The latest incarnation of Montane's lightweight waterproof put through the test mill.
Montane Super-Fly 2007 Tested
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Price:
£200.00
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Weight: 456 grammes
(medium)
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Features:
Three-ply eVent waterproof breathable fabric, integral
roll-awaty helmet hood with reinforced wired peak, concealed
single-hand non-whip face aperture drawcords, full-length
two way front zip with hook and loop closed storm baffle,
adjustable elasticated hem cords, elasticated, adjustable
waist cord, two pockets with water resistant zips,
map-pocket, part elasticised hook and loop adjustable cuffs
with rubberised tabs, drop tail, bonded hem and cuffs,
'intelligent design' with minimal seams and no four-way seam
junctions, optional printed reinforcements on shoulders,
hips and sleeve seams, reflective patches on hood, pocket
flaps
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What's It For?
According to Montane the Super-Fly has been redesigned for 'fast
moving outdoor activities where low weight and high breathability are
key', so think lightweight walking, mountaineering, backpacking or
climbing when you need a mix of durability, light weight and
breathability.
The Techy Bits
The Super-Fly used to be quite a stripped-down, streamlined
beastie, but during the redesign process, it's got a whole lot more
features along with an extra 60 grammes of weight.
The eVent fabric's a known quantity now. We still think it's the
most breathable, conventional waterproof material out there and it's
always good to see the eVent logo on a garment for fast-moving
use.
Compared to the original eVent Super-Fly there are two obvious
changes. One is the new optional printed reinforcement which features
on the shoulders to reduce abrasion damage from pack straps, on the
seams at the hip for the same reason and on the forearms. You can
have the jacket with or without the reinforced areas.
The other clear difference is in the hood area where the
redesigned hood features a beefy reinforced and wired peak and a more
complicated drawcord volume adjuster. Finally, although it's not
clear, Montane has used what it terms 'intelligent design' to
minimise the number of seams overall and to eliminate any areas
where four seams join creating a bulky weak spot.
How It Performs
The original eVent Super-Fly was pretty much our default
lightweight waterproof jacket choice, so it was a bit of a shock when
the new version weighed in 60 grammes heavier. That makes it just
under 460 grammes, which is only very slightly less than some of the
lighter Pro Shell fabrics out there - Halglofs Spitz, for example,
weighs in at just 495 grammes and is a fully-fledged technical
climbing jacket.
We've always liked Montane's minimalist, weight-saving ethos, but
the new Super-Fly seems like a bit of a departure from that
philosophy. Pockets, for example are normally lined with lightweight
but still waterproof fabric using the membrane sandwiched between two
layers of liner fabric, but the Super-Fly's main pockets have face
fabric lining which makes the jacket slightly stiffer and heavier in
that area for now real benefit.
The hood, which used to use a simple, but effective minimalist
hook and loop volume adjuster now has a more complex and slightly
heavier shock-corded version with an extra hood panel to boot. Even
the cuff adjusters seem to have grown into fat, heavy, plasticised
versions.
All of that adds the odd gramme here or there, but would be okay
if the jacket did the basics better than before. Unfortunately it
doesn't seem to. As soon as we tried the Super-Fly on, we noticed
that the sleeves were slightly too short, sitting an inch or so
higher than we'd have liked, something made even more noticable by
the stiff cuff-tabs that stop the cuff from hugging the line of your
wrist and make for an uncomfortable feel when they're cinched up.
Another basic issue we have is that the main front pockets are too
far to the sides so that a pack strap actually obstructs the openings
and makes them awkward to use. Then there's the waist cord. It only
tightens the side of the jacket, but on a short-cut, slim-fitting
shell like this, it's simply not needed. Extra weight and complexity
for no real gain.
The hood's okay for lightweight use, but doesn't really give
enough facial cover for mountaineering in our opinion and only just
takes a helmet, so try carefully before buying.
We're not convinced by the printed reinforcement either, though
you can opt not to have it. The striped pattern means that some of
the fabric in the area is still vulnerable to abrasion, but with some
packs we tried, the straps missed the reinforcement altogether,
making it irrelevant.
Finally, there's an overall stiffness to the jacket caused by
overlaid fabric areas, in the pockets for example, where there's a
coincidence of two layers of fabric, a flap, water-resistant
urethane-coated zips and reflective stripe adding up to a thickened
strip of jacket at the side of the torso.
On the plus side, we're still big fans of the three-ply eVent
fabric and its appreciably improved breathability compared to other
waterproof materials we've used. Our misgivings over the pocket
design aside, there's certainly no shortage of space and apart from
the short sleeves, fit is generally good, not too tight, but
certainly not loose either.
On balance we preferred the old Super-Fly, it was simple,
light and effective, which is what we've come to expect from Montane.
It's not so much the extra weight that tells with the new version,
but it's loaded with fiddly details which just don't quite work. The
over-stiff cuff tabs and short sleeves were irritating as were the
placement of the front pockets and stiff areas associated with them
and we really don't see the point of having a waist cord, however
abbreviated, on such a short jacket.
At the very least, we'd suggest you try carefully before buying to
make sure you don't feel the same way as us, but we'd suggest that if you
want a lightweight eVent jacket then Montane's own Quickfire, which
we've just reviewed is a better bet. And if you want a lightweight
mountaineering jacket, you should also look at the Rab range and
several of the new Gore-Tex Pro Shell jackets which are only slightly
heavier than the Super-Fly, but likely to be tougher and more
focussed.
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Very breathable fabric.
Short arms, pocket siting, cuff adjusters, added weight and
complexity.
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Performance
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Value
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