What hardshell are you wearing?

arcteryx sidewinder sv... amazing bombproof jacket, not the lightest but easily one of the toughest. End of year you can find them for $350 bucks and its a jacket that you'll have for 10+ years.

Usually I wear the OR Helium II, it uses Pertex waterproof/breathable fabric and packs down nice and compact on my harness,

But when winter comes, I switch over to the Alpha SV from Arc'Terx. I've had it for four years now, used it quite a bit, and it still looks like. I just bought it. The most bomb proof piece of gear I own.

My quiver:

-Arc'teryx Alpha SL - love it so far, DWR is still in tact and hasnt failed me yet. This is my summer/warmer weather jacket

-Marmot three layer gore-tex pro (winter and cooler alpine jacket), DWR has worn off and it is a bit burly/warm for warm rains or anything not apline

As far as wetting yourself from the inside, I dont know a single person who does not get wet in any material if they are moving during a rain storm/rainy weather.

I personally have never had a problem with gore products so long as they have pit zips, and would prefer pit zips even over the best of breath ability.

Yes other brands have had better LAB results for breath ability, but if you are in a rainy environment then you are going to get wet regardless of the material in my experience

On a side note, goretex footwear is unparalleled in my experience as well

mozeman wrote:I personally have never had a problem with gore products so long as they have pit zips, and would prefer pit zips even over the best of breath ability.

+1, being a New Englander I've never bought into soft shells. They basically seems like a gotcha. Not breathable enough to really breath, not waterproof at all after the factory treatment wears which if your lucky is a month. I've always found a good technical, vented, hardshell, to be better then any soft shell up here. You can do everything in a hardshell that you can do with a softshell but not reverse so if ur budget conscience and in a wet climate a soft shell seems like a luxury buy not a necessity.

My Marmot Precip pants held up for several years, so I got a jacket -- which delaminated within about a year. Not cool. Currently wearing a Columbia 2-layer, not sure the specific model, but pretty basic and inexpensive.

I will never buy a hard shell without pit zips, no matter how breathable it claims to be.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I've decided to go with the Mountain Hardwear Torsun. We'll see how it works out! Cheers

nice choice.

Rab Latok arrived this evening. Size L, which I bought based on a photo on SuperTopo's review. (6'1" wearer, in a M). I'm 6'2", with a 37" sleeve, 192#. Amazingly, the sleeves are long enough, even on an overhead reach (no ride up) and a double forward reach. I only have about 3" of excess fabric over the stomach, where my Marmot Precip has about 8" (Admittedly an XL, but the sleeves are still about 2 inches short on an overhead reach). Handwarmer pockets are a wee bit small, (XXL hands), as are the cargos. Dachstein mittens were a snug fit in the cargo. The pockets are high enough to ride above a harness. Downsides? - it's a bit tight in the pits, and the pit zips are a bit tough to close. Other thoughts - the phrase "hard shell" is perfectly descriptive: The Rab Latok feels armorish and stiff right out of the package, the first time I've felt like a jacket will actually need to be broken in.