Neat, minimalist XCR climbing smock for painless stowage without compromsing protection, but does it work?
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Berghaus Slipstream
Smock
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Price:
£180.00
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Weight: 546 grammes (men's
L)
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Features:
Three-layer Gore-Tex XCR Summit II fabric, wired 'mountain'
hood with volume adjuster, half-length water-resistant main
zip, pre-curved, articulated sleeves, one large Napoleon
pocket, one chest pocket, one interior mesh pocket, drop
tail, glove loops for anchoring gloves and mitts to
sleeve.
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Light, breathable, small, waterproof
A couple of minor flaws
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Take away the complexity and the gubbinses and you lose weight and
bullk, and that's exactly what Berghaus has done with the Slipstream
Smock. An added bonus is that for an XCR shell top, the Slipstream at
£180 is also relatively cheap.
What you're getting is a waterproof, very breathable technical
climbing smock that weighs around the same as a Paclite jacket and
packs small, but still offers enough protection for serious mountain
weather. The smock format may put some people off, but the only real
drawbacks are a slightly greater effort required to don and divest
and the lack of a full main zip venting option.
You don't get pit-zips either, but the half-length,
water-resistant main zip is double-ended so you can vent from either
direction. The other essentials are pretty much pared to the bone.
The hood is excellent in the British mountain tradition, with a wired
peak and enough room to accommodate a typical alpine helmet, there
are attachment loops for gloves on the sleeves and both a large
Napoleon-style chest pocket using a Gore-Tex Stormliner and a smaller
mesh chest pocket.
It's nicely made, with a neat combined Velcro-anti-snag guard on
the main zip and big zip pulls working well. A flap covers the
water-resistant zip for extra insurance.
The cut is good too. Not ultra-slim, but closer fitting than
recent Berghaus technical shells though without being restrictive. We
used it for general mountaineering and specialised ice climbing and
found no problems with high reaches. A drop tail with differential
drawcords to adjust front and rear tension separately also work
well.
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Water-resistant main zip uses
neat Velcro anti-snag strip and
big puller tag for ease of use
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It's not faultless though. The light plastic clip used to adjust the
hood snapped somewhere along the way and definitely needs swapping
for a heavier-duty item - interestingly Patagonia's Speed Ascent
jacket uses a similar arrangement, which has been changed for next
winter. The other minor flaw is that the way the reach-across chest
pocket has been sewn means that it's possible for the opening, which
should be covered by a fold of material, to invert and expose the
naked zip to the elements (
see
picture). A deftlty applied line of stitches should sort that one
out.
Finally, like all breathable-waterproofs it won't cope with the
moisture output of a climber at high revs, though as we've said
before, XCR is the most breathable conventional waterproof fabric
we've come across.
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Verdict: Nicely made, minimalist
XCR climbing smock that had an employee of another,
nameless, UK brand salivating. Weighs nowt for a technical
climbing top and packs small as well, cut is slim for
average built climbers, but not restrictive and the hood is
excellent, though the tensioner needs beefing up - we broke
it without noticing. Smock format has few limitations,
though it's harder to pull on and off and less conventient
for High Street wear. Bottom line is that this is small
enough and light enough to stick in your sack when weight
and space are at a premium but you can't afford to sacrifice
full protection. No pit zips, but deep main zip means you
can vent to a point, though as with all waterproofs, you
will get sweaty when working hard.
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Performance
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Value
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Pushed for time:
Light, minimalist, breathable technical climbing top
that you can pack and forget due to 550 gramme light weight
and small pack size. You still get an excellent hood, highly
breathable XCR fabric and nice detailing though. The cut i
sgood too, close fitting but not restrictive with high
reaches easy and curved sleeves working well. Not totally
perfect - we broke the flimsy hood tensioner without
noticing and the big chest pocket zip can be exposed due to
the way it's constructed. Decent price too. If you need full
protection without the weight and the gimmicks, take a
look.
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