Just four days to go before the new Outdoors Adventure Show kicks
off at Islington's Business Design Centre on Friday and it'll be the
first opportunity for most people to see Craghopper's new eVENT
mountain jacket.
If you're an OM regular, you'll know that we rate eVENT as the
most breathable conventional waterproof fabric on the market. Up till
now though, it's only been available in three-ply form and used in
technical climbing jackets from Lowe Alpine and Rab.
The Craghoppers jackets are different on two counts. First, they
use a two-ply version of the eVENT material with a drop liner to
protect the membrane from abrasion. Second, they're designed as all
round mountain-walking jackets rather than specialised climbing
garments.
We've got one of the new Craghoppers £220 Epoch jackets here
and it's very much a traditional British hillwalking jacket with some
nice modern touches. It's full length with a waist and hem drawcord
offering decent butt protection, you get handwarmer and chest
pockets, all protected by water-resistant zips and a roll-away hood
with decent wired peak.
It's not the lightest jacket we've encountered, but it's not
excessively heavy either plus there are shorter cut, lighter tops in
the range as well. Seeing as it's promising to rain here, we'll take
it out on a lead this afternoon and see if it chases any sheep.
You can see the new Craghoppers eVENT range at the weekend's
Outdoors Adventure show. Full show details from the web
site. More information about Craghoppers
here.
