The Featherlite Smock was probably the most functional and innovative piece of windproof garment design since Fridtjof Nansen, whilst planning the first crossing of Greenland over 100 years ago, realised that the windproof properties of a garment were the secret to moving quickly and comfortably in the mountains.

Montane Women’s Featherlite Down Jacket Review: Montane Women’s Featherlite Down Jacket

That might be the Fowler influence - they must have designed the Ramche very much with climbers in mind. Our reviewer couldn't really decide whether that damp feeling was due to the material successfully keeping a lot of moisture out of the insulation, or rather because it isn't particularly water resistant and the jacket was getting damp reasonably quickly in adverse conditions. With the hem drawcord tightened we've noticed the bottom zipper can creep up a little, so a popper down here would have been a worthwhile addition. The weight for warmth ratio is excellent: 120g of 750+ down fill gives generous insulation for a pack weight of just 377g. Despite a fairly close fit in the underarms and at the elbow we've found that the arms can still be raised without danger of hem lift, a big advantage when climbing.Setting aside these criticisms, at least this hood is light, and you won't be having to faff with drawcords. While these seem wide enough to allow the down fill to loft at its best, there's no denying the limitations of the stitched-through design. But, if the state of our reviewer is anything to go by, it does seem to take on dirt/stains quite easily. It's hard to tell where this is by feel, but Salewa tell us it's on the shoulders and hood - places that get a bit of wear and tear, and compression under pack straps etc.

Montane - Outdoorkit Montane - Outdoorkit

The implied criticism of the narrow design may be unproven (at least in our experience in this review) but there's no denying that the Transcendant's down lofts nicely, so maybe OR are onto something? To be fair to the Transcendant Hoody it's clearly a bit of a generalist, with an all-round outdoor/lifestyle kind of vibe, so its comparatively low performance is perfectly understandable! The hood feels lovely: it's quite beefy and provides good coverage over your face, while the fleecy section on the chin is particularly nice - it feels really plush. My beaten up old Rab Xenon which doesn't look nearly as good is far more practical for most things that I do. On the one hand this is clearly a remarkable, downproof fabric, which also provides a good level of windproofing and breathability; however, there is always a drawback when using such lightweight fabrics - the durability.You can adventure for a whole lot less with our Montane Outlet selection available online at Nevisport. However if you're happy putting a shell over the top at the first sign of trouble then this coat is actually widely applicable for a range of conditions. Injected with all-natural responsibly sourced down, the new Transcendent uses wider quilting and a rebalanced down fill to allow its insulation to loft better for fast, compressible warmth. Throughout the spring, summer, and autumn we mainly used it as a super light outer, which for the UK is probably what it's likely to be used for nine times out of ten. A DWR treatment will help the insulation stay dry for longer, and we've favoured more weather-proof fabrics in this review.