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Lowe Alpine Atom Jacket First
Look
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Price:
£150.00
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Weight: 487 grammes (men's M inc.
stuffsac)
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Features: two-ply
rip-stop Triplepoint Ceramic fabric with AIMMS, Dry Yarm
technology, water-resistant front pocket zippers, stretch
panels over upper arm and upper back, Swivelsight rolldown
hood with single-hand adjustment, drawcord hem, adjustable
cuffs, Pitzips, relfective piping on arms and zip pulls,
includes stuff sac, twin chest pockets, one internal pocket,
articulated, 'reach-high' sleeves, two-way main zipper with
double storm flap.
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The Atom is Lowe's new ultra-lightweight technical jacket and the
bare stats are pretty impressive. It weighs in at just under 500
grammes in a men's medium and packs down in the supplied stuff sac to
a package smaller than a pint glass. Ideal for pack and forget
action.
It could actually be marginally lighter - the chest pockets are
double thickness TPC rather than lighter, more breathable mesh. It's
aimed at a similar point as the Berghaus Slipstream, viz, full
protection with minimal weight, but the Atom has more features
including pitzips and nominal stretch panels across the upper back
and at the rear of the upper arms. Frankly we don't reckon they do
much.
The ripstop fabric is very light and the lack of a drop lining
means it does feel a little sort of rubbery from the inside out, but
in practice it works well. The new Lowe AIMMS moisture management
treatment is claimed to 'pull solid water molecules through the
fabric effectively demisting the inside of the garment'. Don't know
about that and you'll still get condensation with some hard graft,
but perhaps not quite as much as you'd expect.
The Atom may be light on weight and bulk, but you still get
fixtures and fittings thrown in, with twin chest pockets (big enough
for an OS map or guidebook) guarded by water-resistant zips plus
baffled pitzips under the arms.
The cut is worth a careful look. Our men's medium was neat but a
little short on a five foot nine inch tester and really needed to be
worn with shell pants for optimum crotch protection. We suspected it
might ride up, but in fact with a harness, the high-lift, articulated
arms work well and there's no hem lift or restriction on movement.
The stretch panels though, we reckon are gimmicks and don't do much
at all.
The helmet is excellent. Big enough to accommodate a Petzl Roc
Ecrin, which is one of the larger lids on the market, it cinches down
onehanded and moves with your head for decent visibility. It's helped
in this by the cut-away sides, which could be a disadvantage in
Scottish winter houlies, but should be fine in the Alps. Ditto the
stiffened peak. It's also passable cinched down further without a
helmet, though not as neat as some.
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Provisional Verdict: The Atom plugs
the lightweight technical jacket-shaped gap in Lowe's range
and looks like a light, packable, well-cut top that should
make a great stowaway shell for mountaineers. The hood is a
good 'un and there's no problem with restrictions on
movement. It also has most of the technical features we'd
look for. We do have a few reservations though. First the
cut is short, so make sure it's not too curtailed for your
tastes. Second, the fabric though breathable is very light
and we'd be reluctant to chance it in situations involving
mixed climbing or thrutching on rough rocks. We may be wrong
- these are just first impressions after all - but we reckon
there are better choices for gnarly situations. More when
we've tested it more thoroughly.
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