Montane Superfly XT

[norts]

Looking for a new jacket, has anyone had any first hand knowledge of the above jacket, any reviews would be appreciated

Roger

[Ent]

Hi Norts

Nuts has one but he is in the Eldons at the moment but might be in contact by PM. It looks very good but in the mid weight so not really a great scrub hound jacket but all accounts works well with a pack as his is reinforced where the pack sits.

Cheers

[Nuts]

Well... That was the plan, made the river tent bound atm ... Rab Bergen a similar, probably better buy but yes neither is a heavy weight.. Sold a xt to frenchy he may comment..

[frenchy_84]

I'm happy with it so far, I've worn it in drizzle on day trips so far but no downpours with heavy pack so I can't give a full review. It has now started to get fluff balls on the sleves (which is weird it's something I would expect with wool not a raincoat), I'm not sure whether this is because I haven't washed it enough and dwr'd it enough or just from walking through scrub. It hasn't appeared to affect it's waterprofness. Overall with the cut, pitZips and waterprofness I'm happy with it.

[MJD]

I've got one. Used it for one or two years. I like it. I do tend to sweat quite a lot in anything as soon as someone mentions the word "exercise" but this jacket is a good as anything I've tried. Wore it for three days straight in the Western Arthurs recently in some wet to very wet conditions. It's also been on several off track adventures.

Good selection of pockets (four - two chest & two side) that can be accessed with a pack on. Good hood adjustment, wired visor. Hood can be rolled up as a collar. May be a slightly short cut for some people. Got pit zips on the sides as well. Velcro bands to tighten the wrists - no problems with these. Reinforcement in the right places.

[norts]

Thank you for your replies.
It is definitely on my short list.

Also think about Stu's Alto he has for sale on here.

Roger

[Nuts]

That pro shell material is good, i sat in a puddle of water (kayak seat) for a few hours and it only just started to get damp towards the end. Perhaps like most Goretex fabrics?

I could probably add that montane did have some issues with their jackets wetting out under pack straps etc early in use. We used the XT's for maybe
40 odd weeks and this did eventually become a problem. I thought that was fair enough though. When it came time to replace I got a RAB Bergen to compare.
They haven't yet has as much use but are holding up well. The main points in their favour were a better? (non helmet head hood) and less 'bling' (ie less places for stitching failure). Montane also went to W/R zips (with no flap) for the new XT's whereas the Bergen has the old style zip flap. eVent (in general) does require more tlc though. It does 'breathe' really well (i didn't realise how well until i spent a windy night in an eVent bivy under the stars). On the other hand, if staying bone dry was the goal (or theory) then proshell would get full marks and it does seem to sort of 'breathe'..