Montane lightspeed H2O jacket

After entering a race and realising that I needed a taped waterproof jacket with a hood, and knowing that the featherlite just wouldnt do, I cast around for another lightweight jacket that would do the job.
Where else to look, but Montane who made the featherlite smock which had done me so well in previous races.
The Lightspeed is crazy lightweight, has taped seams and a hood. Perfect. What more could I need? I didnt actually need it to "work", I just needed it as a tick on my kit list.





It stuffs into its own stuffsac- about the size of a large orange- which has a velcro wrap on it. The idea of this is so that you can wear the thing on your arm as you run around, and should you need it, you just open the pouch, rip the top out and put it on, without even stopping running. Excellent idea, but I find it a bit bulky to wear strapped on the arm- it puts off the balance as I run. It generally gets stowed in the rucksac.

During the first race I used it in, it was indeed, used. 24 hours of not the nicest weather. I took it for granted that it was going to be waterproof, the first thing that was pretty cool was the reflective strips. The entire front zip piping is reflective, and there is a portion of piping on the wrists of each arm- to be seen as you signal on a bike.
Its cut quite long- so the tail easily sits over the butt as you hoon around on a bike, and the cut is a lot less "bag like" than the smock- a virtue of it being a full length zip top rather than a smock.

The next excellent feature I noticed was the comfort when cold, wet and hammering down a hill on a bike. We had just finished a fell running section, jumped on our bikes and headed off down hill, into a fairly windchilled area. In the smocks it would have been quite uncomfortable- not warm at all.

Did the lightspeed's zip up to the top, the hood wrapped up in the pouch behind the head enclosed around the neck, and. wow, it was like being in an armchair.
Well, not quite like that, but it was warm, comfortable, and didnt flap around like a kite as we descended.
And it still breathed. (Not crazy like, but for that price, and at that level, if I want it to breathe, I'll open the zip, or take it off).

Two minor issues, Ive had the jacket for just over a year, used it on about 5 races, and a few runs, stored it mostly out of its bag, and the taping is beginning to de-tape under the arms, and behind the neck, and there is a bit of delamming of the pertex on the back, under the arms and around the neck. These are quite high wear points, so Im not entirely surprised, and I have used this top in relatively extreme circumstances in comparison to day to day wear, but I might have expected it to last a bit longer before beginning to die.



Heres a quick pic of some detail of the delamming and seam de-taping that is going on.










Overall though, did what I needed it to do, and still does it, though a fair bit less waterproof than it was at the beginning.

If you want to geek out about numbers, the fabric is freeflow H2O....

• 43g/m² 30 denier Nylon mini rip-stop with Monolithic PU coating
• Waterproof to a minimum of 1,500mm (JIS L 1092)
• Breathable with a minimum MVTR of 6,000g/m²/24hrs (JIS L 1099 A-1)
• Spray rating 80 / 20 (JIS L 1092)

Helly Hansen Pants

I had the inspiration of getting some non cotton pants many years ago- Id had a helly top and I wanted that performance "down there"-
the thing that did it for me, was walking up a hill in wales with wet trousers and wet pants, and really really not enjoying it.

so the next day I went out and bought some helly pants.
That was in about 1999.
I threw them out about 3 weeks ago, as they were pretty much worn out. I used them day in day out for 5 years- commuting.
Climbing, walking, running, you name it, I wore them in hot weather, cold weather, wet weather, humid weather, they were awesome.

Towards the end of their life, they felt a bit.... mmmm... hard to describe, but not right.
However, they are the best things ever.

I now have a whole load of breathable pants.
If you dont have them, buy them. Its a life changer.

icebreaker GT180- longsleeved

I have been using my tried and trusted helly hansen tops since... oh, I bought the first one in 1998 and the second in probably 2003 ish- for everything adventure racing, running and cycling, including cycle commuting, day in day out for the past 5 years.
They however, are going to be the suject for another review a little later.

I have seen icebreaker around for a while, made of merino wool, they apparently dont smell, wick sweat away in record time, and, most importantly for a wool garment- dont itch.

I make no bones about the fact that I hate wool- it itches me like crazy, and I have never really been able to wear it against my skin. I have tried on a couple of merino tops on in shops, and they havent impressed me- they do feel like they itch a bit, and could turn into absolute nightmares if worn for a while.

I have been convinced to try one- at a 180 weight. (they tend to come in a number of weights, 150 for light, 200, mid and 260 for warmth. - there is also a 320 weight but this is more for mid layers) the 180 GT I have is made as a base layer- like a helly- which can also be used as a single layer for high perspiration activities- it also has a slightly perforated effect in the side panels and down the back.

The first time I put it on, it itched. It did. so it went straight into the washing machine with a pair of jeans to soften it up.
Try again... and this time it wasnt so bad. Still a slight - ever so slight feeling- but not one of discomfort, so time to actually try it on in action.
So far I have commuted in and done a few training runs in it- and performance-wise- it has certainly been as warm- but- more importantly- more wind-proof, than the hellys. Ok- so its not a windstopper, and its not made to be, but hacking along in quite a breeze, I am noticably more comfortable in the icebreaker than I am in the helly- which the wind just cuts straight through.

The shirt seems to wick very well indeed, sweat translation is fast, but this is just on first appearances, but is as good as a helly.

There is also a small zip pocket on the right hip area, which is very useful- now I dont have to hold my keys in my hand as I run around the heath- you can also use it for an ipod, routing the cable internally and up into the cable stows by the neck area, which stop it floating about the place as you run. Used them once and they seemed to be fine, though Im not really into running with earphones anymore, however, they work.

The Thumbloops are cool. Never had a top with thumbloops before, and these are great. Was out for an hours fartlek last night, it was cool, and I wouldnt have noticed not having them if I was in an old helly, however, I used them, and they were great.
Only minor issue with them was when I put them on under cycle gloves- you obviously have to take your gloves off before you can roll the sleeves up- so if you are going to have to vent quickly, its best to think about it in advance.

Does it smell?
Well, it doesnt smell as bad as the hellys, in fact, it smells different to hellys. It certainly doesnt NOT smell after a week of wearing it- its more like a slight damp wool smell than anything else. I suppose its the difference between gagging on synthetic smell, and thinking- oh, I smell like a slightly damp sheep.