Mountain Equipment sizing

It'll vary with everything they make! No one has a terribly consistent fit across their different styles. If you want something details for something specific then ask them/a retailer directly.

In general their cut seems very sensible and maybe slightly more like Montane than RAB. But then I'd definetly have said that RAB tended to be closer fitting  

Hi Mariusz,

As you'll have gathered above our fit varies dependent on what the kit is designed for.  Our Alpine/ climbing jackets for example are relatively slim fitting whilst more walking oriented shells are a little more generous.  If you let me know what you're interested in specifically I'll try and advise.  You can either reply here or e-mail me directly at: /forum/smilies/tongue_out_smiley.gif[/img]roducts@mountain-equipment.co.uk]products@mountain-equipment.co.uk.

 Rich, ME

As more and more folk buy online, I'd like to see manufacturers giving more detail in their size charts.

Large fits 43", for example doesn't really mean much. Is there room for a baselayer? A mid layer? What does slim/athletic fit actually equate to?

It wouldn't be too hard to give a few physical dimensions. Armpit to armpit measurement, sleeve length etc. I seem to recall Alpkit do this. Still not foolproof, but at least it would enable you to compare a prospective purchase to other stuff you already own.

> It wouldn't be too hard to give a few physical dimensions. Armpit to armpit measurement, sleeve length etc. I seem to recall Alpkit do this. Still not foolproof, but at least it would enable you to compare a prospective purchase to other stuff you already own.

Absolutely.  That's what I've done when doing proxy kitmonstering*.  I don't know why it's not the 'standard way' of doing things, as it should tell you how much ease there will be under a given garment (stretch fabrics may complicate matters...).

* I measured

hem

chest (at scye)

scye to cuff

neck to hem

collar

scye depth

The odd thing is that they do often seem to have a lot of this information. Well at least my queries cf arm length in recent times have worked out well.

If anyone doubts variability - I decided to see which, if any, of Pataguicci's extensive trekking shirt range might have an arm length to suit me.  Got a speedy answer cf 4 styles, all of which had different arm lengths with a ~3-4 cm range separating them.

And thats for basically identically styled stuff.....

YES! Why on earth don't retailers do this already? Don't they realise they're losing custom? Not to mention being very poor customer service.

 On a connected, even rant-ier note... I asked Snow and Rock whether the sizing/cut for the ME Ogre, Tupilak and Morpheus were the same (I'd only tried the Ogre)  and after 3 days of waiting they finaly replied with the following email:

"Yes, they are the same sizing."

Useless w%&$£s! 3 days and they still couldn't be bothered to check!

Mountain Equipment and Alpkit on the other hand are accurate, extremely helpful and quick to reply.

Umm... as for the article - Mountain Equipment is usually cut larger than Montane in my experience.