New for review, Rab's lightweight, hooded, Primaloft-filled insulated jacket.
We told you about the new
Rab
Generator Alpine jacket a month or so back when we looked
at
Rab's
Winter 2009 range, but we now have one in for
review and thought you might appreciate a closer look.
The lightweight Generator Jacket and Smock have been around for a while
and use a combination of super-lightweight Pertex Quantum inner and
outer fabrics with Primaloft insulation for a combination of lightness
and water-resistant, UK-friendly warmth.
The Smock weighs in at a claimed 340g and uses lighter 60g Primaloft
One insulation throughout and the Jacket version uses heavier 100g
Primaloft in the body and the 60g version in the arms with a weight of
380 grammes.
The new Generator Alpine, as the name suggests, is more technical. It
gets the same fill as the straight jacket version, but the outer fabric
is water-resistant, but slightly heavier Pertex Endurance rather than
Quantum, though that's still used for the inner.
The other obvious difference is a proper, whopping great,
helmet-compatible hood with a roll-down tab, so you can use it as a
fully blown, lightweight belay jacket - you may need to go up a size - or even for active climbing use
in extremely cold conditions. Note that it's also slightly longer than
a standard Generator - 81cm centre back length compared to
79cm.
You also get a water-resistant main zip, two zipped hand-warmer pockets
and adjustable cuffs and hem. The end result is a jacket that feels
tougher and weightier than a Generator with a weight, on our digitital
scales for a medium of 540 grammes.
It feels immediately warm and comfortable with the soft Quantum liner
slick against lower layers and because Primaloft works well in damp
conditions, particularly compared to down, we'd expect it to work well
in typically damp UK winter climates.
One fair question is how it differs from the very similar Photon Hoodie
and the honest answer is that we're not really sure. It uses the same
fill configuration, though the outer fabrics are different, Pertex
Endurance for the Generator Alpine and Microlight 30D for the Photon
Hoodie. We're not sure if the Photon's hood is helmet compatible.
Perhaps a more relevant comparison is with the Rab Belay Jacket which
uses a heavier grade of Primaloft for warmer fill, a similar Pertex
Endurance outer and reinforced shoulders and seat, meaning it's
significantly heavier at 750 grammes.
Price for the Generator Alpine is £140 and we'll bring you a
full review in due course.
More Rab information at
www.rab.uk.com
