What Is It For?
Rab says - and we quote - 'Warm and waterproof with a helmet compatible hood and wired peak, this jacket is perfect for alpine climbing, mountain walking in cooler conditions and belaying at the crag'.
We also reckon a good few of these will come in handy for wet apres mountain saunters to the pub in the sort of damp weather where normal down jackets would fear to tread...
Technical Lowdown
The essence of the jacket is the Microlight, mini-baffled, down-filled inner which uses 140 grammes of European 750+ fill power down, which is high quality stuff. That's actually less than the 165 grammes of down used in its unshelled cousin, the Microlight Alpine.
Rab can get away with that because the outer waterproof and very breathable eVent shell also helps trap an additional layer of air between the shell and the liner down-filled liner with its feathery Pertex Microlight fabric.
Down isn't great in damp conditions - if it gets wet, the tiny feathery fronds of the down are overvome by the surface tension of the water and are unable to loft, as a result air is no longer trapped, there's no loft and the whole thing collapses into a porridgy mess.
The eVent shell massively reduces the likelihood of that happening simply by being waterproof and the shell is, essentially, a full-on alpine shell jacket, just with an extra insulation layer inside.
How It Performed
The first thing you'll notice, if you're used to the straight Microlight Alpine, is that the extra eVent shell really does up the warmth of the jacket despite there being around 25g less insulation - it's simply trapping more air as well as upping windproofing. It would have to be pretty cold before you used it for active climbing or walking.
Fit is excellent in a close-cut way and we found it long enough to offer some crotch protection, which is always welcome when things get gnarly. And the technical features of the shell are borrowed from Rab's straight hard shell jackets - the hood fits and grips nicely, adjusters all work, pockets sit good and high, away from belts and harnesses, and so on.
The big question though, is do you really need a waterproof-shelled down jacket? It makes a certain amount of sense in some situations - alpine climbing for example, where you may have to deal with wet snow, or belaying on ice falls where things are dripping and melting. It would even work in some Scottish scenarios, though because the liner isn't waterproof, you wouldn't want to layer it over a damp under layer.
It is reassuring on those days when temperatures are hovering around freezing and the weather havers between sleet, snow and freezing drizzle, but we wouldn't recommend it for use in prolonged rain. You have to keep the hood up and because it's insulated, that means you'll get warm, fast. Wear it down and water will get in and soak your insulation into a state of soggy oblivion.
So... all of which means that the Microlight Alpine Event is a very nice piece kit but also quite a specialised one. What we can tell you is that it does what it says on the label being warm, waterproof and reasonably light and packable, but while it's a lot more resilient in wet weather compared to a standard down jacket with a DWR-treated shell, it's still going to suffer in really heavy rain.
In a sense, an eVent-shelled Primaloft jacket would be a better UK option - the Generator Alpine isn't far off - but in the Alps, the down variant makes more sense and adds a bit more robustness.
Verdict
Er, yes and no. If you need a waterproof-shelled, not insanely warm, down jacket with technical cut and design then this fits the bill perfectly. If you want more warmth, the Crux Plasma has slightly more filling and weighs slightly less. That said, for active use in the UK, a synthetic like Primaloft arguably makes more sense. Finally, teaming a straight Microlight Alpine with an eVent shell jacket might not be quite as neat, but would arguably be more versatile. Unmatched for damp walks to the pub though...
Buy if you feel the need for a lightweight down jacket with a well-designed and nicely cut waterproof outer, but view it more as down with extra protection than a waterproof with added insulation.
