We don't normally look this far ahead, buy the kit's so nice we thought we'd whet your appetites...
Right now we reckon Swedish brand
Haglofs
is making some of the best outdoor clothing around, so when the guys
offered us a sneaky look at their kit for autumn 2010, we jumped at the
chance.
Normally we wouldn't cover anything that far in the future - we've
already previewed the S
pring
2010 stuff and we have a couple of highlights
from that in for early review - but in this case, we thought we'd make
an exception and give you a quick glimpse into what's coming this time
next year...
UK-specific Shell Jacket
The
Cirque
Jacket is a Gore-Tex Pro Shell waterproof mountain jacket
which has been designed with British conditions in mind and with lots
of input from the guys at Haglofs UK. It uses the same tough 3-layer
Pro Shell fabrics as the award-winning Spitz, but has been cut slightly
longer to give a little more protection.
The main zip gets a double storm-flap to deal with British rain, it has
four well-concealed pockets and, crucially for Scottish winter
mountaineers, a whopping great helmet-compatible hood designed to
accommodate tall helmets and still give lots of facial protection.
Available in both men's and women's version, should be ace in typical
British conditions, though not cheap at £380.
Windstopper and Primaloft
Another jacket we really liked the look of is the
QanukJacket, which
is an ingenious mix of a Primaloft filling - a mix of 133 and
100g weight - with a Gore Windstopper outer shell, which is nigh on
waterproof and totally windproof.
It just feels lovely in that soft, instant warmth, luxury sort of way
and should make a good foul conditions belay jacket with a big hood -
handwarmer pockets to be added for production. Not cheap at
£250 but a
lot of jacket.
Windstopper Soft Shell
Haglofs has always done a good job with Gore Windstopper
Soft Shell technical jackets, not least because they always vent them,
which for UK use, in our opinion, the fabric needs. The same is true of
the new top-end
Fang
Jacket soft shell.
It's a neat hooded mountain soft shell in classic Haglofs vein with
some neat touches like lighter weight under-arm panels to reduce bulk
and enhance movement. Price will be
£250.
Also really nice is the new
Reptile
Jacket made from Polartec Powershield, for serious
weather protection coupled to good breathability. It fits beautifully,
but what climbers will love is that unusually there are no handwarmer
pockets, so it sits more comfortably and neatly under a harness and
just feels right.
There's a hooded version too, but that gets pockets. Not sure why.
There's plenty of other new stuff too including a fully recycled shell
jacket made from Haflofs own-brand 'Proof' fabric, another luxurious
Thermal Pro furry fleece jacket - the
Zone Jacket - which
mixes fleece with Powerstretch side panels and looks just lovely...
Pricey though at £140.
Last but not least, there's a new hooded 100-weight microfleece top
with hood which Haglofs think is going to be a runaway hit in the shape
of the
Juniper Hood
Jacket. It's
light, has handwarmer pockets, flatlock seams, a hood and a full front
zip with a windflap behind it. Price will be £85.
All interesting stuff, but
not in the shops until late summer 2010, so for now you'll have to make
do with the current Haglofs range which you can see at
www.haglofs.se