What about Montane?

Looking for something smart enough for wearing to work yet reasonably technical for the hills.

daverave, after your last thread on hooded fleeces I was "forced" to buy the Haglofs Gemini (discontinued but still available on some European sites).

I have no doubt that it is better than a Tesco fleece (hood, stretch side panels, genuinely lightweight and most important Haglofs logo to display my discerning character to passing strangers) but I also have no illusions that pound for pound it is not that much better. But eff it, what else would I spend my money on?

One question can the Haglofs Triton crowd tell me why the Gemini is so much worse? Genuine interest rather than "my dad's bigger than your dad".

And secondly, what do folk think of the Montane Flux? Usually Primaloft jackets are designed for adding warmth when stopped but this looks like a genuine windproof, water resistant, breathable alternative to a fleece (I can feel it starting again - I am weak).

I'd have thought that the prism 2 would be a bit better for that sort of thing - it's got a bit less insulation. The prism had even lighter insulation and was aimed squarely at being a fleece replacement. PTC has a little about them on his blog.

Not sure if shelled micropile doesn't work a little better for this job myself (Scarab/VR/Driclime etc). Only one layer of windproof material and likely better moisture transport in the insulation.Warmth/weight won't be much different at this sort of fill weight.

Montane certainly do some impressive looking things with fleeces although they do mostly seem to be aiming at main jackets rather than focused midlayers.

Even 40g might be a little too much for genuine active use some of the time, I've not tried it at all so can't comment PTC does also have a short review of it  with a bunch of comments underneath (and some stuff cf the flux too if you hunt around.).

What is obvious is that they're both designed to be worn moving rather than purely spare insulation (with all the pockets and stuff.). 

Ben Turner wrote (see)

And secondly, what do folk think of the Montane Flux? Usually Primaloft jackets are designed for adding warmth when stopped but this looks like a genuine windproof, water resistant, breathable alternative to a fleece (I can feel it starting again - I am weak).

I eventually managed to get a Montane Flux 3 weeks ago (they were out of stock for months)

My view? I've worn it every day since I got it, just over a t-shirt. Best £80 I ever spent. lighter than a fleece, more wind proof, more rain resistant, packs smaller. what more could you ask?

IMO better than any techno-fleece, if I needed more insulation I'd add a cheap fleece. When it comes down to it a basic fleece (no membrane) is a basic fleece, if it fits then it fits and there's no point in paying an extra £30 for a bit of embroidery just because it says TNF/Haglofs/ blah, blah, blah. Lets face it, once you add the windshirt no one can see what fleece you're wearing.