Review: Montane Featherlight Smock

MONTANE FEATHERLITE SMOCK

The Montane Featherlite Smock has been a classic bit of gear for years. Wind-resistant, breathable and most importantly, lightweight, this compact wind-shirt has quickly become a favorite of fell-runners, adventure racers, climbers and walkers alike.

You may ask what is a gear review doing in A Walker's Notebook, however I believe that it is essential to record your experiences after time on the hills - especially what you found to be good, and what you found disastrous. As well as the weather, the company, the condition of the hills and how hard you found it, an essential part is how well your gear performed. In this way, you can improve your understanding of your previous navigation errors, whilst at the same time learning from your gear mistakes to make snow, wind, rain and storm more bearable. 

The Montane Featherlite Smock performed brilliantly, which is why I'm recording it in my Notebook for both you and I. As a walker rather than a climber or mountaineer,  you must establish means to protect oneself. There are various options. You can wear a breathable hardshell jacket over a thermal baselayer to ward off wind and rain, however this options may be overkill for those traveling light in good conditions. A favorite with climbers, a down jacket is extremely warm for snow and cold, however is not very breathable and performs badly in rain and bulkiness. The traditional approach is a jumper, relatively compact and warm, however may not be rain and wind-resistant. The Montane Featherlight Smock takes the essential qualities out of these options. 

It's a light layer. The Montane Featherlight Smock can be used under any garment as just another fleece substitute, creating pockets of air that will warm the body. I can't say from experience, however I imagine this could be very useful for climbers under a down jacket in the very cold conditions to stop any chills. 

It is extremely lightweight, weighing in at around 300 grams and packing down to the size of an apple. For runners and walkers alike this is attractive, and it even makes a perfect windproof shell for climbers as it is light enough to be attached to a harness gear loop. I found this to be very important, I could chuck it in my pack and not even notice the weight, and the idea of combining this over a microfleece or baselayer is a great lightweight option to quickly keep protected.

In addition to this idea of layering, its wind-resistant capabilities are superlative. When I used it for the first time on the Crib Goch ridge, Snowdon massif, after the steep ascent, I threw this on over my microfleece instead of a bulky hardshell or softshell to ward off the wind that was creating significant windchill. This enabled me to stay light on my feet, and also its breathability prevented overheating, the large front zip cooling efficiently and the light fabric not too clammy. 

Finally, I like the use of Pertex Microlight  as a material, as well as being light, windproof and durable, it is partially weather-resistant - its great for those few minutes where you're searching for your waterproof in you bag when there is a potential to get wet and unhappy. Having said that, the thin material allows your skin to cool very quickly with rain on the jacket, and it cannot be a light replacement for a waterproof in any case (bar runners who are traveling fast).

One of the few improvements I could think upon this design is the addition of a hood, which would  improve its capability as a windproof shell greatly. Having said that, Montane do sell wind-shirts with hoods, however they are slightly more expensive.  

So the Montane Featherlight Smock is stuck in the notebook with a score of 8/10. A great value, lightweight favorite that has and will continue to perform well against wind and weather-resistant alternative to traditional, heavy, hard/soft shells. 

Where to buy: http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/montane-featherlite-smock-p142371

An alternative: http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/rab-cirrus-pull-on-p202607

What do you think of the Montane Featherlight Smock? Has it performed for you? Please Comment.