Part one of our look at what's new from Mountain Equipment this spring.
We're just back from a mellow day with the guys at
Mountain Equipment
where we had a look at what's new from the brand for
spring 2009. This is
kit that's appearing in the shops imminently.
On the tent side, there's a new tunnel-style mountain tent, the Tundra,
and we have a test model on the way. And with clothing it's all about
lightweight
and
technical for summer use.
In part one of our preview, we take a look at the brand's new
lightweight shells. In part two, we'll cover an expanded soft shell
range and lightweight fleece plus some interesting mountain legwear.
Axion Jacket -
£100
Brand new for spring 2009, the Axion is a stripped down, lightweight
and packable alpine shell jacket. It's made from ME's own brand 2.5
Layer DriliteUltra fabric and is the company's lightest waterproof at a
claimed 265g in a large.
It's a minimalist design with a single chest pocket, wired Stealth hood
and a pronounced drop-tail cut for ease of movement. There are thumb
loops as well as adjustable cuffs and it should cope with fell-running
as well as climbing. The hood isn't strictly helmet-compatible, but
should cope with most lightweight lids.
The detailing is nice with laser-cut pocket opening and water-resistant
zips and the liner feels nice rather than plasticy agains the skin. And
at 100 quid it looks like being good value. We like the contrasty
yellow zips against the black fabric too, nice...
Graviton Jacket / Women's
Graviton Jacket - £140
Using the same fabric, but aimed more at all-round hill
and mountain walking use, the Graviton jacket - available in both men's
and women's versions - has reinforced shoulders, yoke, hips and outside
sleeves along with a longer cut front and pit-zips.
There are twin handwarmer pockets as well as a chest one,
water-resistant zips all round and a wired Stealth Lite hood. Like the
Axion, it comes with a Clip n Carry stuff sac for easy stowage. Claimed
weight is 315 grammes, which while not as light as the Axion is pretty
respectable considering the reinforcement and venting options.
Women's version below and looking rather nice, we thought... How come
gurlz always get the best colours eh?
If you want something between the two, the
Particle Jacket -
not pictured - has a full helmet-compatible Stealth Hood and two big
pockets which are fully taped and still weighs in at just 295 grammes...
Last but not least, the rather nice slimmer-cut
Tupilak jacket we
had issues with last year has been revised. We found a tight cut around
the chest made the pit-zips effectively unuseable, but for 2009, the
fit's been revised and ME says it's no longer an issue. We'll let you
know once we've tried one.
Soft shells, fleece and legwear in part two shortly.
More information at
www.mountain-equipment.co.uk
