UKC

Top of the range mountain shell clothing from an exciting new British company. Designed by keen UK winter climbers for keen UK winter climbers...

But do they live up to their price tag?

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=6103

In reply to UKC Gear:

Can we (ie you) please lose the NEW from the subject header. It's presumably there masquerading as a NEWS item, when in reality it's just another advert.

In reply to Fraser:

It's not news or an advert; it's a review which was just put up on the site - hence it's a new review. As opposed to an old one. What's the problem with that?

In reply to TobyA:

Ignore me I'm just being grouchy. I still reckon it's an advert - UKC don't give away free publicity, you know that!

In reply to Fraser:


OK, forgiven. I'm just touchy as I did go walking in the dark and pissing rain a couple times specifically to see if I could get it to leak, so I stand by it as a proper review. It was a truly miserable night.

In reply to TobyA:

Thanks for your hard work on this (and many other) review Toby.

The piece reads great, I hope you had 'fun' testing the shell!!

Looking forward to your forthcoming review of the new (not news!) DMM switch axes too.

Cheers,

Jack

In reply to TobyA:
Thanks for the review.
I got a nabu jacket following your previous review. I am interested you are still talking about the feeling of are flow. I was out in 40 mph winds in the jacket and a base layer and didn't notice this phenomenon at all. Nor do I notice it in power shield which I presume is more permeable (2%). What I did notice was a distinct lack of the cold and clammy feeling I normally get if stopping at the top that I get in my event jacket. So very impressed so far with neoshell and the nabu jacket.

In reply to steveshaking:

Fair enough - glad the Nabu is working well for you, I really like mine too. In fact my Aussie mate borrowed it last weekend when I took him out for some ice climbing in the at times heavy rain, and he was really impressed too. https://twitter.com/TobyinHelsinki/status/437211070281691137/photo/1 He also said he was impressed with the comfort - i.e. not getting sweaty even though it was raining, hood up etc.

On the air flow, perhaps I'm just a very sensitive soul. But I do notice it - I was hiking up to the highest point in Shropshire a few weeks back in very windy weather that was blasting snow and sleet at me in quite an impressive way (the one pic in the review where I'm wearing sunglasses! I hadn't thought to bring googles for an English country 'ramble' so had to resort to the sunnies to protect my eyes!). It was quite noticeable then I thought, it was ok though because I think it keeps you much less sweaty when hiking hard up hill, so aids breathability in that sense.

In reply to TobyA:

FWIW I've been using the jacket and salopettes for the last couple of weeks now. Tested in some horrible conditions high in the Lakes, plus 6 days mountaineering in Scotland - everything from cold blue sky days to high freezing levels and lashing rain, via 70mph winds and blizzards.

The jacket is a lot lighter than ProShell and on the face of it looks less robust, but this is purely an observation and not necessarily the case. Both bits of kit stood up to all conditions really well - I didn't get wet once and the weather on a few days was foul. I'd say Neoshell feels more permeable than ProShell but this wasn't an issue, even when standing around in negative windchill at 1000 meters. It definitely breathes better than ProShell. Wore the jacket over an R1 with a mesh base layer. The salopettes over Powestretch tights. The only place I was damp after working hard all day was under the salopette bib (like Toby), but I'd say this was partly due to my jacket pockets being loaded with gloves, maps and the like.

Fit on both is great - no flappy baggy stuff going on. Best fitting hardshell trousers I've ever seen. Didn't bother with the internal gaiters apart from once, but I do have an integrated gaiter on my mountain boots.

In reply to Si Withington:

Excellent to hear you've had similar experiences. By ProShell I guess you mean the best stuff up to last year - but not the new Goretex "Pro"? I think like neoShell, there are/were different face fabrics available as ProShell? I just went and compared the Bergelmir's NeoShell to a Marmot in ProShell I reviewed a few years back - http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=3282 and the NeoShell actually feels a bit thicker and heavier.

I've also just gone and had a look carefully at Jöttnar's website and it actually confirms what I had guessed at - the Bergelmir's (jkt) face fabric is slightly heavier than the Vanir (troos) - 168 g/m2 vs. 136 g/m2. The Vanir do stretch really nicely I wonder if that's partly to do with having the lighter face fabric? Not sure. I can ask Tommy at Jöttnar - they generally have a very good reason for all their design decisions when you ask them annoying pernickety questions as a reviewer!

In reply to TobyA:
Yeah, I mean old ProShell, not new Pro! My ME Changabang is bombproof, it's like wearing a house, but the Bergelmir is light years ahead in breathability and comfort. It's a trade off as usual.

I know Jottnar have just kitted out Lochaber MR too, so its fair to say that their kit should stand up to some challenging conditions.

In reply to UKC Gear:

I had both the Jottnar kit and DMM switches out with me in Iceland last week. I will write my full thoughts on all kit in a blog post when I get chance, but the over all feeling was two thumbs fresh for all.

We had a great time exploring new crags, new routing and tested the Jottnar stuff against the worst of Icelandic weather... including digging ourselves out of a snowdrift on a lonely mountain rd.

In reply to mux:


I saw on twitter you getting pulled out by big bloody truck! Different time?

Really look forward to seeing some pics of the climbing - it sounds like you found some exciting stuff. I'm actually writing a review of the Switches now for UKC, but I'm sure you guys were pushing them more to their limit than I can! Make sure you stick up a link somewhere on UKC when you've finished writing up.

In reply to TobyA:

Jöttnar say about the difference of the fabric weights between jacket and salopettes that the lighter fabric on the Vanir is "to offset weight of Kevlar instep protectors, but still allowing double layer reinforcement on seat & knees" https://twitter.com/jottnar/status/438721641758343168

In reply to TobyA:

Yes that would be the one Toby... dug ourselves out... moved about 3 ft then stuck again. HGV turns up (the vehicle hire of choice next time), No stopping them buggers. He pulled 3 4x4's clear like it was nothing, and not your namby pamby Brit 4x4's.. these were your Icelandic meaty 4x4's.

In reply to UKC Gear:

I got to the £800 for the pair and read no further

In reply to Doghouse:

Yes - agree a full set of top of the range waterproofs be they Jöttnar, Arcteryx, Mountain Equipment, Haglöfs, North Face, Berghaus etc. is an awful lot of money. I think it is fair to expect a lot from them for that money. But I think the Jöttnar stuff does deliver in that sense.

Winter climbing on a tight budget has always been hard, but I think it's easier these days than it used to be thanks to megastore own brands like the Decathlon/GO Outdoors and the like and generic materials that are similar to the branded stuff.