The eVENT Verdict

Turns out that the test kit we have and which consumer testers will also be using,

It's a bit of a show piece and we reckon that many buyers will opt for the more conventional 'Epic' instead, but you get a heavily slanted front zip for a cleaner neck area, weird horizontal pit-slits and a single handwarmer pocket. At least one well known magazine tester, renowned for his love of map pockets, was heard raging about the design, but frankly we though it was okay apart from the tendency of some cord grips not to do their grippy duty.

The pants we really liked. High waisted with detachable braces and articulated stretch knees and crotch, they could have done with simpler water-resistant full-length side-zips, but were otherwise very useable. They're going to be the Evolution Pant with a £200 price tag.

So what you're wondering is whether they worked out there in the real world. If you saw our fabric comparison test a couple of months back you might remember that we found the breathability of eVENT to be at least as good as Gore's excellent New Paclite fabric.

That wasn't the whole story though as we reckon the relatively short duration of the test worked well for the Paclite's buffering effect where the liner soaks up some immediate moisure production giving a period of grace between origination and transmission of the moisture.

We've now used eVENT in pretty much every conceivable situation in the UK from running and mountain biking, through winter climbing to all-day mountain walking in cool, damp but not freezing conditions and we're impressed.

High Exertion

We've yet to find a waterproof fabric that's breathable enough to cope with extended high exertion - think mountain biking, running, or frenzied alpine ascents - but eVENT, like New Paclite did better than most. In a cool conditions run it coped for around 25 minutes before being overwhelmed by sweat, a performance which is better than some windproofs we've used. It's not perfect and if you run hot, you will overwhelm it, but it's appreciably better than, say XCR.

Medium Exertion

The most graphic illustration of this was during a full day's hill walking on Snowdon in blowy, cold, dampish conditions when we wore both jacket and pants continuously. Normally this would be a recipe for clamminess, but at the end of the day in eVENT, we were still dry and comfortable. It was fit and forget. We know from previous experience that in any other waterproof fabric, with the possible exception of the latest Paclite, we'd have been clammy and sweaty long before.

Not only was the eVENT breathing well, but it cleared internal humidity really fast when you stopped. Lowe say this is characteristic of the fabric and some people actually found eVENT cooler than other waterproofs because of the lack of an internal, warm, humid micro-climate. We cool fast when stationary anyway and didn't really notice this effect.

Low Exertion

Frankly, just bimbling along we had no problems whatsoever. But then who buys a top end mountain jacket to womble along forest trails?

Miscellaneous Observations

We can't tell you that much about longterm durability - there's a limit to how much we can wear any one bit of test kit - but we've heard on the grape vine, that while there have been a few problems with pre-production taping, so far the fabric seems to have been fine.

We reckon it's a shame that it looks like no major brand's going to be utlitising eVENT once Lowe Alpine switches to Gore-Tex in 18 months time because it's the most breathable conventional waterproof fabric we've ever used. Arguably even more breathable than Gore's new Paclite and, of course, unlike Paclite, the three-ply version is intended for full-on mountaineering use.