So after 3 months of trying to find an off-the-rack jacket that ticked all the boxes, I finally decided to drop the cash and get a custom-made jacket.

I had previously loooked at Beyond Fleece's (as they were then) range but didn't want to pay that sort of money what with the exchange rate, import duties and postage. But with the pound at record highs, their products came definately within the price range.

I finally decided to take the plunge and selected their Vayu Plus X jacket. The key features that I was looking for were: sizing, fabrics, technical features, price, style.

* Size: I'm wear an XXL which makes it difficult enough to find  an off-the-rack jacket to begin with, even worse when you're being as picky as me with features. The added bonus with the Vayu (as with all Beyond's clothing) is that it is custom fit - you send them your measurements and they custom fit the jacket. As such, for the first time in ages I have a jacket whose arms are the perfect length.

* Fabrics: The jacket is a combination of two different fabrics. The front and arms are made from Schoeller WB-400 softshell for greater wind resistance, while the back panel is made out of Schoeller Dryskin Extreme which is rated as less windproof, but better for venting. As someone who runs very hot, venting is a primary concern for me. My now retired membrane-based windproof fleece became like a sauna after an hour of even moderate movement. After reading all the reviews of the Schoeller products, I hold high hopes that it will work as intended. I'm off on a 2 1/2 month trip through the steamy jungles of South East Asia next week, so it will definately be getting a good field test. I'll follow up later to let you all know how it performs.

* Technical Features: Having discovered the immense benefit of pitzips on my hardshell, I wasn't getting a new midlayer jacket that didn't have pitzips. Which dramatically reduced the number of jackets I could choose from. With the Vayu, I could choose to add the feature to the jacket for the princely sum of USD$15 (approx £8). Bargain.

I was also looking for large handwarmer pockets set above a pack beltline, having nearly frozen my hands off wandering the streets of Oslo with pack on, no gloves and inaccessible pockets. These come standard on the Vayu and they are indeed large - I can fit a Lonely Planet Country guide book in the, and still have space for my hand.

I also paid USD$15 for an additional pocket on the left bicep. It is a semi-circle shaped zip pocket that is wide enough for my mobile phone, a small notebook and Ipod Nano. Very handy.

Other nice features are: hem shockcord, two-way zip, lined double-thickness collar.

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* Price: I was looking at a price around the £100-120, but was happy to spend more if I could get what I wanted. The base price for the jacket is USD$199 (£105). With the pitzips and bicep pocket, plus postage to the UK, total cost came to USD$229 (£120). Postage to the UK cost USD$30 (£16), bringing the total cost to £136. Except that HM Revenue and Customs wanted their cut, so with the £16.12 import duty, £26.33 VAT, and £8 Royal Mail processing fee (£50.45), my total outlay was £187. Which is a lot of money for a jacket! But assuming it functions as I hope, I'm happy with that price. I'll get back to you on that.

* Style: Given that I virtually live in my windproof fleece, and wear it around town about three times as much as I do on the side of a hill, the jacket needed fairly conservative style - read not yellow on red. The jacket comes in a variety of colours (Desert Khaki, Obsidian Black, White, Molten Red, Lilac) and if you so choose, for no extra charge you can have the back panel in the different colour of black. As you may have guessed, I choose Obsidian Black, both front and back. I'm so very boring. Even though the fabrics are both black and come from the same manufacturer, it is pretty obvious that they are different - the WB-400 is a typical softshell fabric, smooth and shiny-ish, whereas the Dryskin Extreme has a textured surface and is a matt finish, which gives a (well I like it) nice effect.

A couple of points to finish: build quality is excellent. I haven't found a stitch out of place. Ordering is easy - the website lets you pick the jacket you want (they have a range of different fabrics) and then guides you through step-by-step through the process of adding the features you want, the 'fit' of the jacket, and then adding your measurements.

My only issue so far has been the time it took to get the jacket in my hands. Beyond advertise on their website that they should have your jacket (or other item) completed in 4-5 weeks. I ordered on the 5th May, it was posted on the 25th June (6 1/2 weeks after ordering), it arrived in UK customs on the 1st July, I got notification of the customs charges on the 8th July, and it was delivered to me on the 11th July. So overall, 9 weeks to get a custom fitted jacket. Their website has an online tracking system, updating you on the progress of your garmet. I was starting to get a bit worried about how long the process was taking so I sent Beyond an email to find you how much longer it was going to take. I must say they replied straight away and seemed genuinely concerned about the time it had taken and my impending deadline. 

So initial impressions are all very good. I got the jacket I wanted, the price was probably a bit more than I wanted to pay but I'm happy with it, the quality is great, and the service was good (it took longer than they said it would, but they were very helpful when I needed them to be).

As for field performance - I'll let you know in October!