This is something that was long overdue, and luckily Rab have made the jump.
It’s a minimalist lightweight smock made from eVent. It’s got good length on the arms and body, a slim-ish fit with good arm movement, hem adjustment and elasticated cuffs.
The hood has a wired peak, with a regular drawcord around the face and an exposed one around the back of the head. There’s a half-length main zip and a single zipped chest pocket, which is a decent enough size.
I’ve only worn it briefly so far, but it looks good. We need this in the shops to keep the Paclite alternatives on their toes.
The fabric is light, but still feels robust, so I’ll be taking this out all winter to see how it does, updates as we go.
Not planning on blogging, CBA with the hassle. So, possibly the occasional post here if that suits? I’ll be up and down to Cambs a couple of times to take care of domstic duties, couldn’t quite negotiate the complete period away from SWMBO.
Aye Bob, drop in and keep us posted.
Best of luck :o)
Well, they had one left in medium, my Technicals Lewington eVent finally failed this year after a good few years service and it was an extra 10%off weekend so…
at a few pennies under £72 i bought it and joined the legion of waterproof smock wearers (well i will when it rains on me next and i’m not working). a £70 Montane Venture put up a brave fight but even five dedicated minutes of faff and adjustment in the changing rooms couldn’t produce a usable hood set up. for those who don’t use hoods there are Venture bargains to be had! were job worries not paramount i would have waited for the new Venture but a Demand bargain could not be ignored!
How’s your Demand been holding up Pete? it seems incredibly breathable. i tried it in the shop over other stuff i have; prism, krypton (which i keep wanting to call kryton in a red dwarf moment) and vapour rise lite and didn’t overheat at all. the hood seems good (especially compared to the old style Venture and the even more (hood) useless £49! Marmot mica) but less amazing than the one on my Montane Krypton. damn it’s light as well! i feel a lottery win would see me head towards a rab infinity/xenon or montane fireball and rab microlite vest combo for a ‘light a bloomin’ feather combo’ – sorry prism.
Bar.
Alright!
I’m long overdue an update of the Demand, but the short version is that it’s brillaint. It’s been my first-choice year-round shell since it came in, the fabric, fit and features are all great. It’s had a lot of use, still looks fresh, the fabric is holding up with no delamination or damage after many washes.
It’s a genuine all-rounder too, light enough to carry in summer, tough enough for winter.
Hi Pete,
That sounds great, just the sort of thing i wanted to hear. I’m even more glad i bought it now. what do you use to wash your event stuff btw? and do you use the same fro pertex and primaloft stuff?
i just had another try on of the demand and can’t get over how light and, for event, soft it is. it’s the antithesis of the northface hyvent jacket i get for work. i’ll be zipping up the mountains in this!
Bar.
It softens even more with wear and washing, and for that washing I use whatever non bio liquid or powder we’re using at home that day. I haven’t used any specialist stuff in years, and I have to say I’m not noticing any difference.
Washing Primaloft I give it an extra rinse.
Here, there a post worthy of some discussion maybe due on this subject.
hmmmm, that’s a point. when/how often to wash/re-proof, whether to re-proof etc and what to use. i’m pleased to hear that you use ‘regular’ powder/liquid as i’m sure there’s a cost and faff element to the nikwax/grangers choices.
pleased also to hear it gets even softer. comparing it the the latok/latok alpines in the shop was odd. come to think of it, comparing different colour latoks to each other was odd! reminded me of graph paper. the grey and orange ones were stiff and very thin (damageable) looking and the dark beige (i could never get a job inventing new colours for the industry – light cack brown?) red and black ones were more substantial seeming. i don’t ‘think’ it was a chromatic anomaly.
it is forecast to tip it down here tomorrow and be very windy, too, but i might have to burst through hedgerows to search for ‘missing/disputed’ rights of way if did go out so i won’t debut the rab. i’ll sit in the office instead and wait for a wet weekend to test it out.
btw, although not quite enough over a summer weight decathlon merino top and regular jumper, my Krypton is proving to be the best £36 i ever spent (a week’s worth of yellow curry and singha beer in thailand excluded). nothing fancy or revolutionary but an excellent fit. i think it will make an excellent spring and early autumn walking jacket with the light as a feather demand in the rucksack in case of rain and a prism/generator vest for tea stops up top. wore the prism today in a biting wind and that’s a really nice bit of kit, too. i only wish more shops down here stocked the flux so i could have tried it out.
speaking of gear generally, i might have to put together a site to review some of my/my mate’s gear in a very amateurish homage to yours. very basic stuff, (hopefully) not destruction testing. i once showered in a buffalo mountain shirt and went in a swimming pool in it. a review or their own bump had said the sbs used the special 6 shirt to canoe in and that like animal fur (sounds like paramo) it kept you warm even when wet. well… it didn’t. we ‘surprised’ the other guests staying where we were and froze until we took them off. all i will say is we (shares blame) were a fair bit younger.
Bar.
Aye, save going through hedges for stuff you don’t have to pay for!
I think you get the most from your gear, so writing it up is a good idea, keep us posted!
Buffalo? That’s just reminded me to get the Extreme smock back out…
Too right! When i first worked for them i had to ruin my own gear.
will i have the discipline, that’s the question.
my buffalo lived in the loft for a while, ultimately it wasn’t me. doesn’t stop me looking at montane extreme’s though ;) out buffalo’s a buffalo i reckon
“my buffalo lived in the loft for a while”
How many punchlines have I just thought of for that…
go for it! :)
Does it snore and keep you awake?
yes, so i bought it a buff, a low one, to cover it’s nose
I hope it has an en-suite.
Oh wise man of the North, if you were going to spend your own money (difficult concept I know but bear with me) on a UL hard shell (jacket or smock?) what would it be?
The Berghaus Asgard with a Haglofs hood in the Rab’s fabric would be my perfect smock.
But, I’ve been using two full-zippers, the new Montane Air Jacket and the Haglofs Endo (Gore Active Shell, next winter sample) and they’re very good indeed, plenty light, plenty protective and I think Active Shell is as good as eVent.
I’m still happy with one pocket, but I must admit to liking adjustable cuffs again, wide cuffs keep my hands drier in the rain.
Many thanks. How did I know this was going to be more difficult than just going straight to the right shell and paying for it? On the upside, you’ve given me an excuse to waste my evenings trawling the gear pages.
Choice is good, it disrupts the impulse buying reflex :o)