We've been telling you about what's new for 2011 recently, but it's not long before the new season kit for this autumn 2010 arrives in the shops, and Rab has some interesting new kit in the pipeline.
Soft shell confuses a lot of people, but the easiest way to look at it is that the stuff spans a spectrum from very water and wind resistant, but relatively low in breathability at one end of the scale through to very breathable, but a little less weather resistant at the other.
The new Rab Exodus Jacket falls into the latter category being a double-weave, stretch woven fabric which is designed to be wind and water resistant and also wick and breathe well. It has lots of features including pit-zips, big pockets with YKK zips on them and a hood with a proper wired peak.
It exists partly because Rab has moved into the North American market and ski-mountaineers like breathability and venting, but should also work well for general hill walking and mountaineering. It costs £100, not bad given the comprehensive feature list.
There are also matching trousers in the form of the Exodus Pants made from the same fabric and featuring venting zips and an adjustable cuff to fit over ski and mountaineering boots.
Lightweight Down
Also new for this autumn from Rab is the Infinity Down Jacket. It uses the new lightweight Pertex Quantum GL fabric both inside and out along with Rab's top spec 850+ US fill power down. The 10-denier Pertex material is bonkers light and very, very expensive.
We've been using the Primaloft-filled equivalent of the Infinity, the Xenon, for a few months now and it's incredibly light, surprisingly warm and looks amazing in a shimmery, semi-translucent sort of way, but it costs £150 because the fabric uses so many strands of fine yarn.
The Infinity will retail for £200 and weighs 500g in men's guise and just 465g in women's-specific form with 210g of down fill. Construction is stitch through and it should pack down to a super-compact bundle of warmth.
All the above should be in the shops in early autumn 2010. Details of the current Rab range at www.rab.uk.com.
