Gear

Hi,

I have an ME Astron, but now i'm looking for something a bit warmer.

I was thinking about the ME Shield or the Montane Sabretooth. Will they do the trick?

I read a review for both of them in LFTO and they say the Montane is a bit warmer. But are they warmer than the Astron?

 Thank's,

Mário

? Are you about to tell me that a windproof layer with a thick fleece liner attached to it isn't warm? Silly idea

Not that layering under the Astron doesn't make a lot of sense if possible as it'd be cheaper and work more or less as well.

To original question, perhaps a little, although there's not really enough fabric information on the websites to tell. They don't have those air permeable side panels of course which will make a difference.

Better to find them to try/compare perhaps.

Some notably warmer things (as examples, others exist): ME's Pulsar, RABs Baltoro Guide or Montanes extreme jacket's/smocks etc.

Who ever said softshells are warm

Me after I started to melt when I tried a Buffalo Mountain Shirt, perhaps... 

Are soft shells warm?  Well, the warm ones are, the cool ones less so. But you can, of course, put on warmer under-layers beneath your Astron.

Pete.

> Who ever said softshells are warm   A softshell isn't nearly as warm as a fleece under a hardshell...

Depends which softshell, and which type it is...

The Astron is made with PowerShield Lite, so it's not meant to be very warm.  If you went for a more insulated version of PowerShield (as in the ME Starlite), it would be warmer.  My Patagonia Mixmaster (ThermalPro PowerShield) is quite a warm softshell; warm enough to wear skiing with just a base layer underneath.

The Shield appears to be similar to the Astron, only in WindStopper.  It'll be warmer when active, as a consequence of the Gore membrane.  And, given Gore's fabric re-naming policy, I'm no longer sure what WindStopper Soft Shell is; it might be insulated, or it might be a full Gore hard shell with a fluffy scrim.  Only way to find out is to find one in the flesh...