Disclaimer - this is a previous model of jacket (pre-2013) and is slightly less 'fitted' than the 2013 version (which also includes a 'top pocket' unlike my version).
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| Helvellyn, Winter 2014 |
Montane says: "The Extreme Jacket has become a modern outdoor classic. The first truly technical softshell, single layer mountain garment. Designed and built without compromise."
Fabric: PERTEX® Classic 6
Reinforcements: POLARDRI® Mini-Rip
Lining: DRYACTIV 3000 deep pile
Zips: YKK Reverse coil
The outer material as you'd expect is incredibly hard wearing and very durable. I had no problems scrambling and climbing up snow with this jacket on and would feel confident in its durability. The undersides of the arms are re-inforced on my version of the jacket.
Inside, the Extreme is pile-lined which means it is both warm and will hold its warmth in cold conditions. This thing is very warm. I made the mistake once of wearing it on a fairly warm (-2 Celsius max) and it was too warm for the walk in and up the fells. I would certainly not wear this with the temperature higher than this, especially if I was moving doing high aerobic activity. I'd suggest that down to -15 Celsius (non windchill) this would be excellent if moving fairly rigorously.
It is suggested that at times the Extreme could / should be worn without a baselayer which may feel a little strange but is worth trying to see if this works for you. As a softshell this works pretty well. On one day of use it wetted out during torrential Lakeland rain and snow but did keep me pretty warm and it easily dried overnight.
On another day I wore this on Dartmoor which was a less intense day out generally and slightly colder (around -3 Celsius) and the jacket performed very well with a merino baselayer underneath (merino may be loved by some for its non stinky properties but I find it takes longer to dry than other baselayers).
There are two pockets which are helmet compatible (above the harness line!) and instead of your normal zip pullers on the pockets going down to open, the Extreme jacket has reversed zippers with little pulls on them to aid opening with gloves. The pockets can be used to quickly and easily 'vent' the jacket as they are mesh lined to allow air to flow through the jacket (a brief shiver of cold meaning great venting!) Pockets are very large and you could warm your hands in them. I'd say they weren't really map compatible size (certainly not laminated OS ones) even if they're intended to be.
There are two cinches to tighten the waist of the Extreme jacket, both one handed pull which again was very helpful on a cold day wearing some thick gloves. Another aid for glove wearing are the attachment loops on each arm to avoid losing gloves on a windy day or just somewhere to stash them when wearing just liner gloves etc.
There is a full length zip and a kind of storm baffle with the front also having velcro patches down the front to aid the jacket staying shut. The cuffs have velcro on, allowing you to cinch them tightly shut. They are close fitting so you wouldn't necessarily easily get an under-cuff glove under the cuffs (although they are elasticated).
Moving up to the hood, the hood is fairly tight fitting around the face when velcro'd shut. The hood itself is helmet compatible (I wore with a helmet no problems, with a waterproof on top of it) and is completely detachable, being held on by a solid and long piece of velcro covering most of the hood to attach to the main body of the jacket. When done up across the face (again with velcro) I found the hood to be very snug!
So that's my review of the Extreme. Definitely designed for much cooler days and bear in mind it's very heavy so you won't be taking it out as an extra layer. This really is a 'wear it all day' kind of jacket as its softshell description suggests.
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