Brilliant piece of kit, worn with a light wicking t shirt and by utilising the lower back pouch; more flexible & more comfortable than any coating or membrane based waterproof "system". It will not replace the increasingly loved & popular Velez Smock but is a real option for the open minded, particularly in the damp, mild North West of England.

Are you really sure Jonathan? It is difficult to find a bigger Paramo fan than me, but it seems that the only real advantage comes from the removable arms. How does this differ from the jackets?

Andy, I can only agree that the only real advantage is the removable arms, I suppose that's great for some people, like me, good for others and pretty meaningless for you. Sometimes a jacket with no arms is an absolute blessing. I wore my Velez to "Go Ape" in Grizedale as a treat for my 50th birthday last August (I think my family were trying to tell me something). The whole go ape team wears the velez and although rolling the sleeves up works to a degree, sleeveless is much more comfortable at times. The only reason I tried the jacket was because I have a couple of friends who have the old (2002) third element and they never shut up. I also had an email today from an OM member called Al who owns & loves the old version asking about the weight of the new one as the old one is heavy at 1.2kg. I think mine is about 800g but I will check.

Interesting. I took my Velez on the TGO Challenge this year and was very pleased that I did. It is pretty comfortable with a pack and the weather was only warm enough to see me walking without it on two days. I can see how - on some days - it might have been nice to have taken the arms off.

Mind you, I can't really justify buying yet another Paramo jacket :-)

Interesting. I took my Velez on the TGO Challenge this year and was very pleased that I did. It is pretty comfortable with a pack and the weather was only warm enough to see me walking without it on two days. I can see how - on some days - it might have been nice to have taken the arms off.

Mind you, I can't really justify buying yet another Paramo jacket :-)

I must admit I found buying it difficult to justify so I got the whole family to contribute and reduced my dodgy presents collection (slightly).

- Checked the weight 775g (large).

775 is pretty good, nearly as light as the Velez. Must have a look at them next time I'm in Betwys. Last time I was in S Cunninghams they were rambling on about the third element coming back. I couldn't understand a word of it - I thought they'd finally flipped.