Mountain Equipment New Kit Scoop...

Okay, this is all top secret, so don't tell anyone right. We popped over to Mountain Equipment showroom in, erm, Patagonia - see the pics - the other day for a sneak preview of what's in their line up not now, but for Autumn-Winter 2003.

That's the stuff that'll be in the shops come September time, so don't go harrassing innocent retailers just yet, we can't answer for their behaviour if you do and you'll deserve the thick ear that you get.

Anyway, here's a quick taster of what you can expect to see later this year...

The expedition spec, serious cold weather Annapurna down jacket gets a thorough re-working for later this year. It still features box-wall construction with 600 plus fill power down for maximum warmth and detachable hood, but there are some neat new features.

Reversed zips look good, but more importantly up weather protection for external pockets, plus the chest pockets, which were previously internal are now accessed from the outside so it's possible to get to the contents without undoing the main zipper and losing body heat. Plus there are still internal mesh pockets and a neat hydration system pocket to stop your fluids freezing.

Also, a neat touch, this year's Annapurna gets less compressible synthetic insulation on the shoulders to cope better with compression from pack straps.

Totally new though is the Trango Duvet - above - it's designed to bridge the gap between the lightweight Lightline and Lightline Plus Duvets and the ultra-warm Annapurna and, say ME, is suitable for 'active use' down to minus 20 C. It gets box-wall construction in the body, sewn-through on the sleeves a detachable hood with peak.

Fill is 90 per-cent pure goose down with 351 grammes of 600+ fill power, erm, fill with a water resistant Drilite Loft outer and a drop tail. Total weight is 860 grammes and it looks well tasty in green.

New XCR Jackets

Okay,we're shallow, but show us a really nicely cut shell jacket with water-resistant zips in black and we're anyone's. The Changabang XCR jacket has had a subtle re-working for later this year. It's already a top jacket and a perenial fave with the testers from Trail magazine, but later this year it gets some neat new revisions including a slightly shorter cut for easier technical, use and new under-arm stretch panels.

The pit-zips have gone and are replaced by front body core vents with water-resistant zips and internal mesh pockets, plus the waist is pulled in with a half draw cord that pulls the jacket tight at the front for a clean view of your feet on those marginal verglassed smears...

Weight is 700 grammes and it's lovely. Nice to see a British firm coming up with kit that's every bit as well thought out and well produced as the cutting-edge stuff from the other side of the big pond.

There's going to be a new Mountain Equipment women's specific jacket at last in three-ply XCR in the form of the new Nanda Devi XCR. It's essentially a female take on the popular men's Lhotse and aimed at climbing, mountaineering and expeditioning use.

Two large chest pockets, external map pocket with water-resistant zip, one of the excellent ME 'Extreme' hoods which moves with the head and works brilliantly. Plus there are drawcords at waist and hem and the waist again gets a half draw cord for a flat front. Weight is a claimed 600 grammes and we reckon it's going to be a big hit.

Amazing how near Patagonia is to Manchester these days... New Nanda Devi
3-ply XCR jacket for gritty climbing women

There's also a nice, women's-specific Ama Dablam Pant in Drilite Extreme which gets all the technical features of the men's pants, minus the front zip, including stretch knees and seat and crampon patches. There are also neat, non-Velcro, full-length zips - see below.

As we reported earlier this week, the success of various ME Softshell items and falling sales of Ultrafleece mean that the company's dropped its Ultrafleece tops from the range from next winter. So if you want a new ME Ultrafleece Jacket, best get one while you still can.

The various ME 'soft shell' stuff gets some new developments though. We liked the G2 Alpine Jacket and Ultimate Mountain Pant that appeared last year using Gore Windstopper fabrics, but reckoned a few detail improvements would make a big difference.

So it's nice to see the new G2 Teclite Jacket appearing in the range - as worn by the cross-legged hobbit on the right. The Teclite uses the same windproof, water-resistant fabric as the Alpine Jacket, which will still be around, but is cut slightly shorter and gets a windproof hood with adjusters for extra protection when things get windy.\

The G2 Ultimate Mountain Pant also gets modded, with new, adjustable, detachable gaiters to keep the waist in place during strenuous action (ahem) plus the internal gaiters, which we and other testers found sweaty and clammy in use, are now made from what ME says is a more breathable fabric. The excellent cut with twisted leg seams stays the same though and we reckon these are going to be excellent alpine leg wear.

The classic Ultrafleece Mountain Jacket might be on death row, but its basic design lives on in the form of a new Microtherm Mountain Jacket, which ME has also classified as 'soft shell'. Microtherm's been around for a while and combines a microfleece liner with a lightweight breathable, windproof and water-resistant shell.

The new jacket, as we say, echoes the cut of the old Mountain jacket, with an adjustable, rollway, peaked hood giving it better foul weather versatility and we reckon you should be able to use it either as an outer layer, or if the skies open up, as a mid-layer piece. You also get handwarmer pockets, a map pocket, adjustable drawcord, handwarmer pockets, a half waist drawcord to pull the front of the jacket flat and neat plus other features scammed from the top-end technical hard shells.

Weight is claimed as 600 grammes and pack size is tiny, considerably smaller than a comparable fleece. We reckon the extra technical cut and, in particular, the hood, should add versatility over existing Microtherm tops and we look forward to trying it.

Those are some of the highlights, but there are some nice touches on the way in ME's technical shell pants, where reversed full-length zips are now backed with a double, overlapping inner flap. It's not a wholely original idea, Mountain Hardwear have had a similar system for a while, but if you've ever struggled with Velcroed-shut full-length zips with frozen fingers in the dark, you'll appreciate just what a boon it is not to have to bother.

And that's it really. Thanks to the guys at ME for taking an inordinate amount of time to talk us through the new stuff. It's great to see a British company that's right up there with the top North American brands producing well-cut, thoughtfully-designed clothing and equipment which has obviously had a lot of input from people who actually use it for real.

Note The kit previewed here won't be available until September, but we thought you'd like to see it anyway.