Hiking Jacket for £80-£100

Teki187 · 19 Dec 2007 at 12:23

I've been looking for a hiking jacket, but im getting confused with all the terminology.

Could anyone clarify or recommend me some jackets?

Thanks

Mr_T · 19 Dec 2007 at 13:06

Depends on the conditions you will be hiking in & time of year you plan to do it?

jpmonkey69 · 19 Dec 2007 at 13:44

Make sure it's a windproof and waterproof jacket....

beh · 19 Dec 2007 at 13:51

http://shop.themountainfactor.com/product.php?xProd=1231&xSec=35

http://www.ultimateoutdoors.co.uk/item/Brand_MountainEquipmentKarakorumJkt_1183_0_26136_1.html

Couple reasonable deals.

Although tbh, unless you need it now, wait for the sales.

Teki187 · 19 Dec 2007 at 14:01

Mr_T said:
Depends on the conditions you will be hiking in & time of year you plan to do it?

All conditions and any time of the year really.

Which brands use Gore-Tex? And is there a better one of the 3 you listed Moses99p?

Sol · 19 Dec 2007 at 14:22

eVENT is better than the Goretex equivalent. I have a Montane Superfly XT (loving the name

) which is great. If you are going to go down the goretex paclite/event route then obviously you will need layers below the outer waterproof/windproof layer because they are thin sheets.

I also have a nice Rab Photon Hoodie that is made from Primaloft which works quite well underneath a waterproof layer because it's light, packs small, and is really warm but not so warm you overheat.

A good alrounder that I liked the look of is the North Face plasma thermal jacket:

http://www.ellis-brigham.com/thenorthface/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/205789||primaloft|0|user||19|

Not cheap though, would come down a fair bit in the sales I reckon.

Shmo · 19 Dec 2007 at 14:22

Event fabric is good too, meant to be the most breathable fabric but not as windproof as the others. I've got a Gill jacket made from thin Event which is made for cycling but I actually prefer it to my chunky North Face Hyvent jacket as it can be worn in non-freezing conditions without getting too hot.

If you're looking for a year round jacket then don't go for a big stormproof arctic coat as it'd be murdererously hot outside the winter months in this country.

beh · 19 Dec 2007 at 14:30

Aye, eVent is definitely worth a look. Not as widely used (check out Rab and Montane) but generally considered to be more breathable that GTX.

I also own a Montane Superfly that I picked up in the sales a couple years back for ~£100

cleanbluesky · 19 Dec 2007 at 14:39

beh said:
Aye, eVent is definitely worth a look. Not as widely used (check out Rab and Montane) but generally considered to be more breathable that GTX.

I also own a Montane Superfly that I picked up in the sales a couple years back for ~£100

I own a GTX, its solid but slightly sweaty and strangely warm also. Good jacket.

jpmonkey69 · 19 Dec 2007 at 15:18

I have a nice Ripcurl snowboarding jacket that is GoreTex... it was over £300 but I got it in a sale.

To be honest, for the 80-100 quid bracket, I'd look for a decent branded GoreTex jacket from TK Maxx..

Curio · 19 Dec 2007 at 16:27

Teki187 said:
All conditions and any time of the year really.

To get that kind of flexibility you'll need to buy a seperate shell and then some sort of layer - or a 3-in-1 type coat. I would say spend the money on a good quality shell (Berghaus RG1 has always been a good 'un) and then just layer-up with whatever you have already. Later on you could get a good quality Primaloft, down or Polartec insulation piece if you need it.

Gore-Tex is still the best in terms of breathability & durability. Right now they have two basic kinds - Pro Shell and Performance Shell. Pro Shell is very expensive, but awesome. Performance shell is "lower" end and cheaper, but still as good as the best from other manufacturers like TNF's Hyvent.

jpmonkey69 · 19 Dec 2007 at 16:37

Curio said:
To get that kind of flexibility you'll need to buy a seperate shell and then some sort of layer - or a 3-in-1 type coat. I would say spend the money on a good quality shell (Berghaus RG1 has always been a good 'un) and then just layer-up with whatever you have already. Later on you could get a good quality Primaloft, down or Polartec insulation piece if you need it.

I wish I could remember the brand name, but all I can recall is I got it from a USC in Reading... It was gore tex, hella warm and had a fleece that you could remove if it wasn't too cold out. With the fleece in, even in very cold temperatures I was v. hot.

I'll try to dig out the brand...

GhostlyPea · 19 Dec 2007 at 16:39

Whatever jacket you purchase if it isnt Gore-Tex or eVent lined its nto worth anything. These are both laminate fabrics not coatings and will breath properly. So stay away from HyVent, Stormtech, Aquafoil etc. lowe Alpine do some good lowish priced jackets, my paclite is good for about this price although I didnt pick it up reduced. The important thing to remember is that it MUST be washed in a pure soap, non detergent, something like Nikwax techwash. Reproofing is also important also. Nikwax TX-Direct is the easiest to purchase and use as it is a polymer based proofer and does NOT need heat to activate it. if you want to look after it best then Grangers do a re-proofer thats is better. The difference with this is that is is flurocarbon based and therefore NEEds to be ironed or tumbledried. Depending on the jacket depends on what sort of proofer and cleaner you use and also how its treated.

That may not be 100% relevant, but I used to work for an outdoors retailer and the amount of idiots that used to purchase jackets, listen to our advice, then ignore it and wash thier jacket in Daz and wonder why it suddenly Wets-Out >.<

Features wise, if you can try and get something with pit zips. do not be fooled in to thinking "breathable" means ventilation as it does not. It just means that the membrane is pourous and allows vapour out so there is no condensation. make sure the hood fits, take it out and try it on. make sure the storn flaps are double (as in one folds over and the second one folds over that again) try and go for velcro fastenings (ever tried fastening popers in the wind when its minus 5

).

Personal experience says Gore-Tex is still the better product, although eVent is more breathable and importantly less prone to wetting out as it has a coating to prevent oils from the skin destroying the proofing.

theres a lot more to go over but thats a good start, anymore questions just ask!

- Pea0n

blighter · 19 Dec 2007 at 18:30

Curio said:
To get that kind of flexibility you'll need to buy a seperate shell and then some sort of layer - or a 3-in-1 type coat. I would say spend the money on a good quality shell (Berghaus RG1 has always been a good 'un) and then just layer-up with whatever you have already. Later on you could get a good quality Primaloft, down or Polartec insulation piece if you need it.

Gore-Tex is still the best in terms of breathability & durability. Right now they have two basic kinds - Pro Shell and Performance Shell. Pro Shell is very expensive, but awesome. Performance shell is "lower" end and cheaper, but still as good as the best from other manufacturers like TNF's Hyvent.

Do you work for BLG too?

GhostlyPea · 19 Dec 2007 at 18:51

I used to

worked in Bromley store as supervisor and was Assistant Manager of Wakefield and Leeds for about 3 years ^ Got permanently peeved because when they hired Alan he managed to destroy the company in about 18 months

- Pea0n

Teki187 · 20 Dec 2007 at 19:58

Pea0n said:
SNIP!
- Pea0n

Thanks for your reply, only just got chance to read through it.

Would you advise that i get either a shell or fleece and shell combi?

Also do you have any recommendations on brands i.e. North Face etc?

Thanks for the replies.

SiriusB · 20 Dec 2007 at 20:35

All the major brands usually have very good products so it is hard to say xxx brand is better than yyy. It really does depend when and how you plan to use the jacket, and also how well it fits you. Some jackets I have tried have been great, but don't quite fit [or the other way around - fit well but aren't great].

As said, for maximum flexibility you probably want to find either a shell on its own and buy your own fleece, or get one with removable lining.

EDIT: You might want to try Go Outdoors when looking for a jacket. They usually have loads of different types and brands so you should find something that fits your needs. I think the nearest store to you is the Loughborough one. http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/stores-loughborough

They have a few of their stuff on the website but not nearly as much as in the stores.