Light, tiny, uses the new, highly breathable Gore-Tex Paclite and the hood takes a climbing helmet as well. What more can you ask for?
|
Haglöfs LIM ULtimate
Paclite Jacket Tested
|
|
|
Price:
£180.00
|
|
Weight: 253 grammes
(medium)
|
|
Features: Gore-Tex
New Paclite 254 fabric, full length water-resistant zip with
single flap behind, chin guard, zippered chest pocket with
drainage, fixed helmet-sized hood with three-way adjustment
and stiffened peak, elastic hem with shock cord adjustment,
thumb hole in cuffs, articulated elbows, drop
tail.
|
|
Crazy light and with a proper hood too.
Cut quite short particularly at the front.
|
The Concept LIM stands for Less Is More, though not,
presumably in Swedish, and that pretty much tells you 90 per-cent of
what you need to know about the LIM Ultimate jacket. It's light, very
light, lighter than the minimalist 270-gramme Berghaus Paclite Smock
for example and almost as light as the hoodless 240-gramme Sprayway
Cobra, which is a good trick given that the Haglöfs offering has
a hood which is large enough to cover a climbing helmet.
The latest more breathable 15 per-cent lighter Paclite fabric ups
breathability over last year's version as well, so if you're
fast-moving and looking for the lightest possible option to sling in
your pack or simply want something to complement a soft shell and
accommodate a helmet when dry turns to deluge. Or if you're an
adventure racer. This should be right up your street.
Features As you'd expect the jacket's quite simple with the
minimum of extraneous features contributing to the 253 gramme
measured weight. There's just the one external chest pocket which
will just about manage a 1:50,000 OS map or a guidebook and usefully
stands clear of a harness or pack belt. There's a neat mesh outlet
for drainage as well.
There's a full-length main water-resistant zip with backing flap
and chin guard up front and a drop tail for biking / climbing use.
Then there's the piece de resistance, an adjustable hood with
a dense foam stiffened peak that accommodates a helmet too. The hood
uses Haglöfs' three-way pull adjustment system which looks a
little odd with its exposed thin elastic cords at the back of the
hood, but works really well.
You also get simple articulation to the sleeves and thumb holes in
the non-adjustable elasticated cuffs for sleeve anchoring / glove
sealing purposes.
In
Action We've featured New Paclite on the site already, so let's
just reiterate that along with eVENT it's a significant step forward
in breathability, though faced with, say, continuous high intensity
activity it will still be overwhelmed eventually. In our opinion it's
the most effective totally waterproof lightweight fabric around right
now. So that's good.
The jacket itself is impressively light and small packing, which
is its number one objective. Of course that wouldn't matter if it
didn't do its job when needed, but the good news is that in most
respects it does. Cut is quite short, almost too short for the OM
test torso and we'd advise you to try carefully before buying, the
drop tail offers decent protection when biking though.
Mobility is generally good and the top isn't restrictive, if
you're going to be climbing though, check to make sure you don't get
hem lift when reaching high. It was okay for us, but might not be for
you. The hood works well with or without a helmet, making it a good
back-up for a technical softshell in, say, alpine mountaineering
use.
We weren't entirely convinced by the thumb holes at the cuff. The
loops weren't quite large enough for out not particularly big thumbs
making them a little uncomfortable, and while using them with
windproof gloves produced a good seal, the extra tension on the
sleeve also made the hem kift up when reaching high above our head.
Again, try carefully if the thumb facility matters to you. Usefully
the elasticated cuffs were roomy enough to roll up over the test
forearm for added cooling.
Ideally we'd have like some form of venting as well, but more zips
would mean more weight.
LIM stands for Less Is More and that just about sums this jacket up.
The New Paclite fabric is excellent in performance, light and very
breathable, though don't expect it to last as long as heavier
material. Weight and pack size are both laughably small and while it
may not be the lightest Paclite jacket out there, it's very
definitely the lightest with a hood that will accommodate a helmet. -
the alternatives from Mountain Equipment and Arcteryx are both around
100 grammes heavier.
The hood itself works well and even has a stiffened peak, though
it's still not as protective as a full-on mountain jacket item. The
rest of the jacket is beguilingly simple, it's cut short particularly
at the front, but the drop tail gives some rear end cover. But then
that's one of the reasons it's so light, if you want a longer Paclite
jacket there are other options including Haglöfs own LIM Gram
Jacket. In any case, mobility and reach are both good, though that
may depend on your body shape.
It would would make a good back-up
to a soft shell for mountain use or suit weight-obsessed adventure
racers, though it's on the short side for general walking use.
Some venting would be nice and we reckon those thumb holes are too
small, but overall if what you want is pretty much the lightest
waterproof jacket around that'll still take a helmet you've probably
found it.
|
Performance
|
|
|
Value
|
|
|
Pushed for
time:Highly breathable, mad light and with a decent hood
that even stretches to accommodate a helmet and just about
the only downside is the short cut, which is, after all, a
matter of personal preference. Would make a good back-up to
a soft shell for mountain use or suit weight-obsessed
adventure racers and fast movers.
|
Know more or want to?
If you'd like to add your own experiences of this product check
out our user review system and post your opinions to the world. If
you have questions you can mail
us direct, ask
Richard Gear or try a posting to our gear
forum.
