Bushwalk Australia

montane have stopped making the air jacket
they have replaced it with the Aero. and shaved thirty odd grams off the design with a pullover design

http://www.montane.co.uk/range/men/shel ... t-pullover

Is it worth it?

mate if you dont like weight savings of tens of grams the ultralight gear forum isnt the forum for you to cast your aspersions.... this forum was created to stop trolling the ultralighters

Hood looks good, apart from what looks like no visor.

Short zip is good, particularly as so many manufacturers (Not One Planet, Swazi and Macpac) persist in those dinky zips with no weather flap.

C'mon Wayno - "is it worth it" hardly qualifies as casting aspersions.

i think there is a kind of visor but it doesnt stick out much, mainly points down from the look of it.... looks like its made to be lightweight first and have extra functional bits as a lower priority...
montane redid most of their rainshell lineup... most of their heavier rainshells seem to be designed with climbing in mind.... certainly all their other event ones and a neoshell one are...

Yeah - no visor (oops fixed it) seems to be a bit of a euro thing. Perhaps they are expecting that a helmet may be worn ?

If a cap is worn under, it sort of wipes out any weight saving from no visor/peak.

Plenty of the hill country in GB (to say nothing of mainland Europe) gets cold driving rain, so I am not sure how it all works for them.

maybe its seen as more of a garment you wear when you're likely to have short bursts of rain rather than prolonged rain.
my westcomb shift lt is 340gm 3 layer. for that you get a proper stiffened hood peak, full length zipper, internal storm flap....
their spectre event model is 314gm same features

its harder getting the weight down on three layer shells.
i've got a 2.5 layer full zip shell with a partially stiffened peak weighs 180gm.
if you want the weight down on a three layer you really have to strip out the design features and you're still coming out heavier than a 2.5.

it says there is a peak, just probably not one of the bigger ones on the market

Hood visor stiffened with a wire on the lip and a foam insert for extra durability

wayno wrote:mate if you dont like weight savings of tens of grams the ultralight gear forum isnt the forum for you to cast your aspersions.... this forum was created to stop trolling the ultralighters

Mate, that's a poor assumption on my question. Functionality vs weight trade-off, one that's hardly not a consideration for an ultralighter. Otherwise there'd be Cuben sheets than Montane gears.

GPSGuided wrote:

wayno wrote:mate if you dont like weight savings of tens of grams the ultralight gear forum isnt the forum for you to cast your aspersions.... this forum was created to stop trolling the ultralighters

Mate, that's a poor assumption on my question. Functionality vs weight trade-off, one that's hardly not a consideration for an ultralighter. Otherwise there'd be Cuben sheets than Montane gears.

it shows how your initial statement could easily be misread
ultralighters here have traditionally been bagged for their weight consciousness.

wayno wrote:it shows how your initial statement could easily be misread
ultralighters here have traditionally been bagged for their weight consciousness.

Suggesting that ULters need to treated with kid's gloves? Carrying a baggage? Surely not. I think a mature UL forum should be able to positively respond to legitimate question.

this thread is about a jacket, not about how were going to debate about ultralighting

You started the branch by misinterpreting a legitimate technical question.

GPSGuided wrote:You started the branch by misinterpreting a legitimate technical question.

Asking "is it worth upgrading" is actually a legitimate question in a UL forum.

You could upgrade this jacket and save N grams for a certain cost. For the same money you may be able to save even more weight. Alternatively there may be an alternative to upgrade to that has a greater saving. Also is the jacket even really an upgrade on the previous model.

A forum us a good place to ask such questions, present options and debate the costs / merits.

So, to rephrase your question (making assumptions here sorry):

Is it worth paying for an upgrade on the previous model or would it be better to get something else if you're angling to save a few grams?

My vote is looks like a nice bit of kit but the hoodie arrangement seems like it'd be a bit of a PITA compared to a full front zipper. For me the zipper would justify carrying a few extra grams (but then I'm not a true ultralighter either).

Back on track. I wonder if they have fixed the delamination issue that the Air suffers from. I like my Air but the bubbling between the layers means it is failing after only a few uses. The jacket otherwise is "strong" enough for track use and the occasional brushes with scrub.


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Yes, is the change to pull over design worth the weight saving? To me, a change from full zip to pull over would be a completely different product. Functionally they are very different.

Ent wrote:Back on track. I wonder if they have fixed the delamination issue that the Air suffers from. I like my Air but the bubbling between the layers means it is failing after only a few uses. The jacket otherwise is "strong" enough for track use and the occasional brushes with scrub.


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i remember cam saying that with macpac they had tracked down the delaminating material to being from a specific mill and they, had stopped using the faulty material.
hopefully other brands identified the cause of the issue and resolved it.
i've had no issues with my superfly xt