soft shell jacket

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got-to-get-fit

New Member
Location
Yarm, Cleveland
Anyone own one?

Im thinking about getting one for my birthday on the 18th a 'North Face' one it looks nice but will it keep me warm and dry???

Im not using it for cycling, just for kicking around in.
 

Ashtrayhead

Über Member
Location
Belvedere, Kent.
I've got three! One from Howies just before they were reduced in the sale, a Pearl Izumi one and a Trespass. No need for fleeces anymore and the rain runs off them, they will keep you warm, more windproof than a fleece and they're very breathable too.
 

Chris James

Über Member
Location
Huddersfield
Warm is the operative word.

I have a mountaineering background and there are any number of 'softshells' available for that activity. The original softshell concept was pile and pertex (eg Buffalo) but Gore et al jumped in and also sell redsigned windproof fleeces as 'softshells' - replacing the pointless outer fleecy layer with a smoother fabnric that helped the jacket bead up water better in showers. Pertex is much more breathable than windstopper, for example, though.

Personally I get very warm cycling and think, for me, a softshell would be unwearable. In the depths of winter I use a Altura Night Vision windproof jacket, which has a windproof chest and forearms but fleece everywhere else to increase the breathability - i.e. it only has half the body covered in membrane and it is STIlLL on wearable for the coldest three months of the year.

For mountaineering I use a 100 weight fleece and separate pertex jacket. This has the advantage of being very flexible as you can pick and choose what you want to wear. Doesn't look as cool in catalogue shots though.

For going to the pub I have an old Berghaus Choktoi Pro windproof fleece.

Softshell jackets look good but they are more suitable for low activity levels in cold dry air, not high activity in a damp environment, in my opinion.

Obviously everyone's physiology is different and you may 'run colder' than me, but it is just a word of warning that some of us find softshell excessively hot.

The following links are heavily orientated towards mountaineering / hillwalking use but might be of interest, and are written by a softshell enthusiast, but one who understands the strengths and limitations of the concept.

http://www.psychovertical.com/?cuthecrap

http://www.psychovertical.com/?thebestsoftshell
 

domtyler

Über Member
I have one, it is a Gore and cost a bomb. I have worn it about three times though as it is far too hot for cycling in all but the very coldest of weathers.
 
I have one from Mountain Warehouse which cost about 1/3 of similar jackets from BergGoreFace et al.

It's probably my fave jacket and gets a lot of wear walking, sometimes cycling, mostly hacking around. It has extra long arms which are useful for the bike, drop tail, draw cords and deep pockets.

I've noticed that they do one with a hood too, which I quite fancy.

Thoroughly recommended.
 

Chris James

Über Member
Location
Huddersfield
redcogs said:
Mountains in Huddersfield? You must mean Chapel Hill Chris.

'Stannidge' has a few where they launch their microglide thingies.

I occasionally venture out of Yorkshire for my mountaineering. In fact I am off to the Lakes this afternoon, Snowdonia the end of the month and trying to fix up a trip to Glencoe / Fort William area for Oct / Nov before my pregnant wife gets too big to drag me up the hills.
 

Hugo15

Über Member
Location
Stockton-on-Tees
I picked one up from Mountain Warehouse in the sale for kicking around in from just up the A19 at the Dalton Park Shopping outlet place. I looked at the North Face ones too - they were really nice but more than I wanted to pay. I also have a cycling specific one by Giodana.

Both are very warm and keep me toasty. In fact the Giodana one is only really useable on the very coldest days on the bike as I get too hot. Not sure about the Mountain Warehouse one yet, but the Giodana one keeps the bulk of the rain out.
 

Chris James

Über Member
Location
Huddersfield
redcogs said:
Have a good climb int Lakes.

Thanks! Not really doing any climbing this time as I am going with the wife and she is 17 weeks (I think, I am ashamed that I can't remember exactly) pregnant. We might do a bit of scrambling though. Best of all we are leaving our 14 month old son Douglas with his grandparents so will have a couple of days to ourselves.

At least the weather looks set fair. On our last holiday, with Douglas in tow, we went camping in Devon - on the weekend that Sheffield and Hull flooded. We had two days of torrential rain and high winds and on the third day the tent blew down!
 
OP
OP
got-to-get-fit

got-to-get-fit

New Member
Location
Yarm, Cleveland
Hugo15 said:
I picked one up from Mountain Warehouse in the sale for kicking around in from just up the A19 at the Dalton Park Shopping outlet place. I looked at the North Face ones too - they were really nice but more than I wanted to pay. I also have a cycling specific one by Giodana.

Both are very warm and keep me toasty. In fact the Giodana one is only really useable on the very coldest days on the bike as I get too hot. Not sure about the Mountain Warehouse one yet, but the Giodana one keeps the bulk of the rain out.

Hi dude, just realised you live in stockton, i didnt even think about Dalton park but i might just give it a try. Im in Yarm by the way.
 

Steve Austin

The Marmalade Kid
Location
Mlehworld
Got a MHW synchro Jacket that i've had for a while. Way too hot for me to wear cycling, but then i run hot. Great for walking in the hills in the winter, windproof, waterproof but a bit too warm if it ain't around freezing.

Just got bargain Howies Sofshell too. No idea how that will be though. and it is orange :?
 
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