Conehead technology, light but heavier crampon boots, lightweight wateproofs and more from Mammut for next spring 2012.
We popped down to sunny Macclesfield yesterday to get the inside track on Swiss brand Mammut's new kit due out in early 2012, think February or March and, alongside the special celebration beer, there's an interesting new climbing helmet with 'conehead technology', footwear including a lightweight winter boot and neat-looking lightweight waterproof jackets.
El Cap Helmet
There are two notable things about the El Cap helmet. One is that it has a neat peak or visor moulded onto the outer hard shell at the front for a little extra wind, sun and rain protection.
The other is that the lid uses two densities of styrofoam foam in its interior shock-absorbing layer arranged in a sort of interlocking pattern which Mammut has called 'Conehead Technology' – if that sounds kind of familiar, Coneheads was a sketch on Saturday Night Live featuring an alien family stranded on earth with, you've guessed it, conical heads...
Anyway, coincidental or not, the foam arrangement is claimed to give excellent shock absorption properties. Will come in two sizes – 48-56 and 54-62 – and is set to sell for £60.
Mt Centry and Centrina GTX Boots
As far as we can tell, the extremely light, B1 crampon-compatible Mt Clif GTX boot is set to be shelved after this winter – a shame as we like its mix of lightness and stiffness – and replaced with the Mt Centry and Mt Centrina (women's) boots, which are again crampon compatible.
The Centry is slightly heavier than the Clif at a claimed 1484g per pair versus 1240g, but looks to be slightly higher in the ankle, have more internal padding for comfort and more EVA cushioning in the mid-sole unit. Uppers are fabric and Velour leather.
Down below there's a Vibram Maton sole unit and it has a full rubber rand for kicking into snow, rubble and other abrasive things. If you found the Mt Clif a little too minimal feeling for winter use, then the asymmetrically-laced Centry/Centrina could give just a little more oomph in exchange for slightly more weight.
Price will be £180 for both men's and women's boots complete with Gore-Tex liner.
Lightweight Walking Boot
If you're not going to be wearing crampons, the new Nova range of lightweight walking boots for women and its make equivalent, the Mercury look like a neat, modern boot that expands from the basic unlined LTH models available now to a four-strong range of both boots.
Weight looks reasonable rather than super light, think 1127g for a pair of size 8 Mercury Advanced GTX, 889g for the women's equivalent in a size 5.5.
Uppers are a mix of Nubuck, Velours leather and fabric and while the basic boot has fabric lace loops, the GTX, Advanced and Advance GTX versions of the boots use slicker metal lace hooks, a different Vibram sole unit and, in the case of the Advanced models, internal memory foam padding.
Prices range between £140 and £150.
A Dry Bag That Thinks It's A Table Lamp...
Really... the Ambient Light is both a handy lightweight waterproof stuff-sac and, when you fit a head-torch into the webbing housing on the bottom, a neat light diffuser that introduces the concept of mood lighting into the lightweight camping environment. The bag is £15 and we don't see why it shouldn't work with any suitable head torch. Neat.
Lightweight Waterproof Jackets
Also new for next spring are a pair of lightweight satretch waterproof mountain shells made from a 2.5-layer, stretch PU membrane fabric with a claimed 20,000mm hydrostatic head and 20,000 MVT figure. All you need to know is that both figures are respectably high.
They're not super lightweight – 365g for the men's Kento and 300g for the women's Keiko, but they have full mountain hoods – a sort of semi-helmet size – pit-zips with storm flaps, twin front pockets, adjustable everything and articulated sleeves.
Price is £175 for both and they look good.
New Base Layers
The Aegility – yes, not a typo – and Active Tees and women's Aelendra Tee use Polartec PowerDry baselayer fabric, but incorporate stretch inserts which mix 80% polyamide with 20% elastane for a closer, more efficient fit. The remainder of the garment is 100% polyester with an anti-microbial treatment.
We like PowerDry as a fabric and with 20% elastane, there should be a fair bit of stretch in those panels, so we'd expect a close, efficient fit.
That's all for now. All the above are due out in early 2012. More Mammut information at www.mammut.ch.
