I bought a superfly Montane jacket a month ago. Used it in the Peaks last week (it rained). However this was second time of use and as the first time I got soaked. It was fine rain admittedly but i dont run hot (having previously used goretex and been quite happy with it). When I came down from Kinder the panels on my shoulders were soaked - I was wearing a primaloft layer with a nylon outer. Does anyone have any experience of this happening. I thought the membrane layer would prevent this - like Goretex.

I'm not surprised you got condensation with a primaloft top under your waterproof. Even if its well below freezing that would make me sweat profusely on the move. Once your sweat has moved through your primaloft layer it'll cool on the outside nylon layer and the process will slow down resulting in condensation, especially under your pack straps.
Event does work miles better that gore.

I've seen a number of reports like this on OM and personally I just don't buy the idea that they are down to condensation. Unless you sweat like a trooper I can't see how you can be soaked by it -- I never saw it that bad even with my ancient absolutely non-breathing neoprene jacket.

I suspect that, as some others have suggested, some of these "waterproof" fabrics are not in fact as waterproof as they are made out to be...

Dear sweaties :o)
I wear technical fabrics for a minimum of eight hours every day at work. This includes; merino, synthetic base layers, microfleece, fleece, powerstretch and similar, primaloft/pertex and similar, Gore XCR, Gore Paclite, eVENT in different weights, Gelanots, Porelle, Climatic, Schoeller, polycotton and whatever else.
I've never had a waterproof leak, the only time I have a real problem with condensation is when I wear Paclite.
To get condensation in an eVENT jacket you're got to try really hard.
Test the waterproofness of your jacket by wearing it over you naked body and standing under a cold shower. This removes the eternal baselayer issue and any question of improper garment washing. Remove yourself from the shower and disrobe.
The inside of the jacket is either wet or dry.
If it's wet you are either the sweatiest person alive, you were staring at the shower head or you jacket is not waterproof due to 'a reason'.
If it's dry, it's waterproof and the fault is elsewhere.
Ta Dah!

Got to agree with ptc. We seem to blame everything but the material if we get wet. I had a problem with two paclites - goretex offer a lifetime guarantee so I sent the jackets to them for testing. They both turned out to be faulty and were replaced. I must say I found the service from goretex very good.

Sage advice, Pete. I'm tempted to cut it and keep it safe for next time :o)

Yes indeed :o)

Thanks for the advice - i think i will probably do the shower thing...although does this replicate really fine rain over a two/three hour period. Apart from this a return to Montane might be in the offing at least for their comments.

I've just bought a Venture jacket (yet to test) based on the fact that I have a Montane 200. When I'm working hard and its raining I get a damp body but know this is due to my sweat (urgh) rather than the rain coming in as the material just can't cope. Try washing the jacket to remove any residual dirt and try the shower but I'm sure that if you send it to Montane they will test it and give you their opinion.
Their customer service is excellent.

I'm inclined to agree with PTC*. I was climbing Helvellyn once, well walking up from the Thirlmere side. I started out with a Paramo shirt and a primaloft type jacket. Temperature was down to around about 1 degree.

By the time I got to the summit the jacket was wet in patches because of the amount of sweat I'd produced. Despite being pretty wet in places it continued to keep me warm as we descended down to Sticks Pass, which was just as well as the windchill was taking it down to -21!

The point I'm making is that primaloft is good but it can provide too much insulation depending on whether you run hot or cold.

Do try the shower test though. Incidentally on occasion my Superfly has had quite a bit of condensation on the inside. It's good, very good, but it can still be overloaded with condensation.

Were the wet panels on your shoulders underneath a pack??

Did the hood leak??

No hood definately didnt leak and I was wearing a 20 litre pack.

If you do have issues with a product, your contract is with the retailer you bought the jacket from and you should return it to the retailer rather than direct to Montane.

Fwiw I've now used, erm, ten or so eVENT jackets at a guess and not had one leak on me. I think if eVENT wasn't waterproof, they would have major problems by now. I've had the same Superfly on the go now for a couple of years and it still works well though it gets cleaned regularly and occasionally reproofed, usually with Grangers stuff.

I was under the impression that Paclite was very breathable, so bought one for doing the West Highland Way in September. I had one day of constant rain and by the end of the day my base layers were soaked through, and the inside of the jacket was running with water. My gf had a LoweAlpine jacket on thats about 9 year old and only made with their own waterproof fabric and although she had a bit of condensation it was nothing like the amount on the inside of my Paclite. I'm not very impressed with Paclite.

No offence, but maybe you sweat more than your girlfriend? If we wear the same kit my wife will remain condensation-free inside her gear and I'll be soaked in sweat!

I bought a new north face paclite coat last year. I took it walking in the peaks (it was about a week old) and it p!ssed it down (it was cold too!). I had a patagonia capilene base layer and the jacket was new. After a couple of miles it wet out - water just stopped beading.I had an os map in my hand pocket (just above my belt (If i sweat it's my back)). It leaked, I was soaking, the map was sodden - right through to the inner folded pages.

By the end of the walk I was cold and miserable - although my back was dry where my rucksack had been!? I took the jacket back to Nevisport who duly sent it away to north face who reported it didnt leak and gave me some nikwax to wash and proof it with. I put it in the wardrobe and haven't used it on the peaks since. The people in the manchester north face shop said they had had 3 complaints for the same jacket.

I've since bought a gore-tex xcr and even in high temps and rain I've remained dry.

I won't buy paclite again.

Probably worth noting that Paclite is not one fabric but a form of Gore-Tex that can be bonded to many different face fabrics. Some of these will have more durable DWR treatments than others.

Jim - since your paclites are no use to you anyway I would suggest contacting goretex direct and asking them to analyse them under their lifetime guarantee. It would be worth the postage if you get a result.

My ME Paclite jacket was/is useless from it's first time out - it was my first try with goretex in over 10 years so I just thought 'nothings changed'!

I've had no problems with eVENT - although I can get it damp - better than 3-layer Goretex I've had in the past.

Bring back Sympatex drop-liners!

I've noticed that once the DWR of my paclite jacket gets overwhelmed and the face fabric wets out, the carbon coating in paclite seems to be less able to cope with condensation than e.g. the inner tricot in XCR.