New for review, excellent, close-fitting technical mountain fleece in a cracking, versatile fabric.
We've always had a soft spot for
close-fitting,
hooded, technical fleeces, but the
Rab Shadow - new for
this winter - looks like eclipsing all previous versions and becoming a
firm OM favourite.
We've had it for a few weeks now, but in truth it's mostly been too
warm to use it though it did feature as a rest-stop stand-by on last
week's Striding Edge trip. It's an ace winter mid-layer top and the
slim cut means that it fits nicely under a technical shell to give just
a little more warmth than a microfleece, about right for cold weather,
mildly active use we reckon.
The Shadow's ace in the hole though, is its fabric. Polartec Windpro
with Hardface technology. Windpro is a tightly woven fleece - a bit
like the old Ultrafleece - which means it's significantly more wind
resistant than normal fleece. Not windproof, but definitely more
protective than standard, but without sacrificing breathability or
wicking capability.
This version also has a ruffty tuffty outer for abrasion resistance on
rock and pack use, plus the pockets are sited well above waist belt and
harness level. All of which means you can use it as an outer layer
quite happily even when it's breezy without getting too chilled or
risking trashing the fabric.
Finally the hood is ideal either for extra insulation when stopped or
walking in, or, at a pinch, is compact enough to fit under a climbing
helmet for winter use. Two big pockets give decent stowage options too.
And as we hinted above, fit is close and technical for lack of
bagginess and more efficient layering, wicking and all-round insulation
performance. Warmth is somewhere between a microfleece and a full
200-weight mid-layer, we think.
At 510 grammes it's not ultra light, but the pay-off, we hope, is an
ultra-versatile mountain fleece with some added soft shell style
function. Oh, and it looks kind of lovely as well. It's available in
both men's and women's versions with the lasses getting the pick of the
nice colours as ever...
Price is £120, which is a lot for a fleece, but then you're
getting a lot more performance than you would with a standard fabric.
More Rab AW09 kit in our
recent
preview, full review to follow. More Rab
information at
www.rab.uk.com.
