UKC

Montane are at their best when they're making super-light products, and the Alpine 850 Nano is very much the embodiment of that philosophy. In fact it's literally the gold standard, says Rob Greenwood. What on earth is he talking about...?

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Thanks Rob - good review. A couple of questions if I may:

• How does it compare to the Rab Mythic G in terms of warmth?
• What are the limits of the hydrophobic down treatment - I assume we’re still some way short of providing similar performance to synthetic when properly wet?

I'm not Rob (obviously!) but the Mythic G has twice the amount of down and at a higher fill power so will be much warmer. From Montane the 'alpine lite 850' would be a much closer comparison to the mythic G. In terms of warmth when wet , you don't really want to get any insulation soaking wet (synthetic or down) but if the forecast was iffy most people would be carrying a light waterproof to wear over a down jacket like this in any case .

Sorry for the delayed reply.

James123 has said pretty much exactly what I would have regarding the Mythic G, which is that it has substantially more down in - hence incomparable in terms of warmth. 

When it comes to the down treatment, I am of the same mindset that is if it's raining heavily - you want something waterproof over the top. If it's a bit damp - even drizzling - then these modern treatments do a great job of repelling that, but if it's outright rain then there's only so much they can do!!

Hi Rob, like you said in the article piece like this is often a great choice for carrying just in case after all the best jacket is one that you've actually got with you.

I think for activities like fell/trail running, mountain biking, even brisk hill walking when you're not planning on stopping much/at all it's sometimes a tough choice between a bulkier/heavier synthetic jacket that copes better with moisture and a usually much lighter much more compressible down jacket that is also usually warmer.

Thanks for the responses Rob and James. 

I suppose my point was that for an additional 50g of weight you appear to get at least twice the warmth with the Rab Mythic G? Probably more as it’s a lot warmer than my Montane Featherlight down which with 140g of 750 fill seems broadly similar to the Montane Alpine Lite?

I own the Mythic G and use it for spring split board touring / mountaineering when weight and compressibility is key. Given UKC have recently reviewed the Mythic G I thought you’d missed an opportunity for comparison?

The second question was related to whether the new ‘gold’ treatment made the down performance in any way comparable to synthetic when wet. The Montane Featherlite has hydrophobic down but ime doesn’t compare to my Patagonia Das Parka or my (very old now) ME Fitzroy for performance when wet. I wouldn’t consider using the Featherlite as a belay jacket in Scottish Winter for example. 

James, I’m not sure I agree with your point that “you don't really want to get any insulation soaking wet (synthetic or down)”. I frequently put my Das Parka on over a wet hardshell in classic Scottish sleet which often then turns to rain at some point.

Equally, lest it appears I’m Montane bashing, my synthetic Montane Fireball Verso (one of my favourite bits of kit now sadly unavailable) functions really well when soaked and is my go to for mountain biking and sea kayaking when I know it’s going to get soaked.

I was broadly trying to understand whether this new treatment represented a genuine leap forward in capability or just a more ecologically friendly way of achieving the same result.

I probably should have added more context to my original questions…

Funnily enough we've got a Lightweight Down Jacket Group Test coming up, which will likely be of interest, although that includes the Mythic Alpine Light  - not the Mythic G.

When it comes to making comparisons within individual product reviews, we tend to avoid doing this - rightly or wrongly; however, we're always open to discussion within the threads that follow - this being a good example of that. In some cases, such as this, I've not actually used/reviewed the Mythic G so find it hard to pass comment with anything other than an academic opinion (i.e. on the quantity of down, as opposed to how it performed in reality).

For me, if I know I'm going to be getting wet, I would still favour synthetic. Whether this is simply out of habit, or because the new tech - in spite of its developments - doesn't quite bring it up to the same standard. My gut feeling is that whilst it has indeed made down better at repelling water it's unlikely (if ever?) going to be as good as synthetic in that particular respect.

Another complicating factor is how much warmer synthetic jackets are getting/have got in recent years, but maybe that's a conversation for another day!