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Mountain Hardwear Swift Jacket -
First Look
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Price:
£180.00
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Weight: 390 grammes (men's
large)
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Features:Gore-Tex
Paclite fabric with rip-stop face, Microtape construction,
superlight pit-zips, welded, chest-high hand pockets with
watertight zips, laminated cuff tabs with Velcro closure,
stowe-away hood with laminated brim, one-handed hood and hem
drawcords, micro-chamois-lined chin.
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More features than your local multiplex.
Not sure about the pocket zips yet.
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The Concept Gore-Tex Paclite is Gore's lightweight, uber
breathable waterproof fabric and the Swift is MHW's new lightweight,
allround hill jacket made from it.
What makes the Swift interesting is that this is the first time
MHW has opted to use the latest version of Paclite after opting out
last year in favour of their own cheaper, but much less breathable
Conduit Silk fabric used for their Epic jacket.
So, it's intended as a lightweight, breathable waterproof jacket
for all round hill and mountain use.
Features Last year's Silk Conduit Epic Jacket was pretty
well-featured with pit-zips and a trademark welded chest pocket, so
it's no surprise to see more of the same with the Swift. That means
neat touches like watertight pit-zips which are welded into the
jacket, watertight zips on the big mesh-lined chest pockets and a
very nifty zip-away hood that stows neatly inside the collar.
In common with most manufacturers, MHW is now using Gore's
Microtape on seams, which both reduces weight and increases
breathability compared to the standard, wider tape. One-handed cord
adjustment is standard throughout as well.
In Action We have generally high expectations of Mountain
Hardwear kit, the brand has built a reputation for innovative designs
and features, but we were wondering what they could possibly do to
make their Paclite jacket stand out from the crowd?
It scores a lot of points before you even put it on by exuding,
well, Mountain Hardwearness... Everything's neat and well integrated
with the water-resistant zips over the chest pockets and pit-zips
barely noticeable against the black fabric of our test jacket.
Cut
is typical short MHW, which means it's slightly boxy and less fitted
than, say, the Arc-Teryx equivalent, which means it's neither very
fitted or loose, just a comfortable fit. One real plus point is that
the generously sized pit-zips with their welded-in water-resistant
zips don't add bulk to teh underarm area, so you never know they're
there unless you choose to use them.
Everything else is present and correct too. Big chest pockets that
will take an OS map with room to spare if that's your thing, neat
Velcro cuff adjusters and a roll-away hood that asjusts with a single
cord pull in the centre of the hood. The peak is laminated and not
super-substantial, but this isn't intended as a full-on winter
mountain jacket, so we don't think that's a huge issue. In normal use
it's fine, though we'd have liked a way of cinching down the neck
opening to minimise drafts.
One thing we're not entirely convinced by, is the use of
'Watertight' or more accurately 'water-resistant zips for the main
chest pockets. These are mesh lined so any water getting into the
pocket will penetrate your inner clothing. Given that there are
already pit-zips for ventilation, we're not sure why the pockets also
need to be capable of being used as vents when a waterproof inner bag
would be more secure albeit slightly heavier and a little less
breathable.
From experience we know that with movement, water-resistant zips
will leak slightly in heavy rain. We're not talking heavy streams of
water rushing into your jacket, but with sustained use in heavy rain,
you may get the odd minor leak. More of that once we've used the
jacket in heavy rain.
Finally, the fabric is, as we've come to expect from Gire-Tex
Paclite, very effective and breathable. You can still overwhelm it
with sustained effort, but we'd rank it, along with eVENT, as the
most breathable conventional waterproof fabrics on the market. Bear
in mind though, that it's not deisgned to take longterm abrasive
climbing or heavy backpacking abuse, that's the price you pay for the
light weight.
A very nicely made Pacliite jacket with the unobtrusive pit-zips
scoring high bling marks - up till now, this is the sort of feature
you'd only have found with Arc'Teryx - and ventilation overall being
a strength as you can use the pockets for ventilation too.
The hood is average rather than brilliant, though it stows away
very neatly, and we're not entirely convinced by the water-resistant
zips on the big chest pockets. On the mostly protected pit-zips
they're not an issue, but exposed on the front of the jacket, we
suspect they may leak a little in very heavy rain if they flex. We're
tlaking minor water ingress rather than major leaks though.
Overall a very neat jacket for all round use.
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