Recommended Price: £275Weight: 465g Rab is now making their long-popular Kangri jacket with recycled outer fabric – I’ve taken full advantage of the shockingly wet Scottish autumn to put this updated classic through its paces. Made from 70 denier 3 layer Gore-Tex, I’ve found it to be a reliable hardshell with excellent features that make it comfortable for all day wear. The fabric feels very robust but is still reasonably flexible and doesn’t make too much noise during wear. I found the sizing true to size; I’m 5’3″ and it properly covered my bum and the arms are long enough…

When it comes to keeping warm on the hill, there are three main options. A traditional fleece offers warmth but very little protection from the wind, and so is best as a mid-layer. Down jackets offer the most warmth for the weight and pack the smallest, but lose most of their insulating properties when wet. Synthetic insulated jackets offer warmth but also protection from wind, and perform much better than down when conditions are wet. Highlander Lewis insulated jacket Recommended Price: £99Manufacturer Weight: 350g Livingstone-based Highlander Outdoor produce a range of outdoor gear towards the lower end of the price…

Recommended Price: £275 (£255 without hood)Weight: 435g (S) This retro-styled mid-warmth down jacket is part of Fjällräven’s new Expedition range. An extremely cold night in a snow hole bivouac in 1974 inspired company founder Åke Nordin to come up with the original Expedition jacket – basically two down jackets sewn together. I’ve been using some recent cooler weather to check out this modern product of the intervening four decades. Constructed with wide sewn-through baffles, the insulation consists of 110g of down (90% warmer goose and 10% duck) with 700 fill power and a reinforcement of synthetic padding at the shoulders.…

Usual Price: £229 (currently on sale)Weight: 545g (men’s large) The Definition is Alpkit’s top of the range mountaineering jacket. On handling, you can immediately tell this is a serious hardshell; the fabric feels quite stiff and very robust and the fit is quite generous. The Definition feels like a waterproof built to inspire confidence that it will cope with the toughest conditions Scotland can offer. The fabric is a 3 layer laminate, with a nylon inner and outer, enclosing unbranded waterproof membrane. It may be the latter that is key to the very competitive pricing, but the specs show high…

Recommended Price: £220Weight: 185g (large) The Flashpoint 2 is a truly ultralight waterproof jacket. Weighing in at just 185g in men’s size large, the jacket squashes into a tiny stuff sack and is barely noticeable in your pack; runners could even simply attach it to a belt. So where are the compromises? The fabric is 3 layer Pertex Shield. I’ve found it to be surprisingly breathable, and it also seems pretty robust for the weight. I’m sure these qualities are partly down to it having 3 layer construction – I typically find 2 and 2 and half layer waterproofs feel…