I agree with your assessment of the Hilltop jacket, I have used one on long distance treks in Scotland, and have been impressed by how they kept my top dry - and Yes, the hood is very good. However although long, it stops above the knee, so water cascades off the jacket onto the lower legs - and saturates trousers quickly, as you found. I think you have to wear waterproof trousers with the Hilltop. For myself, I do not like Rohan bags in rain, they get wet and being polycotton stay wet and very uncomfortable, there is no warmth in the material - and I find they take a lot longer than half an hour to dry!
I did it January two years ago, when it will have been much colder, and there was a lot of snow and ice - I used 10 pointer crampons, Brasher boots which were just B1, and walker's ice axe without problems. I noted the kit list for my trip omitted helmet, though I took mine and was glad to have it. There was a lot of bum-sliding to get off mountains! Also there is next to no heating in the refuge - which was baltic; have fun (I did)!
I've used their Hilltop jacket twice on TGO Challenge and the Barricade worked well enough in atrocious conditions, jacket was quite heavy though - I think that there are difference of thicknesses
thanks for all comments so far. I raised the thread because what happened to me was outside my experience. Granted I do not know the Crinkles but precisely because of that I was constantly checking my bearing - and I was heading North and down (as I expected). Of course after a time I got suspicious and checked on my GPS, I was on the west side. I was then able to establish I had come a straight(ish) route- which was consisitent with my bearing readings. So what do i make of that? was it wishful navigation or something else? Full Moon seems to have also experienced something odd ...
Robri
