For some reason OM and Rab have never quite managed to get our act
together, so while we've brought you endless gear scoops and previews
from other companies, we've singularly failed to touch on the
Debyshire-based company's range of outdoor clothing and down
products. Until now that is...
Yep, we spent a useful few hours the other week getting a quick
guided tour of the Rab range for this winter and we were highly
impressed. As you may know, the company was founded by Rab Carrington
and specialised in down clothing and sleeping bags, which were made
in Sheffield.
Rab sold the company a couple of years back, but still works with
them on sleeping bag design and down selection for one day a week.
The Sheffield factory's still going too, but is used selectively for
specialist gear and top-end stuff, while other kit is made
abroad.
The company takes huge pride in the quality of its products and
uses eastern European down because it's the best. In some cases, the
shell of bags and insulated clothing is made in the far east, then
filled in Sheffield. This also means you can order sleeping bags with
an overfill if you feel it's necessary.
Broken Down...
All Rab kit is broken down into one of four categories:
Active which is designed to work for UK mountain
walking.
Extreme which is technical climbing and mountaineering
kit
Expedition which is for 8,000 metre plus peaks
Neutrino which is super lightweight kit regardless of
use...
New Stuff
Anyway, enough blather. It's an interesting company that makes
some of the best down clothing and bags around and is increasingly
making a positive impression with an expanding range of clothing.
This winter that range gets even bigger and includes a full set of
women's options for the first time.
We've taken a quick skim though some of the more interesting and
new bits of the range that'll be getting into the shops in just a
month or so's time...
Down Clothing
There's been some tweaking across the range, but the Pro-Active
Jacket is totally new for this winter and Rab has high hopes for
it. It's a duck-down jacket with a water-resistant Hyperlite Plus
shell fabric that should make it very versatile for allround use.
It gets 350 grammes of 85/15 European duck down with an EU rating
of 560 plus in a longisg cut, stitch-through shell complete with
detachable hood. It's not superlightweight, but should be great for
cold evenings sitting around in the tent or climbing hut or winter
pub outings. Not super lightweight at around 1100 grammes, but
useful, we reckon. Price is £150.
That's the Pro-Active above, also new, if you feel the need for a
fully waterproof down jacket, is the eVENT-shelled Summit
Storm which is based on the existing Summit but with a waterproof, breathable Hyperlite Storm shell. It's only 40 grammes heavier than the Summit and uses 90
per-cent good down fill, some 250 grammes of it. Price is
£250.
Waterproof Jackets
Alongside Montane, Craghoppers, Helly Hansen and, we think,
Salomon, Rab is one of the few companies using the excellent and very
breathable eVENT waterproof breathable fabric. We're big fans,
so it's nice to have more options.
On the climbing side of things, the Latok Jacket has been
revised for this year and a women's version, the Women's
Infinity introduced. There's also a new Latok Guide.
The Latok pictured below, is probably best known for its
use of a double main water-resistant zip. It's a slightly eccentric
design, but Rab point out that most of the time you can use just one
of the zips, double-zipping when things get gnarly, but it also
allows you to use the outermost set of teeth to give increased volume
to accomodate extra insulation layers as needed.
As a technical jacket, it has a wired, helmet-compatible hood and
high pockets plus an extremely impressive 560 gramme weight. The
Latok costs £250 and weighs around 560 grammes, but for
£170 you can have the Latok Alpine from the
Neutrino range which tips the scales at just 440 grammes, but won't
be as durable as the straight Latok. Less, for once, is actually less
though...
Walking Jackets...
Mountain walkers should be more interested in the mens'
Bergen or women's Vidda jackets or possibly the new
Lofoten which is a traditional, five-pocket, long-cut,
UK-conditions mountain jacket weighing 540 grammes and costing
£200.
We really like the look of the more contemporary Bergen -
below - though. It weighs only 500 grammes has a proper head-sized
hood with wired-peak and two rather than five pockets. As with the
other walking jackets in the range, the main zip is a conventional
one with a storm flap. It's also cut more generously than the
climbing jackets, so you're not limited to a whippet-like build
:-)
Fleece
Er, fleece, like, yeah, so what? Except that for this winter, Rab
has an very interesting new stand-out technical jacket in the form of
the Phantom Jacket. It uses a new Polartec fabric called
Windpro Stretch with Hardface Technology - gulp - which is
based on the old Windpro.
That's a very densely woven fleece that's as breathable as normal
fleece, but a lot more wind resistant, it's not dissimilar in fact to
the Ultrafleece used my ME which many users reckon was the ultimate
UK fleece. The latest version used here has a smooth, abrasion
resistant outer face and built-in stretch.
Powerstretch side panels help with a close technical fit and
there's a neat hood and thumb loops that'll remind older OMers of the
revered Lowe Alpine Ninja Hoodie. It ain't cheap at £120
and obviously needs to be black, but should be a great climbing
fleece thanks to the added wind resistance. Think halfway between
fleece and softshell and you won't go far wrong - kawabunga dude ;-)
Synthetic Insulation
The Photon Smock and Hoodie have been around for a while now, but
new for this winter is the rather neat-looking, Primaloft-filled
Belay Jacket. As the name suggests, it's a throw-over
insulated shell filled with Primaloft, which should make it ideal for
use in damp UK conditions.
The lightweight Pertex Endurance shell material should keep the
worst of the water at bay, while you get a full hood, four outer and
one inner pocket and neat-looking water-resistant zips. The weight is
a very decent 560 grammes and price will be £130. If it
works as well as it looks, it should be a winner.
There's some other new stuff too, an interesting try before you buy
eVENT scheme, a new look for Vapour Rise and a Powershield hoodie on
the cards as well, but that's all for now.
See
www.rab.uk.com for more information.
