Lowe Alpine 2005 Gear Scoop

We told you a bit about Lowe Alpine's latest range including their first Gore-Tex range a few weeks back and pretty good it looks too. We were really taken with the new Ice Light, a technical XCR mountaineering jacket made that at under 500 grammes, weighs in at less than Lowe Alpine's Paclite offering.

All in all it looks like a promising start for a company that was previously known for not using Gore-Tex and we'll have some test kit up on the site soon. While we were at Lowe's palatial Kendal HQ, we also managed to get a sneak peak at what's up Lowe's hook and loop fastened sleeve for next spring / summer.

Interesting stuff includes a 350-gramme technical Gore-Tex Paclite jacket aimed at 'high-activity mountain use', a whole raft of softshell products using Polartec's Poweshield, Gore's Windstopper Softshell and their own Schoeller-type fabric and some blinding women's technical baselayer kit in some rather sexy casual-type styles.

Lowe has also been hard at work on its pack range with a whole range of women's specific packs and an interesting new air-gap back system. Many thanks to Lowe Alpine's marketing guru Clive for humouring us so patiently...

New for the spring is a jacket - below - called the Fairview. It's a technical, minimalist Paclite top which is cut slim for active use with the characteristic scopped front hem shape that allows easier high steps when climbing but also works well for running and cycling use. It weighs a claimed 350 grammes and while it's not designed with durability in mind, it should be ideal for alpinists climbing mainly in softshell who want a lightweight, hardshell for when things get really gnarly. Price when it appear next spring will be around £160.

Also in the range is the Diablo, a slightly more technical Paclite jacket weighing a whole claimed eight grammes less than the Fairview, but uses micro-taped seams to save weight and up breathability and has lightweight pit-zips for venting. It also incorporates a Zip-EZ stiffened patch at the bottom of the main zip which makes zipping, erm, easier. It also has the differential cut hem for better leg movement.

There's already a few softshell jackets in the range for this autumn, two in Polartec Powershield, two in Gore-Tex Windstopper Softshell - all relatively straightforward tops without hoods, which seems daft to us - gives us hoods, drantandammit. To be honest, while both fabrics offer good wind protection, and Powershield has a breathability edge, they work better in cold, dry, high mountain environments than in the UK.

Which makes next year's new Multi Pitch Jacket all the more attractive. It uses an own brand fabric called Desert Weave Tech Stretch which like Schoeller should be significantly more breathable, but still offer decent wind and water resistance. It gets that harness-friendly cut, weighs in at a claimed 500 grammes and is priced at £80. Think more weather resistant alternative to a fleece for technical use.

Lowe Alpine hasn't abandoned the other fabrics for next season. There's a £150 softshell jacket called the Veloce - below - which is made from a lighter weight version of Polartec Powershield which brings it in at weight of 466 grammes. Like the Multi Pitch it gets a slim, athletic cut, drawcord adjustable hems, harness-friendly differential cut hem etc. What it doesn't get is a lightweight, rollaway hood. That seems plain daft to us, what's the point in a weather resistant jacket if you have to keep scrabbling round for a hat whenever it gets chilly?

Bona fide Schoeller gets a look in too with the new Diedral Pant in Schoeller Xtreme with 3XDRY. Apparently the 3XDRY treatment means that it will dry five times quicker and resist staining as well. Ideal for clumsy drinkers then... For the financially challenged, the Multi Pitch Pant uses the same fabric as the jacket with the same name and should do a similar job.

We're not going to go into exhaustive detail here cos we're jealous, okay, but Lowe Alpine's gone to town on its range of women's clothing in Dryflo technical fabrics - what you're getting is technical stuff that looks good, if you're a model that is, maybe...

Rather touchingly, the women's range features a sun motif logo to symbolise the radiant beauty of woman, or something like that. The male equivalent is a grumpy dog, oh, okay, a dragonfly, presumably because male beauty is transient and we die sooner... It goes on a range of cotton and polycotton stuff. Anyway, it all looks rather nice, see pic below for proof.

For spring 2005, the company's gone back to basics with its women's packs. It's curtains for the established ND / Nanda Devi range and hello to some detailed research into what outdoor women want from their rucksac.

Surprise, surprise, it's not pretty mauve colours, flowers and huge logos saying 'Chick Kit - Please Patronise Me' and the new range takes all that into account. That means there's a women's specific hang tag, but nothing on pack itself. So what is different? Well, apart from the basics body shape differences, which Lowe Alpine were well versed in thanks to their Nanda Devi range, there are some subtle distinctions.

Apparently women prefer to carry weight low while men carry it higher, so you can see that the packs are slightly bottom heavy to suit, albeit in quite a subtle way. Next, women are more organised and as a result like to have lots of pockets and hidden compartments to keep things properly distributed - men, on the other hand, just want a bloody great sack thing to stuff kit into. There are also 'surprise pockets' because apparently lasses like to discover them. Well, come on, look at handbags, how many pockets can you get in a single bag? You'll find pockets on belts, inside lids etc, etc, etc.

We reckon there are 12 new models - see above - with everything from simple day packs through to a technical mountain day sac to backpacking sacs.

Lowe Alpine took a long look at the trampolene-style ventilated back systems, the ones that use a mesh thing to create an air gap between the pack and the back and reckoned they could do better. Their tests suggested that the breathability of the mesh was surprisingly limited, so they decided to create a back ssytem that would actually create a real air gap.

The result is Pure Air Zone which comes in four models as both day sacs and in the larger 35-litre Beartooth Air. The pack is adjustable for back length as well as creating the air gap. Take a look at the pics below and you can see how the pack sits away from the back creating a venting gap but without pushing the weight outwards away from your centre of gravity, something we've found a problem with trampolene-type packs with heavier loads.

No, not the Jenny Agutter film, the classic Lowe Alpine daypack. From next spring it comes in two versions, a standard in 54, 35 and 25-litre sizes and a new Walkabout 35 Hyperlite - below left - as you may have deduced, the Hyperlite is, well, hyper light or at least hyper lighter.

It uses lighter fabrics and a different back system together with a cut-away waist belt. The Hyperlite weighs in at 1.18kg, or a minimum of 0.99 if you ditch the ice axe loops and back plate. The standard Walkabout 35 tips the scales at 1.55 kilos, so you're looking at around a 30 per-cent saving in weight. Not bad if mass is important to you.

The kit previewed here won't be in the shops until early next year, but you can find full details of the current Lowe Alpine range at www.lowealpine.com