mountain hardwear shells, comments requested

[wayno]

anyone use mountain hardwear shells? and any opinion on them please?

[slparker]

I have a mountain hardwear paclite shell jacket. I bought it for x-country skiing (mainly) but now use it for just about everything. It has a really athletic cut, pitzips and quite long sleeves which are great. I bought it mainly because the hood was so good and it was very light. The manufacturing quality is superb, the best fitting jacket I have worn. It is not your traditional knee length baggy goretex shell, it is waist length and slim fitting...upside is it seems to breathe very well (no doubt due to the fabric, slim fit and good ventilation). It breathes better than my windstopper softshell, consequently I have relegated that to casual wear. I have worn it in shocking weather on my pushbike and amazingly it seems as breathable as my windstopper jackets... I am extremely cynical about breathability too I have had bad experiences with softshells and traditional gore-tex.

Downsides: can't fit more than a base layer and midweight fleece under it... not a downside for me as I bought it for walking/skiing and i tend to work hard and create heat and sweat. In the snow I now put on a synthetic fill snowproof jacket over the top if I'm stopped for lunch. If I stop in the rain and it's very cold I can squeeze an extra layer underneath but it's not comfortable. It's a fair trade off for me though.
Another downside: waist length, it means that I've had to pack a 3/4 waterproof pair of trousers for rain. This is a minor inconvenience when it's raining on and off. I tend to keep drier now anyway because the 3/4 length shorts cover my gaiter tops and I don't get wet and cold legs and knees.
Possible downside: durability. It's ripstop and has lasted two years already but I don't know how it would go sliding over dolerite or pushing through scrub.

I bought it for $200 bucks at the mountain design outlet in canberra DFO...it would retail for some insane price no doubt. I would buy another one when it wears out and pay more. I do know a guy who bought the top of the range Mountain Hardwear gore tex pro shell for mountaineering. he wasn't happy with it but I think his main problem was with the fabric, he was surprised that top of the range goretex would wet out and lose 'waterproofness' after a few days. More a problem with the fabric than the manufacture of the jacket I assume.

I did buy a pair of mountain hardwear shell pants for skiing too, again awesome cut and very comfortable... not goretex but some kind of proprietary 3 layer fabric that's quite light. Good for snow but I probably wouldn't use it for walking unless I knew it was going to hose down.

[wayno]

thanks, for that, what is the name of the jacket please?

[slparker]

I'll have a look after work. I just checked the MH website, they don't use paclite anymore (from what i could see). The closest thing I could find at MD is this (very similar...don't know how good the hood is though):

http://www.mountaindesigns.com/online-s ... odID=14748

[wayno]

tighter fitting garments stay warmer underneath, one of the problem in cold weaather with baggy garments is you dont warm up as much and the moisutre is more likely to condense inside the garment, gore tex will only let water varpour through, it doesnt let water through once the inside of the fabric is covered with condenses water.

[icemancometh]

What specifically did you want to know about them?

I find that recently they're really cutting their sizing smaller to make their listed weights less and doing so by making garments shorter etc. Also, their listed weights are WAY off...even after contacting them directly and questioning the new weights etc I found they were still quite a ways off (I also hear they are listing weights for their small or smallest sizes which is misleading and makes it hard for comparisons). Hoods also seem smaller. Re their packs, often the listed weights don't count the pad or the frame, ie not true weights.

[wayno]

Hi
things i'd like to know are
quality of the gear, fit, breathability, DWR quality. durability,

[nq111]

Maybe not so relevant to today's offerings but i had a MH goretex for about 10yrs. It was big, durable, well made and designed. Not a lightweight shell but good for the times.

[slparker]

Wayno,
No name on it. It's 340g. Fitted and waterproof. It's lasted two years. I wouldn't glissade on my back down a dolerite slope or crowd surf a scoparia patch in it but hey you can't have everything. You want baggy, get a Mont or Paddy Pallin.
cheers, sean

[dee_legg]

I have a MHW Epic Jacket, non Goretex, short style jacket- not super technical in its design but I carry it on bushwalks where I am not expecting terrible weather and use it around town. It's great. Breathes well, needs a wash and spray to improve its DWR but I've used it for 2 or so years without any care so I'm happy with that. Expect many more years out of it.

I also have a MHW Adaro Jacket which is an old model women's shell, Goretex pro, short, fitted cut for mountaineering. I love it because the sides actually don't ride up when you lift your arm up!! The fabric has so far proven to be tough, DWR has lasted well after quite a bit of pack carrying and self-arrest practice on wet afternoon snow.

The hoods on both jackets are amazing. By far the best design I've ever used (compared to Mont, MD, Macpac, Patagonia).

I haven't seen any of the new MHW stuff with the Drystein but I think they are an awesome brand who is designing good gear for people who actually get out and use it so I can't see why the new stuff wouldn't be of a similar standard to their older stuff.

[doogs]

I have a MH jacket which I have had for around 10 years, it is no longer waterproof (Conduit) and I tried reproofing it and it didn't work I can't remember the model name but its a technical jacket which has been very hardwearing. I use it these days for wet scrub bashing trips. Quite a heavy jacket though.

[icemancometh]

I would say like most companies, cuts are getting shorter and smaller in general in the race to be able to claim the lightest weights

Generally more the over the top feature and weight in the past but now changing

Definitely shorter than before and trying to be more minimalist but pricey

Build quality seems good

I'm now moving over to Mont Bell as one of the better off the rack options/brands. Pity not a lot of it makes it down here at the American sale prices but hey, can't have your cake...

[Explorer_Sam]

Mountain Hardwear is a top brand and I've got one of their shells. The 'Epic Jacket' is a fantastic jacket that I've never had any real problems with. Some of the zips are a bit sticky though and require two hands to open. I've also found that in humid conditions it gets a bit muggy under the shell and when I sweat, some of it evaporates but it takes a while so the breathability isn't the best but it's ok. I think it retails for $100 now so for a mid-priced shell, it's a good buy and pretty good value for money.

[wayno]

their latest waterproof membrane is dry q, similar to event, lets air through the shell. so more breathable than previous membranes....