Haglöfs Oz Pullover Tested

Haglofs Oz Pullover Tested

The Oz is part of Haglofs' Intense series and is aimed squarely at fast movers like runners, mountain bikers, and, says the company, 'intense hiking'. It's not really intended for regular pack use or normal mountain walking, more for slinging in your pack or bumbag just in case, then for short, hard activity that's going to put out enough heat to keep it breathing and working.

Which is why it's been honed down to minimise weight and pack size. That weight is a genuine one from our very accurate digital scales and makes it the lightest waterproof we've used.

There's nothing particularly new about Paclite fabric or lightweight smocks, which save a little weight over the equivalent jacket, but what makes the Oz stand out, and what's won it awards, is the cunning way it's been put together. You can see the main seam running across just below the chest.

The whole garment excluding the hood is made from just two cunningly cut pieces of fabric. That reduces seams and cuts weight by removing seam-sealing tape and makes it more stuffable too. Stuff like the articulated sleeves is done with sewn-in darts of fabric. It's just very, very clever.

Elsewhere things are neat and minimalist with features that are familiar from Haglofs' LIM - Less Is More - range, like the hood with its external volume adjustment cord and the thumb loops.

It's when you're not wearing it that you really appreciate the Oz, it's so light and packs so small that you barely notice it's there. Stuff it in a mesh side pocket or lid or just use a bum bag and you're insured against the rain for a relatively tiny weight premium.

It seems like only yesterday that a 500-gramme waterproof top was considered light, now this and TNF's 200-gramme, stitchless DIAD jacket have comprehensively moved the goal posts across town to a different park...

All of which is great, but would be useless if the Oz didn't do its job when the heavens opened. Fortunately it does, within certain limits. Let's just stress now that we wouldn't consider this as a general use waterproof. It won't tolerate regular pack use and the thin Paclite fabric is best used for short spells of high tempo, heat-generating activity than under prolonged, low tempo conditions, when it can become a tad overwhelmed.

Use it as intended though and it's fine. The cut is quite svelte in a lean, purposeful, streamlined sort of way, so you won't be wearing many mid-layers, but if you're moving fast, you won't need to. The main zip is long enough to offer welcome venting and you can also roll the sleeves up to expose your forearms for added cooling - the elasticity of the cuffs is just right as well and didn't either cut into our arms or roll down. The thumb loops you'll either use or not, we liked them for a little added hand protection when running.

The hood, despite the gawkish looks of the external tensioner, actually sits nicely on your head and moves with it neatly. The neck section's long for a lightweight jacket too, allowing some womb-like chin-burrowing when things get gnarly, though the peak is pretty minimal.

It's waterproof up to a point, but we found in prolonged rain, we did get damp from sweat and the jacket developed a general moistness. That's not really surprising with high tempo activities though and it's a characteristic of Paclite which in the past we've found works reasonably well, but can be suddenly overwhelmed by hard effort. We think the charcoal grey liner actually works as a buffer layer, absorbing moisture faster than it's expelled from the jacket.

Beyond that, bits like zips and the small chest pocket plus hem cord all worked fine and it's always nice to know there's some reflective on your top if that run takes a little longer than you bargained for and day drifts into dusk.

If you're a runner or biker looking for a light, but well-designed occasional-use top, or maybe you just walk very, very quickly, there's not much out there that's as good. For more general use though, we'd look at a more robust but heavier garment. This is a lightweight rabbit-chasing whippet of a jacket, just don't go expecting it to round up sheep too...

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