First test: Berghaus jacket
It‘s the world‘s lightest 3-layer waterproof– and the most breathable jacket Berghaus has ever built. What‘s the catch?
This jacket weighs 102g. In its handy stuffsack it weighs 106g and is about the size of a cricket ball. Jackets that hit these lean specs aren’t new. But the Hyper 100 (the grams-referencing name is not to be confused with the older Hyper Hydroshell) has keen advantages over models of yore. One, it’s a proper 3-layer waterproof – which is a new one at this weight. Two, it claims to be the most breathable jacket Berghaus has made, meaning the clammy cagoule-like feel of many superlight waterproofs shouldn’t be an issue here. Three, this looks and feels like a jacket you’d actually want to wear, rather than a nasty, shiny Halloween costume. It’s worth noting that this is no normal Berghaus jacket. Created by MtnHaus – a team that pushes the brand’s technology to meet the demands of adventurers including Leo Houlding and Mick Fowler – this jacket has had some serious development. The first thing you notice is the fabric. HydroShell Elite Pro has the same soft, textured and slightly rustly feel of sloughed snakeskin. The detailing is refined, with cuffs only partially elasticated (quite comfy) and a hood with an ingenious bit of barely-there stiffening that does its job well. The stormflapped zip is lean without being scrawny, all decals are screen-printed to avoid the weight of tags and while there are no external pockets, impressively you do get an internal one with a zip – though more for debit cards than gloves. Critically, it doesn’t feel like a waterproof – but it is. In showers it performs brilliantly and dries quickly. It’s not clammy so the breathability claim stands up, making this a jacket you might wear all day if you could cope with the stripped-down features. You can’t adjust anything, so it fits or doesn’t; and while the fabric stretches, the hood doesn’t move well with the head when up. It’s also not especially warm, which you’d expect. But taken in context this is easy to deal with: wear a fleece under it. Which really only leaves the durability question. The freedom of movement this allows I find reduces clumsy scraping on rocks. But while I have no accidents to report I’m terrified of it coming into contact with something sharp. I’ll also be keeping an eye on where my rucksack straps sit for friction wear. Would I wear it on a day of downpour? I’d probably want a better hood, pockets and more substantial fabric. But I’ll say this: it’s so small it goes everywhere with me, as a very capable, barely there layer. Which, as far as money’s worth goes, is hard to beat.