We've already brought you a quick report on what's new
for this winter from the guys down at Mountain Hardwear, but
while we were there, we also got a sneak preview of some of their
stuff for 2003 including some very interesting kit which,
unfortunately, we can't tell you about.
And in a word, the future is .... GLUE. Or more precisely gluing
technology. A few manifestations have already appeared in this
winter's range, notably in the new Windstopper-based Soft Shell
Alchemy jacket and the lightweight Epic waterproof, which is MHW's
answer to Paclite 3.
Take a look at the Alchemy pictured right and you'll notice that
the exterior chest pocket is surrounded by some trick-looking black
stuff. It's actually glue, yep, the pocket has been glued onto the
garment using new technology and eliminating the need for taping and
stitching.
It all looks very swish and techy, but let's be honest, it's
mainly for show. Next year though, MHW is going to be use it in
applications where it should give real advantages.
Sleeping Bags
For spring/summer 2003, there are two new sleeping bags in the
range using new glueing technology. The trick bit is that the bags
are shelled in MHW's waterproof Conduit SL fabric and use
slant-walled baffles, but because the outer 'seams' are contructed
using glue / welding technology, the whole outer shell is waterproof
and breathable.
There's no weight advantage over stitching, but the big plus is
that you should be able to leave the bivvy bag behind, thereby saving
around 500 grammes. The new 800 fill-power rated down Banshee SL -
pictured - is rated down to -11 C for comfort and weighs in at 1.45
kilos. At a retail of £300 it's not cheap. There's also a 1.25
kg Spectre SL using the same technology and rated down to -3 C at
£260.
Finally there's also a very light new 2 C-rated down bag, the
Phantom, which weighs just 0.59 kilos thanks to an ultralight outer
fabric, but still uses box-wall construction and has a proper draught
tube. Price is going to be £180.
Visually it's all quite subtle - the glue is on the inside so you
can't really see it, though if you look close, the strip is just
about visible.
Tents
The other really neat new design is in the tent end of things. The
Waypoint 1 and Waypoint 2 are single-pole, single-skin lightweight
tents that also use the new glueing technology to give a performance
advantage.
The problem with single-skinned designs, particularly in the UK,
is condensation. The new Waypoints are claimed to minimise this by
using seamless welding to attach the floor to the fly of the tent
with a mesh gap between the two allowing condensation on the inner of
the tent to run down onto the ground rather than collecting inside
the groundsheet.
Hard to know whether it'll work over here, but with the one-man
plus version weighing in at 0.96 kilos and the two-man plus just 1.3
kilos it's an interesting halfway house between minimalist tarps of
the Golite variety and fully-fledged tents.... Looks interesting,
prices are £170 and £200 respectively.
Gaiters
Last but not least, the top two models in the Ventigaiter range
get water-resistant zippers and, from January, prices go down around
a tenner all round, so the top-end FTX will be £50, the Altitude
will be £40 and the Ascent £30.
More information www.mountainhardwear.com
John Corteen
