioneers of British outdoor manufacturing, Mountain Equipment were one of the first outdoor brands to experiment with a new fabric membrane - Gore-Tex. Quickly gaining cult status in the UK outdoor scene, M.E became known for their burly Gore-Tex sh …

Mountain Equipment's Lhotse/Manaslu jacket has long been a Trail favourite (it won best waterproof jacket in our Gear of the Year 2021 awards), but for £130 cheaper the Makalu is another great option at an excellent price. Made from Gore-Tex Performance using both 50-denier and 75-denier fabrics, the Makalu has a minimum HH rating of 28,000mm and an RET breathability grade of <13. It has a full …

We stock 4 ranges of Mountain Equipment sleeping bags, find out which they are and what they do here.

This is a waterproof and breathable glove with a Gore-Tex insert that offers reasonable dexterity, toasty warmth and impressivetoughness. The palms, thumbs, knuckles and all the fingers are made from goatskin, which gives great protection and excellent grip, ideal for technical mountaineering. The pre-curved shape and rollover fingertips further enhance overall durability and tactility.VERDICTOur …

Soft shells are all about comfort and versatility, and thanks to a great cut and a weatherproof four-way stretch fabric, the Frontier delivers on both counts. But while the inner lining feels soft even against bare skin, the outer face is pretty tough. The double-weave nylon fends off breezes and light precipitation, but wicks well too, so yourarely get too clammy.VERDICTPretty much the …

The Kinesis uses a unique ‘Octoyarn Warp-Knit’ lining to provide active insulation, essentially working in the same way as Polartec Alpha. Without another brand label, Polartec, being included in the jacket the cost is lower than expected which is obviously a pretty significant bonus. As a fan of the Alpha material I was interested (and somewhat sceptical in all honesty) as to how it would perform …

I’m a huge fan of  Mountain Equipment’s Comici pants. It was an easy decision to use them for the TGO Challenge because they tick every box as the perfect outdoor pants for everything other than winter conditions. The fit is superb and the fabric has plenty of stretch so you really don’t notice that you are wearing them. They are genuinely all day comfy. They have slim fitting legs w …

Selecting a mid-layer is often tricky and this decision was even harder for the TGO Challenge. The weather can vary so much across northern Scotland over a 2 week period, it might snow one day and be 20C+ the next. I tend to get quite hot and sweaty so I wanted something fast drying and highly wicking. A bonus would be some wind protection in the torso so that it could be worn as an outer lay …

Delivering weight savings of up to 30% and thermal performance improvements of up to 5 degrees, our range of Mountain Equipment down sleeping bags have been comprehensively developed to be better than their predecessors.Find out more about the different ranges of Mountain Equipment bags below.Advanced technical innovations have created a range that is more user and environment focussed than ever; …

Helium 400 Sleeping Bag While the Helium 400 isn’t the warmest of sleeping bags, it comes in at a good weight of 850g for a -3 season rated sleeping bag and with a price tag of £220, it’s a fantastic choice and a great all rounder. The face fabric is incredibly soft and has a nice handle thanks to the HELIUM™ 20 outer shell and the bag lofts very well which feels great to climb in to after …

The Firelite is part of Mountain Equipment’s 'Extreme Light' range of sleeping bags. Mountain Equipment state that these are the lightest, most efficient sleeping bags they have ever produced. The Mountain Equipment Firelite uses 469g of 90-10 800 Fill Power Russian goose down in an ultralight 10D outer shell. The shell is made from their own Plasma 10D fabric which is also supposed t …