 Was the late 70's and 1980's the golden age of British Outdoor Equipment for design and innovation?
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 Trango was the best jacket I ever had - but the breathability.....? Why not make these in Pro-shell? I'd have another like a shot - great hood, great length.
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 They did an XCR version of the Trango which was an awesome jacket... I sold mine on to a more 'serious' user... but used the notes to buy a Crux Flak jacket instead  As to Sarah's question, I can't really comment being a late 70's innovation myself. What I would say is that the best of the kit from back then takes a lot of beating; I was recently out on the hill with a friend carrying his Whillans (? actually I think it was a Haston but was in the red/green Whillans style) Alpiniste and it seemed to carry well and not be that different in design and function from the Crux AK57 I was using! However, is this nostalgia really aimed at selling that kit or just creating a bit of publicity for the brand? Harking back to glory years doesn't fill me with confidence if the new stuff isn't as well honed as the old!
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 I think John's got a point there. Seems to me like they're trying to get across the message to those that don't already know, that they actually used to make superb mountain gear and have a long pedigree. I wonder how much the 'chav' adoption of their brand has impacted on Berghaus and TNF? I know we laugh about it, but it must have had a none too trivial effect. Especially as most of the gear you spot lurking outside the offy is probably fake anyway.
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The Trango was good - brilliant for its time; but stretch fabrics have now taken so much of the bulk of the jacket away. The thing about it that it bettered the market on was that it was as bombproof as you could get at that time; so many of the fabrics were starting to go lighter weight & thus a weaker durability at that timeAs to the late 70's/ 80's being the golden age for design in the commercial British outdoor companies - I would have to say YES. At the start of it outdoor people were wearing tweeds & cottons, at the end of it they had specific garments, of a lighter weight, built for specific durability & performance. The nineties just offered refinements, especially on fit, on what had come out the previous decade. I still smile when I know that modern jackets have an A4 piece of paper less tape area in them. Nowadays so much is just re-packaged with stronger marketing, but at least some new technologies are winning through...As to design in clothing I still go back to what WW2 pilots were wearing (layering, ventile & co); the Antarctic explorers, Mallory & Irvine plus the Everest ascent team as really being revolutionary
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anyone used the rock star pack?
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My first serious jacket was a Berghaus jacket back in about 1986/7. Back then I paid a whopping £250 for a jacket that leaked through the shoulder seams 18 months later. I've never bought another Berghaus product since then. 
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No the rock star but the very excellent 'Ice Star', a 45 litre-ish pack in a fetching purple and lime green combo. Lightly padded back with alloy removable frame, simple waistbelt, two big lid pockets, and two ice tool points one of which kept falling off. It was however insanely light for the time and was a good carry; some old racking loops from a dead WC harness and it became the ideal alpine / winter day pack. Now if they made that again I would get it in a flash. I bought an Alpine Extrem in 1989, blue and yellow, leaked like a sieve... B
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 Ben! Welcome back. Lost your log-in?
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My dad uses a Berghaus Dart 40 from late eighties which was an excellent carry and simple toploading pack without the side pockets of later dart models. It was grey and green and hasn't really dated at all. At least not to my fashion-unconscious eye!
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 I notice the rock star lists as one of it's features 'padded laptop pocket'....
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Excellent! So you can take along your 1979 Grid Compass...
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 Was the late 70's and 1980's the golden age of British Outdoor Equipment for design and innovation? Yes... but it came with a hefty price tag when money was short. I think my 'haul' during that era included the very first Karrimor Jaguar and a Saunders Jetpacker.
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 I still have my Rockstar and it's a bombproof rucksack. I used it most of this year until I bught a Vaude Triset 35 ultralight a few weeks ago. The Vaude is noticeably much lighter but I'll still be using the rockstar now and then. I suspect that long after the Vaude has disintegrated (hopefully this will be some years in the future) the rockstar will still be going strong. The only thing that has broken in about 15 years of infrequent use, is the hipbelt buckle. Money well spent.
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 For design and innovation I think there's a lot to be said for it being a Golden Age. It's not saying that British kit isn't up to it any more, but there's not too much revolution, as opposed to evolution, going on IMHO. The Karrimor Alpinistes and KSBs, Robert Saunders' tents, Buffalo's Pertex/Pile and of course some of the original light soft-shells from a certain other Howcroft for Rohan all did startling things that nobody had really done before, and have very obvious influence on a lot of urrent designs. The Trango jacket... well, it certainly had some useful design innovations, like different fabrics to be tougher in selected places without pushing up weight too much, under-arm gussets to help free up climbing movement and a volume-adjusting hood. But it also had reams of completely unnecessary seams, the contrast square in the middle of the back being a prime point of sin! Pete.
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 After reading this thread, i went cupboard raking. I've still got my first ever Goretex waterproof. It's a Sprayway (can't remember the model) from the early '80's. I had been looking enviously at folk wearing this new stuff called Goretex for a few years, but i couldn't afford it. I've just weighed it, and it's not too bad at 768g.  Longer than is 'fashionable' now, but double flaps over front zip, flaps over pockets, and a good wired hood.
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 Is that Magnolia paint on the walls, Mike? 
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Nicotine, Tim.
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Is that Magnolia paint on the walls, Mike? Could be worse, could be Buttermilk...
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