The Berghaus MtnHaus development lab is a wonderful concept – the team have the ability to develop cutting edge products for their sponsored athletes that may not be particularly commercial, but occasionally these high-end products filter through into the shops for the benefit of the rest of us. The VapourLight range is a collection of trail running equipment and apparel, and the HyperSmock (hardshell) and HyperTherm (synthetic insulated) jackets were developed for Berghaus athlete Philippe Gatta for his attempted 1700km, 40 day bimble along the Great Himalayan Trail. Both items are incredibly lightweight – quite probably the lightest in their…

Recent jackets from Paramo have sought to cast off their reputation for a baggy, boxy fit, but none have achieved it quite as well as the new Enduro Jacket. It represents a top-of-the-range mountain jacket that isn’t perfect, but is getting pretty close. Páramo Enduro Jacket Price: £350 Weight: 849g (size large) fabric, fit, venting, hood, pockets length   Fabric The Enduro uses Nikwax Analogy, which consists of a ‘pump liner’ next to the skin, with a “directional microfibre outer” layer which is treated with a durable water repellent (DWR) coating to repel, well, water… The pump liner mimics animal…

New for this season, I was keen to try Mountain Equipment’s synthetic insulation as I’ve long been a fan of their down jackets. I also had a cooling experience with a badly-designed Primaloft jacket many years ago in its early days, so I wanted to see if this insulation could now cut the mustard. Mountain Equipment Compressor Hooded Womens Jacket Price £140 Weight 305g (Size 10) Packability, water resistance, lightweight, cost Short length, slight fill leakage at quilting stitching in areas of wear Insulation The insulation comes in the form of synthetic PrimaLoft One with 60g weight in the body…

New for this autumn, the Arc’teryx Cerium LT represents the Canadian brand’s first foray into down insulation and it’s already won a few awards. Is it worth the cash? Here’s the lowdown: Arc’teryx Cerium LT Jacket Price: £240 Weight: 261g (L) lightweight; high warmth-to-weight; packable expensive; colour (more subdued colours are available…); no hood   It’s hard to believe that Arc’teryx don’t have down insulation in their range, so the introduction of the Cerium LT, plus the heavier Thorium AR, comes as no real surprise. I’ve had an early sample of the Cerium LT for a few months now (yes,…

We’re changing the way that we do gear reviews at Walkhighlands – there’s a comprehensive back catalogue of comparative reviews here but we reckon it’s time for a change. This autumn and winter we’ll be looking at an eclectic selection of the very latest releases in a bit more detail than we could before. So – first up are two synthetic insulated hooded jackets from Rab – ideal for Scottish winter. They may look remarkably similar, and externally they are, but it’s the insulation that divides them into two very distinct categories. The Xenon X (pictured on the right) uses…