Lowe Alpine's Light But Affordable Alpine Shell

What's a poor climber supposed to do when he or she needs a sub-400 gramme technical climbing shell jacket? The answer might just be Lowe Alpine's new fully-specced Peak Jacket, a genuine 380-gramme alpine-specific shell.

We had a quick look at the Peak last week and it really does appear to be both a very nice jacket and excellent value for money. It's made from Lowe Alpine's own-brand Triplepoint 2.5-layer fabric and includes all the technical features from the company's high spec' mountain shells.

That means a full, helmet-compatible Swivel Sight hood, Watershed seamless shoulders, two-way front zipper with double storm flap, adjustable cuffs and hems, Lowe's effective neck-opening adjustment system, twin, harness-friendly Napoleon pockets and even the company's easy to use, rear of upper arm vents. It even looks good...

Ad the weight is genuine, a real 380 grammes measured for a medium, which can't be bad. At £120 we think it's a bit of a bargain and the ideal complement to a technical alpine soft shell - wear the softshell 90 per-cent of the time then throw on your lightweight waterproof when things really go ballistic.

The Peak Jacket is out now, more details at www.lowealpine.com.