Soft Shell Products
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£127.04 (inc Vat)
£105.87 (ex Vat)
Patagonia
Alpine Guide Pant
The Alpine Guide Pants can take on all the challenges a spring day can bring, from snow to ice to rock. Breathable, weatherproof, durable and made from a polyester/spandex blend which won't restrict movement.
£78.31 (inc Vat)
£65.26 (ex Vat)
Rab
Baltoro Vest
Wind resistant and lightweight, great for the mountains!
£18.74 (inc Vat)
£15.62 (ex Vat)
Mammut
Braces
To hold up your Champ Pants and Base Jump Pants.
£39.90 (inc Vat)
£33.25 (ex Vat)
Marmot
Driclime Vest Wmn
RRP £60 now only £39.90! Women's version of the Driclime Vest, with all the features in a more ladylike cut. Only 170g and featuring an adjustable collar.
£79.02 (inc Vat)
£65.85 (ex Vat)
Marmot
Ether Driclime
As well as a breathable, light, packable, weather proof jacket, Marmot have made sure this jacket also provides warmth and feels and wears like a nice piece of clothing.
£62.50 (inc Vat)
£52.08 (ex Vat)
Marmot
Ether Driclime Womens
RRP £80 now only £62.50! The Women's Ether Driclime packs down to a tiny size into the zippered chest pocket so can be easily stowed away when not needed.
£206.80 (inc Vat)
£172.33 (ex Vat)
Arc'teryx
Gamma MX Hoody
Ideal for climbing and mountaineering this wind-resistant, water-repellant, highly breathable hooded softshell jacket is the best cut offering we have found and provides top level versatile performance.
£98.28 (inc Vat)
£81.90 (ex Vat)
Marmot
Gravity Jacket
RRP £130 now only £98.28! A heavy-duty soft-shell that will take the battering of the mountains and the city.
£50.00 (inc Vat)
£41.67 (ex Vat)
Lowe Alpine
Lynx Jacket
RRP £100 now only £50! Lowe Alpine's Lynx Jacket is a great, light weight and well priced womens soft shell jacket that has a great fit.
£99.90 (inc Vat)
£83.25 (ex Vat)
Mountain Hardwear
Mecurial Jacket
RRP £140 now only £99.90! An all-round softshell that is at home in the mountains as it is walking through the high street.
£101.44 (inc Vat)
£84.53 (ex Vat)
Patagonia
M's Simple Guide Hoody
An super stretchy, lightweight alpine softshell hoody. Great for the mountains.
£48.00 (inc Vat)
£40.00 (ex Vat)
Lowe Alpine
Multi Pitch Jkt Womens
RRP £80 now only £55! Lowe Alpine's Women's Multi Pitch Jacket is a durable, lightweight soft-shell jacket designed for complete freedom of movement.
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Soft Shell is a bit of a confusing area as everyone seems to have differing ideas as to what it is. How we think of it is this:
Soft - ie Doesn't rely on a stiff, noisy face fabric and or membrane to keep out the elements like traditional waterproof jackets. Instead it uses a tightly woven soft face fabric often with a velour lining of some sort.
Shell - Provides good levels of water and wind resistance and a degree of warmth in one garment.
The result is to produce clothing that reduces the need for the user to carry a traditional layering system of base, mid and shell layers, although you will probably want a base layer with most of the jackets. This works because the garment will have much higher levels of breathability than traditional waterproof shells, while still keeping out all but the worst of the elements. This means that you should be able to keep yourself comfortable by venting rather than changing from one to two to three layers to keep warm and then redry. As a concept, Soft Shell has almost entirely replaced windproof fleeces, because it is more breathable and tougher.
The levels of wind and water resistance should be fine for most single day ventures where a bit of a soaking at some point in the day ins't going to be a serious issue, or where the chances of rain are lower. Soft Shell is therefore less relevant as a single garment on multi day ventures where you could get thoroughly soaked and then have to carry on in the same vein the next day. In such cases you would be better off with a classic shell and layering system for longer term comfort and safety. This doesn't mean that you still couldn't use your soft shell as part of such a system, although there are a number of better products for this use as Soft Shell tends to be heavy and is much less adaptable. See the Microfibre and Pertex section for some examples.
Most Soft Shell has good levels of abrasion resistance and durability. It is particularly suited to climbing as it tends to have a good degree of omni-directional stretch for ease of unrestricted movement. We also particularly like Soft Shell trousers for winter walking and climbing, and summer Alpine routes on colder faces where you need warmth, wind, water and snow-resistance but don't want to carry waterproof trousers on your lightweight dash.
There is a wide range of Soft Shell materials to choose from. Schoeller is perhaps the most well known of these. The Scheoller-Dryskin materials have a low level of moisture absorbancy, transport moisture outwards rapidly, have permanent stretching abilities, are hard-wearing, well weighted, limited in bulk and easy to look after. They are composed of Cordura, Lycra, Coolmax, Polyamide and Polyester and have an impregnated water and dirt resistance. See the Mammut range in particular. The Base Jump Pants are a new classic, and they really are as good as everyone says they are!
For lighter walking and climbing trousers, see the Rab Treklite Pants for men and women, and the Alpine Trek Pants as well. These can be found on the Trousers page.
Polartec Power Shield has a smooth, tightly woven nylon face fabric with a polyester velour back to trap air and provide warmth. "It blocks 98% of wind whilst the remaining 2% circulates within the fabric to help moisture transportation" Polartec, 2003. They use Spandex for stretch and a durable water repellent coating for water-repellancy. Check out the Rab Baltoro Guide jacket. This is our favourite soft shell jacket. It's lighter and warmer than most, has a wired hood, and the soft pile inside feels really nice and cosy against the skin.
The range of jackets ands vests from Marmot and Sprayway provide options for most activities and conditions, at very reasonable prices. They tend to be a little heavier than the Rab and Mammut gear, but they still do a difficult job well, and look stylish in the pub!