Craghoppers Epoch eVENT Jacket - First Look
It's eVENT but in two-ply form and aimed at the general hill-walking market rather than hardcore climbers. So what's it like...
Posted: 3 February 2004
by Jon
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Craghoppers Epoch Jacket - First
Look
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Price:
£200.00
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Weight: 898 grammes
(medium)
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Features: Two-ply
eVENT breathable waterproof fabric with ripstop face, fully
adjustable, fixed, roll-away hood, twin chest pockets with
water-resistant zips, twin handwarmer pockets with warm
lining, twin zipped internal pockets, adjustable waist and
hem drawcords, Velcro-adjustable cuffs, concealed map
pockets, elbow articulation, waterproof double storm flap
over main zip, stiffened beard guard, interacitve zip to add
fleece.
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Good breathability, well featured.
Voluminous cut, hood needs refining.
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The Concept Like Gore-Tex, eVENT is a PTFE membrane, though
unlike the big G, eVENT doesn't use a PU layer to protect the
membrane from body oils and the like, instead integrating protection
in among the pores. The result, says eVENT, is greater breathability
both in the lab and on the hill as moisture vapour can pass straight
through without condensing. It's the most breathable conventional
waterproof fabric we've used and works very well, though it's till
possible to overwhelm it if your crank out the heat when working
hard.
Until now, eVENT's been used mainly for technical climbing
jackets, but Craghoppers has taken the fabric and used it to make a
more general walking jacket, the sort of thing you can wear on the
hills or just for day to day pottering about. In effect, it aims to
bring the benefits of eVENT to a more general hillwalking audience
rather than just to hardcore climbers.
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Features Crags has used a two-ply version of eVENT and, with
the Epoch, made it into a traditional, long-cut UK hill jacket. That
means you get a map pocket, twin chest pockets with modish
water-resistant zips, zipped internal pockets for your wallet, mobile
or what have you and a roll-away, but adjustable hood with a
stiffened and wired peak.
You also get some more refined touches like the seamless
shoulders, Velcro-adjustable tabbed cuffs ,a stiffened bear guard
with a nice, fleecy inner surface and single-hand adjustable
drawcords at waist and hem.
In Action It's early days yet, but we dragged the Epoch out
for a day on a classic damp and wild Kinder day to see how it
performed and to glean some first impressions. We've got a bit
spoiled by various high tech lightweight shell jackets, so the Epoch
felt heavy initially. In fact it weighs around 900 grammes, which
isn't unreasonable.
The cut could charitably be described as 'generous'. That's fine
if you're a large chap, but we found the excess material irritating
with a pack when it billows out and simply doesn't feel neat. Ideally
we'd like a closer fit, which would also help performance by removing
air spaces within the clothing.
Even so, on a damp, not too cold, not too hot, classic British day
that's hard on breathability, the eVENT fabric seemed to be doing a
good job, clearing dampness after a fast blast up onto the plateau
and never leaving us uncomfortably clammy. It feels sturdy too,
though time will tell.
The hood left us a bit ambivalent. It rolls out of the collar and
is fully adjustable with an excellent stiffened and wired peak that
feels set in concrete with the hood cinched down
against the elements. Craghoppers has also produced a good tensioning
system that grips the top of the head a la Arc'teryx and Mountain
Equipment and should allow you to turn your head with the hood moving
with you. Unfortunately, there's not quite enough material in the
hood and with it tensioned down, we found there wasn't enough leeway
to look up or sideways.
On top of that, there's a lot of stiffened bulk in the chin area
with the laminated beard guard, a double storm flap and two sets of
zip teeth and we found it pressed uncomfortably against our not
particularly jutting test chin. A good case for diagonal zip
arrangements which reduce bulk in the centre of the chin area.
Otherwise the hood is good, though the roll-down design means it
offers less lower face protection than a full mountaineering
jacket.
We liked the cosy, microfleece-lined handwarmer pockets and
traditional map pocket under the storm flap and overal, the long cut
gives good protection to the nether regions front and back.
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It's early days yet, but our first impressions, while broadly
positive are that the Epoch is a few tweaks away from being a good
all-round hillwalking jacket. The cut is generous, which we didn't
like, but may suit you sir, and the traditional cut offers good
all-round protection.
With a more flexible chin area and a little more material, the hood
would be excellent. As it stands, it's not dreadful, but not as good
as it could be, which is a shame. The fabric looks to be doing the
impressive high breathability gig we've come to expect from eVENT,
though again we'd stress, that it's still possible to overwhelm it if
you run hot and work hard. You'll still dry out faster afterwards
though.
Construction feels sturdy and stuff like the seamless shoulders
and articulated sleeves are nice touches, as are the soft-lined
handwarmer pockets. It's not glam and it's not flash, but it brings
the benefits of a very impressive fabric to a more general market,
which has to be a good thing.
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