Mountain Equipment Pro-Lite

I bought this jacket from Ultimate Outdoors in Keswick whilst visiting the lakes in June 09. Red wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it was the only colour they had in stock. I’d been looking for a new lightweight hard shell for a year or so, but was very indecisive about full weight vs Paclite, soft+hard shell vs Páramo etc. Being lightweight but still ProShell, it seemed like a good compromise to me, and was also within budget. I often deliberate for far too long on these things, so I took the impetus and bought it.

I’m generally a medium size, but when I got home discovered I’d bought a large. This does mean it’s maybe not quite as tight-fitting as it could be, but does have the advantage that it comfortably fits over my Synchro soft shell and Filo down jacket.

Its first real test was a stroll up Helvellyn, and it performed pretty much as expected; it kept the rain off – more than can be said for my waterproof trousers that day -  but I got pretty sweaty. It’s nice and light though.

The hood fits well, and moves with the head, although it’s not so good with my climbing helmet; it just about fits over, but it’s not perfect.

The water-resistant zips leak, so the pockets are effectively useless, and the weight of the zips would be better utilised as pit-zips.