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I was delighted when Montane offered an opportunity to test their Cetus Lite jacket several months before its official release. Since May it’s been put through its paces, and I’ve been impressed with the performance.The Cetus Lite is part of Montane’s new Petrichor range. Petrichor is Montane’s name for its own in-house fabric, which has been developed to minimise the fabric’s environment …

A waterproof jacket has become a real necessity in the extremely unpredictable weather in the UK, even in the height of summer. The new Torren Waterproof Jacket from Montane has served me well on far more occasions than I’d hoped for in the last few months. This is the first time that Montane’s new Petrichor waterproof technology has been used to help reduce the impact of PFC/PCAS i …

This has been my go-to jacket for the last 5 months (May to September) and has performed well when needed, either as protection from a sudden summer shower or worn for a full day on the Lakeland fells in low cloud and constant drizzle. This Cetus ‘Lite’ jacket in Deep Forest, size UK12 weighs 290g and packs down pretty small for stashing in a backpack. The Montane 3-layer Pet …

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 M …

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 …

High Street - Lake District Eastern Fells and my Border Collie Gaston The newest addition to the Phase range from Montane, the Phase Nano is the lightest and most breathable Gore-Tex Jacket from  Montane. Aimed at trail runners and anyone looking to move fast and light, the Phase Nano has a lot of features to offer, for such a lightweight jacket, two hand pockets, …

I was lucky enough to be spending 2 whole weeks in Scotland hiking, two weeks, in Scotland, in May, you know you are going to rely heavily on your waterproofs, and the unpredictable nature of the Scottish weather meant that I could definitely predict rain. So, I was after something robust, light, and capable of shielding me from some truly awful weather. So, when Rab’s newly updated  …

The ROC GTX Jacket from  Haglof’s is perfectly suited to Hikers and Backpackers a-like due to the simple design that will stand the test of time with a rucksack on your back. First of all, this is not a shell that you will pop in your rucksack for the off chance of rain, but a jacket for trips/days out where rain will definitely be a factor. The 3-layer Gore-Tex will take all th …

Having previously tested and reviewed the original Kinetic Alpine pant we were eager to see what alterations Rab had made to the newly updated 2.0 version. It’s instantly noticeable that Rab have not held back with making changes and have instead nearly completely redesigned the Kinetic Alpine. We often use our original pair, so having them side by side gave us a great insight into …

The Mammut Kento HS claims to be a hard-shell jacket that is ready for changing conditions in the mountains. Weighing in at 452 grams in a size medium this can be considered a mid to lightweight jacket. It packs down small so made for an easy addition to our kit for days when the weather could not quite make its mind up.

The Montane Alpine Resolve sure packs a punch straight out of bag. Coming in the striking Citrus Green design, it certainly ticks the first box for a winter shell jacket. Bright and bold, it will stand out in contrast to the shorter days and bleak white mountain tops of the winter season.

Rab’s new range of waterproof shells are more than just a slight tweak in design. Throughout the years Rab have become common place for use of fabrics such as eVent, Pertex, NeoShell, including a few of their own such as ProFlex which we reviewed last year. What is surprising is this is Rab’s first partnership with Gore-Tex bringing out a range of high-performance clothing. This is a bold but brav …