Mountain Equipment Drilite Plus

Ptarmigan
Reviewed: 14 April 2004

WATER COMES IN THROUGH THE ZIPS!

Nice fit.
Waterpoof fabric.
Breathable enough.
Light weight.

Only a single storm flap over the main zip and the pocket zips. When it is wet and windy a lot of water blows in. I would expect more from an £80 jacket.

It's a good looking, nice fitting jacket. The fabric it is made of is also nice and waterproof with reasonable breathability for a cheaper fabric.

But, and this is a big but, ME have scrimped by only having a single storm flap over the zips. Consequently an otherwise great jacket is spoiled by letting water in when it is windy - Doh!

Three extra strips of material would transform this into a cracker. I was very pleased with it for the first 6 months. That was until I was out in a hoolie.

Liza Bell
Reviewed: 08 January 2004

NEAT AND TIDY WELL MADE WATERPROOF

Dry, very light and packable. Very well thought out with many sections for maximum movement without clumps of excess material getting in your way. Makes no noise as you move; soft material.

Could be a little longer, at the back?

A fantastic stuff jacket - just in case it rains and also as a secure serious waterproof. I love mine.

joe mahoney
Reviewed: 09 June 2003

LIGHTWEIGHT AND EFFECTIVE

very waterproof

not as breathable as gore-tex

I bought this really cheeply in sales, and despite a couple of small faults, like how the hood folds into the collar, it has served me admirably.

Ben Rees
Reviewed: 28 April 2003

EXCELLENT JACKET AT A REASONABLE PRICE

Very light and compressable. Excellent waterproofing, windproofing and breathability. Generous hood and decent rucksack-friendly pockets. Also, considering the premiums you would have to pay for Gore-Tex or Triple Point, the price is a snip.

This is not a heavy weight mountain jacket and will not be able to cope with winter weather or rough terrain such as a scrambling route.
The storm flap is secured by one long strip of velcro. The strip has a habit of attaching itself to everything including the mesh liner and the velcro cuffs. The zip also has a habit of snagging on the mesh liner. Personally I find this to be a minor annoyance rather than a worrying flaw.
The jacket is also perhaps a little short and may be prone to riding up and giving a gap for the rain to get in.

I like this jacket immenseley and readily forgive it for its minor annoyances. Okay, you wont be crossing the Cairngorms in a blizzard in it, but as a summer waterproof I cannot fault it. And as for its price, I could name you other jackets that cost more but aren't anywhere near as good.

Steve Greenhow
Reviewed: 11 September 2002

GOOD JACKET DESPITE USEABILITY ISSUES

Sheds water like a water-shedding thing. Rain just jumps off.
The peaked hood is excellent. Breathability is good. Packs small in stuff sack.

I have e few useability issues with this jacket. On the storm flap the two halves of the velcro do not meet. Just casually press down on the flap and the velcro halves will only overlap by 25% instead of 100%. I have to pull the outer flap over in order to get a good contact. Maybe this is a design feature, I don't know. If you have the jacket unzipped, the velcro on the right sleeve cuff catches the storm flap velcro and then stick fast together. The mesh liner of the pockets snags in the zips and has to be forceably released. The main zip snags on the jacket around the throat area - really annoying when you are trying to unzip the jacket.
Sleaves a tad too long.

Not really sure if I would buy this jacket again due to weaknesses given. It does perform well and offers great protection though.