UKC

George Cave tests out the Quasar Hybrid Pullover from Mountain Hardwear:

"Produced in a vividly striking red/orange (also available in blue) the jacket is marketed as “the ultimate lightweight ice and rock climbing waterproof, breathable, air permeable pullover shell”. The tag will tell you it weighs just 235g but those three simple figures don't do this jacket justice, its fabulously, ridiculously light."

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=6421

In reply to UKC Gear:

Decent review.

It's probably spot on for Ueli but seems rather irrelevant to the rest of us. No decent pockets and the hood looks awful. But then I always have more than enough time to adjust my hood!

My patagonia jacket has a similar cuff arrangement and they are a great idea.

In reply to UKC Gear:
A baffling review. I've heard there are people who don't want to be able to vent their shell by half unzipping at the neck, but they must be incredibly fit, incredibly slow, or probably just incredibly hot and uncomfortable. As for the non-helmet hood, how is this a good thing? Imagine sweating with that under a helmet. Weight? Barely different to a ME Firelite (which you can vent, put over your helmet and has pockets)

Yet the reviewer insists on a tone of positivity which just yells: free gear!! Must be positive! Wonder what they'll send me next week?

In reply to BnB:

Thanks for the feedback, sorry you thought it ended up too positive I will take yours and all other feedback on board though. I'm disappointed you think I'd deliberately make it more positive in the hope of getting further reviews although I realise its an easy thing to suggest! That's not really my thing.

As for the specifics, I stand by everything I wrote. The ME jacket looks to be impressive too. Top line is perhaps fantastic fit, very light, weird hood design. Hopefully I elaborated on why.

Cheers,

George

In reply to 67hours:

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. It might just be my hatred of smocks that makes me unable to comprehend why anyone would want to wear one, and consequently baffled!!

Is that the Quiraing in those photos, by the way, or the Storr perhaps?

In reply to BnB:


Yes, looks like a regression to those horrible cagoules we used to have to pull over our heads back in the '70s.

In reply to Robert Durran:

The thing is designed by and for Uli Steck. His climbing is characterized by continual aerobic motion (often, because of his astonishing speed, for no more than a few hours even on huge objectives). He isn't going to stop to take it on and off, because...he isn't going to stop for anything. So if you want a super light waterproof piece you put on first thing and wear all day, this could be it.

There's a more useful review of the original jacket (which didn't have stretch panels) on the Supertopo site, http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Hardshell-Jacket-Reviews/Mountain-Hardwear-Qu... . They compared it to 18 other hardshells. They found it to be the most breathable, which fits with Uli's style. They also noted that breathability came at the expense of windproofness, which would matter to those who stop to belay more than those who don't. They liked the seal of the cuffs but didn't appreciate the feeling of having "wet socks" around their wrists in wet conditions and weren't happy about having to remove gloves to remove the shell (which of course Uli wouldn't be doing). It was their testers' first choice "for all things wet and cold," but for those who aren't professional athletes able to re-supply whenever needed, they also found it to be "shockingly fragile."

In reply to rgold:

DryQ is just eVent isn't it? I pretty certain that I read this and that GE will flog eVent to whoever wants it and lets them brand it as they like. It will be interesting to hear if DryQ has any of the durability issues people are reporting with eVent.

In reply to BnB:

Yes, its the Quiraing in a few of the shots, well spotted!