New Montane Kit Coming Soon

The nice people over at Montane have been hard at work updating their web site with new autumn / winter products that should be appearing in the shops towards the end of August 2007.

Among the highlights are an updated version of their classic Super-Fly jacket, a new eVent windproof softshell top and, one for the boys, a male version of the rather lovely Panther fluffy fleece jacket that 99 per-cent of all women fell in love with this spring...

New Super-Fly...

The classic llightweight eVent Super-Fly waterproof jacket has had a complete re-design for autumn / winter 2007 with a re-designed, head-hugging hood and bonded cuffs and hem. Perhaps the most interesting change though, is printed reinforcement in the shoulder area which should make for more pack-friendly performance than the original.

Weight is claimed to be 475 grammes, so slightly heavier than before and retail will be £200 once it hits the shops. We like the new Burnt Orange colour as well, very cool.

There's a new Female Super-Fly too and the Super-Fly XT - Montane's mountain-orientated shell - also gets a makeover, though this time if drops a claimed 60 grammes along with some new features. If you want light weight, have a look at the Quickfire Jacket, an eVent shell weighing in at a very reasonable 320 grammes.

And eVent Windproof...

Also new for winter is the Firestorm Jacket made from the new eVent windproof fabric with a soft, micro-fleece inner for added insulation on cold winter days. The fabric itself is waterproof, though the non-taped seams mean that it will leak in heavy rain. Weight is 650 grammes and price will be £160.

The lining, interestingly - and we'll be seeing more and more eco-friendly, natural fabric this year - is made from carbonised bamboo which is supposed to wick like a demon and inhibit bacterial growth too.

 Fluffy Fleece For Guys

One of the hits of this spring was the gurlz-only Panther fleece jacket. It was made from Polartec's excellent wind-resistant WindPro fleece with a fluffy pile finish on the inside where it's needed for insulation.

Lots and lots of men looked on jealously, but the good news is that there's now a men's version, the Jaguar and it's lovely. We've actually been using one and while it will do the technical thing if you like, it majors in soft, fluffy luxury and is ideal for lounging around pubs, tents and anywhere else you feel like lounging around. Looks better in black though, we reckon... £90 once it's in the shops.

Also on the insulation side of things, there'sa pile Pertex Extreme jacket, some very neat looking down tops for both men and women and some neat looking women's Terra Thermic Pants, a lined version of the Terra Pant.

More Bionic...

Finally the Bionic baselayer range made from the Sportwool merino / Polyester fabric has some new recruits including long-sleeved Bionic tops for both men and women.

We're big fans of Sportwool which seems to combine the qualities of both merino and polyester for great all-round performance and it'll be nice to have warm fore-arms on those winter evening runs... It's available in less garish colours too :-) Price £40.

More Info

There's more new stuff coming too - we'd expect it in the shops from late August or so. More details at www.montane.co.uk