Mountain Hardwear Swift Jacket - First Look

Mountain Hardwear Swift Jacket - First Look

Price: £180.00

Weight: 390 grammes (men's large)

Features:Gore-Tex Paclite fabric with rip-stop face, Microtape construction, superlight pit-zips, welded, chest-high hand pockets with watertight zips, laminated cuff tabs with Velcro closure, stowe-away hood with laminated brim, one-handed hood and hem drawcords, micro-chamois-lined chin.

More features than your local multiplex. Not sure about the pocket zips yet.

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The Concept Gore-Tex Paclite is Gore's lightweight, uber breathable waterproof fabric and the Swift is MHW's new lightweight, allround hill jacket made from it.

What makes the Swift interesting is that this is the first time MHW has opted to use the latest version of Paclite after opting out last year in favour of their own cheaper, but much less breathable Conduit Silk fabric used for their Epic jacket.

So, it's intended as a lightweight, breathable waterproof jacket for all round hill and mountain use.

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Features Last year's Silk Conduit Epic Jacket was pretty well-featured with pit-zips and a trademark welded chest pocket, so it's no surprise to see more of the same with the Swift. That means neat touches like watertight pit-zips which are welded into the jacket, watertight zips on the big mesh-lined chest pockets and a very nifty zip-away hood that stows neatly inside the collar.

In common with most manufacturers, MHW is now using Gore's Microtape on seams, which both reduces weight and increases breathability compared to the standard, wider tape. One-handed cord adjustment is standard throughout as well.

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In Action We have generally high expectations of Mountain Hardwear kit, the brand has built a reputation for innovative designs and features, but we were wondering what they could possibly do to make their Paclite jacket stand out from the crowd?

It scores a lot of points before you even put it on by exuding, well, Mountain Hardwearness... Everything's neat and well integrated with the water-resistant zips over the chest pockets and pit-zips barely noticeable against the black fabric of our test jacket.

Cut is typical short MHW, which means it's slightly boxy and less fitted than, say, the Arc-Teryx equivalent, which means it's neither very fitted or loose, just a comfortable fit. One real plus point is that the generously sized pit-zips with their welded-in water-resistant zips don't add bulk to teh underarm area, so you never know they're there unless you choose to use them.

Everything else is present and correct too. Big chest pockets that will take an OS map with room to spare if that's your thing, neat Velcro cuff adjusters and a roll-away hood that asjusts with a single cord pull in the centre of the hood. The peak is laminated and not super-substantial, but this isn't intended as a full-on winter mountain jacket, so we don't think that's a huge issue. In normal use it's fine, though we'd have liked a way of cinching down the neck opening to minimise drafts.

One thing we're not entirely convinced by, is the use of 'Watertight' or more accurately 'water-resistant zips for the main chest pockets. These are mesh lined so any water getting into the pocket will penetrate your inner clothing. Given that there are already pit-zips for ventilation, we're not sure why the pockets also need to be capable of being used as vents when a waterproof inner bag would be more secure albeit slightly heavier and a little less breathable.

From experience we know that with movement, water-resistant zips will leak slightly in heavy rain. We're not talking heavy streams of water rushing into your jacket, but with sustained use in heavy rain, you may get the odd minor leak. More of that once we've used the jacket in heavy rain.

Finally, the fabric is, as we've come to expect from Gire-Tex Paclite, very effective and breathable. You can still overwhelm it with sustained effort, but we'd rank it, along with eVENT, as the most breathable conventional waterproof fabrics on the market. Bear in mind though, that it's not deisgned to take longterm abrasive climbing or heavy backpacking abuse, that's the price you pay for the light weight.

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Verdict

A very nicely made Pacliite jacket with the unobtrusive pit-zips scoring high bling marks - up till now, this is the sort of feature you'd only have found with Arc'Teryx - and ventilation overall being a strength as you can use the pockets for ventilation too.

The hood is average rather than brilliant, though it stows away very neatly, and we're not entirely convinced by the water-resistant zips on the big chest pockets. On the mostly protected pit-zips they're not an issue, but exposed on the front of the jacket, we suspect they may leak a little in very heavy rain if they flex. We're tlaking minor water ingress rather than major leaks though.

Overall a very neat jacket for all round use.

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Mountainhardwear web site

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