I’ve had a Cirrus sample on the go for months now, and it’s high time I had an update.
You really can’t argue with the weight, 76g is weightless for all intents and purposes. I carry the Cirrus in the hip-fin pocket on most packs which gives you just how small this thing packs down.
But weight without function is pointless, and I was very happy to discover that there’s nothing missing here, no corners have been cut at all.
The body is nice and long, with quite a trim-cut torso. The arms match nicely, even stretched out on a bike my wrists stayed covered. There’s no creep-up here either, the arms are well articulated at the shoulder and the cuffs have covered elastic to seal the gap, but they’ll also so pull up to my elbow for easy cooling.
The hem has an elastic drawcord with a captured cordlock at your right-hand side.
The zip is a good length, with a little baffle behind which grows into a chin guard/zipper garage at the top. The collar is nice and high, and it too has a drawcord with a captured adjuster.
The fabric is the new non-shiny Pertex Quantum, it’s soft, comfortable, layers well, keeps the wind out and breathes incredibly well. It dries fast too, I took it off at a rest stop once and watched the damp patch on the back shrink and disappear like a breath cloud on a window.
It’s been through trees, against rock and ice, and it’s been off the bike at least once, but it’s still looking fresh.
The light fabric has it’s limits when it comes to wind strength and temperature, but even into winter it takes the sting out. Spring to Autumn, it’s all you’d need.
There’s no pockets, and I haven’t missed them, I like the clean lines as-is, so it’s not an issue. Rab do have a pocketed full-zip version if that’s where you’re at.
Truth be told, I think it’s a great bit of kit and I love it.
Product Information
- Weight: 76g for size large sample
- UK Price: £50
- Fabric: Pertex Quantum
- Made in: China
There is a few crackers in the range, and it’s all the new stuff like the Cirrus and the Demand (review imminent).
I want one, thank you. Size S should be fine, though M will do for layering.
;)
I itch to get my hands on one, any links to shops which already have them in stock?
I do indeed, link below. I was in there last week and saw they were on sale which prompted the update.
They have the charcoal version as well.
http://www.footprintsglasgow.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_15&products_id=1442
Do yo rate it better than the Kaza top due to weight saving only then?
The Kaza is slightly different for me, it’s a wear-all-day thing, and I use it in winter. The Cirrus gets carried as much as it gets worn, in that way it’s pack size and weight are the winner, but the Kaza will take a bit more weather.
Does that make sense?!
I know what you mean pal. For some reason though Rab just doesn’t fit me right but a few bits of their kit would be appealing.
Always a bugger when the stuff you like the look of doesn’t fit!
I was fortunate to visit Footprints in Glasgow last year a great store with great staff.
Roger
I think a wee sneaky visit to Footprints is in the offing this week then while my boss is down south.I’ve been thinking about a windshirt the last couple of weekends I’ve been out. Your timing is perfect. Cheers.
Support the independants indeed :o)
£50 for 76g of pertex……no chance
Picked up a Montane Jetstream for £25 last year and its been hammered. I would reccomend everybody carries a lightweight pertex jacket…..they are very handy bits of kit.
Aye, it’s the way Pertex is going I think, the Jetstream is £50 now, and the Featherlite is only a fiver behind.
Mind you, Buffalo are asking nearly £60 for old school Pertex.
The wee windshirt is a vital bit of kit, especially when I think of all the times the other option would have been sweating uphill in a waterproof!
Sorry to keep banging on about this but a windshirt is one of the most versatile bits of kit you can own. Everybody should have one. No, make that 2. A stupidly light one for most of the year and one a wee bit beefier for winter.
I just wish more of them came with a hood.
Yes to all the above!
Speaking of hooded windproofs, has anyone on here tried the PHD windsmock? Looks interesting to me and is a massive 11 grams heavier than this already overweight number. :oD
Hi Len. Yup, I had one but quickly sold it on. Main problem was the “cut; it was massive, with loads of spare material, especially the under the arms. It just looked really square and “boxy”. The daft front-to-back reflective strips on the shoulders didn’t help either.
If they trimmed the fit down a bit, they’d be onto a winner. A lot of other folk liked it tho’ :o)
And they don’t have it in that yellow :o(
Would you say that that’s common to all PHD pieces (the wide fit, not the lack of color choice)? I ask because I want to get one of those ultra pullovers before they up the price again and I don’t know if I need a medium or a large.
For comparison I wear medium in smartwool shirts and large in Haglöfs fleece.
You’re the same size as me then.
The torsos on PHD clothes are a little wide for me, but I get a large to make sure I have the length on the arms and body. It’s not too big though, and a medium would probably be too slim.
Ah, the curse of being an XM (Extra Medium).
A large it is then. And yup, it is hard having an XM (xeroid mug)
Indeed :o)
Hi Pete,
Need some advice please. It seems likely that that at work we will be forced to wear some form of hi-viz pretty soon. We are making a case as Public Righst of Way Inspectors not to look like bin men/women or highway workers and to avoid plasticky, sweaty, bulky, uncomfortable gear designed for uses other than walking. It has been suggested that we might be able to not have hard hats (this is for inspecting and surveying i.e. walking paths, photographing and measuring not using tools or dodging cars!) or luminous trousers if we can go for jacket(s) and hats combo. Now I know you like orange kit, and it apparently attracts less bug life than the yellow in summer, so can you recommend makes/kit? Genuine fluoro/hi-viz in walking kit seems rare so I am hoping that the bright yellow and organge of, say Rab, Montane, Haglofs will pass H&S muster. I have tried to sugegst a waterproof shell, softshell/fleece and windshirt with a beanie and baseball cap would suffice. Who’s got the best bright coloured kit Pete and can you also extoll the virtues of a windshirt for me as I expect to get asked why we need one and I’m up against 3-in-1 jacket enthusiasts, bulky jacket wearers and the antithesis of fast and light. I need help! We may well get ignored in which case I will melt this coming spring and summer, not to mention look like a clown.If all goes well then a Satsuma Rab VR Lite has my name on it and a shell to match. It’ll be a tough battle though.
Thanks
Bar.
It’s a tricky one right enough. You might find that to comply the colours might have to match the EN numbers and you’ll be stuck with the trade supplier horrors. Mesh safety vests over your regular kit might be obe solution.
Another good bet is bike wear. Endura, Altura, Gore and of course Montane. You’ll get technical fabrics, a proper cut and you’ll be able to get it safety colours some of the time. A workable compromise?
I’ve got a couple of meetings over the next couple of weeks, I’ll see what’s new as well.
Cheers Pete,
Yes, I have to admit to fearing the worst. I chatted to a Highways colleague yesterday and he was in his EN compliant hi-viz yellow, fleece lined with a pocket for everything you need and don’t jacket with a stiffness and bulk not seen in walking gear since the 80s; or in the adverst in the backs of the sort of magazines you get in Dr’s waiting rooms.
I also fear they will disregard the vest idea, even though that could work because it is less ‘corporate’ and too easy not to wear.
I did think of bike gear but the general lack of hoods stopped me from sending our guy the links. That said, Sealskinz do a hi-viz waterproof beanie. I expect I’d sweat like a P.I.G. never mind need wipers on my glasses but if it avoids road kit…
Thanks, too, re new gear. It woudl be great to know if anyone’s coming up with good gear in hi-viz. After all, it’s spreading like a virus whether we like it or NOT.
PS, I recently retired my work’s Cragghopper Kiwis after yet another zip came off in my hand. The Rab Alpine Treks that I had hoped would eb good for work make me run hot when I’m in the office and are a strange material (the new Atlas ones seem better and maybe the trek Lite’s too?). So, I decided to get some Montane Terra Pack pants. So far, very good. Much more natural feeling. Pockets not as good as the Rab’s but ok and a comfortable wear, even if not winter trews really. I’m waiting on work gear news before goign for the Haglofs btw!
I know you can get hi viz Gore Tex as well as other techy fabrics, but it’s getting them in a decent style is the thing.
Ah, it’s a health and safety world…
Hi Pete,
Had a telephone conversation with a corporate sales guy at Montane earlier – very informative. I provided details of the likely usage and my suggestions and he agreed with those or suggested others. Interestingly, he suggested that a Prism over a base layer could replace a fleece and windshell/softshell combo. I hadn’t considered that before; and to be honest, because of the better pockets and because it’s cold at the moment, I’ve been living in the Flux instead. The Prism is, however, a fantastic piece of kit that doesn’t seem to make me overheat.
A loose list included suggestions such as; Bionic, Chukthi shirt, Sabretooth or Alpine Stretch (replaces Dyno from next year)/Prism/Litespeed, Terras, Venture (being replaced in September) or Atomic/Stretch. So many options/approaches within just one make! Difficult to know what the best value and most effective combo is and whether the bosses will go for it. The new Chameleon fabric looks nice and well stretchy and the Alpine Stretch jacket an excellent summer soft shell (tried one on in Go Outdoors).
Bar.
Good stuff. I know a few folk who do corporate kitting out with Montane, you’ll not go wrong there.
Btw, just seen Inov-8s new clothing, bright orange!
i know what you mean, i see a new piece of kit, buy it and then find that i now have an extra decision to make to choose between which piece of kit to take out… paralysed by indecision….
the technologies are becoming so specialised, some kit works perfectly in certain conditions, but not well in others.. growing up n NZ in the seventies there wasnt much choice at all for gear, i love the choices now but decisions decisions
No, never easy. Especially when different combinations of kit will achieve much the same effect. Orange Inov8 kit sounds tempting though. I managed to not buy a Montane Ice Guide jacket for £58 today. Truth is I don’t need it, but I was sorely tempted nonetheless. I also has to not buy a Rab Cirrus pull over for £23 – but that was because there was only
one and it was a small; too small as I found out when I nearly busted it getting it over My shoulders!
The Montane Alpine Stretch jacket looks great and seems exactly like a Sabretooth but in a lighter weight, stretchier material. Not sure which is go for as a uniform but the National Trust rangers went for a sabretooth. Bit like lite speed or cirrus? Not sure I could decide having now seen both.
Bar.
Btw Pete,
Montane sabretooth or Rab scimitar?
Bar.
Montane.
For many reasons!
Thanks Pete,
Hmmm, intriguing, do tell…
I was surprised how short the Sabretooth I tried on was. I would have to up a size and go fro a medium, which I would have to anyway were it Rab as they seem to assume smaller folk don’t have shoulders. I’m also taken by the Alpine Stretch but I guess I am instinctively replacing my Rab Baltoro Lite, which is a warmer weight. The latter is tough and offers good weather proofness but I was a fool to go for a softshell without a hood.
Bar.
Interestingly Pete, Rab were less enthusiastic in response to our enquiries and weren’t interested in Corporate Sales because we weren’t mountain rescue, whereas Montane made the effort and are supplying uniforms to NT Rangers etc and a wider, more similar to our role, group of professionals.
Bar.
Aye, that sounds about right.
One day I’ll do a tell-all about what all the UK brands are like to deal with.
Yes, it makes the world of difference in terms of the impression you get of them – an whether you buy their kit!
It opened my eyes. I think they could all learn something from small companies. Or maybe most brands just grow out of putting customers first?
Bar.
One or two brands think they’re above their customers, releasing new kit is like bestowing gifts upon the faithful. That attitude is coming back to haunt them as the money stays in folks wallets or goes elsewhere.
That’s not Rab by the way.
Look after you customers and they’ll stay with you, none of the brands are consistently good at that.