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For many hillwalkers, this will be their most expensive item of clothing. Particularly if the jacket is suitable for winter, or all year round use. It's also the most technical item of clothing. The range of designs and fabrics can be daunting. There are three key factors in getting the right jacket:

Purpose

Mountaineering jackets are the heaviest in weight. They will be the most waterproof and windproof, with extremely good hoods and often with added features such as a snow-skirt. They are designed for full winter walking, and are often too heavy for summer use.

General purpose jackets are often very similar to the mountaineering jacket in design. However, they tend to be lighter. They are suitable for year round use except in the most severe winter conditions.

Lightweight jackets are obviously the lightest here. They often sacrifice a certain degree of waterproofness, but may be more breathable. They are best kept for summer use, although they can be fine in spring and autumn weather also.

Finally, multi-purpose jackets are suited to a wider range of outdoor activities, from climbing to running, cycling to playing golf! What they lack in design and features, they make up for in versatility.

Fabric

The fabric dictates the level of waterproofness and breathability. Most top range jackets nowadays use Gortex XCR, which is still considered to be the most waterproof and breathable fabric on the market. However, most manufacturers also have their own alternative for use in their cheaper alternatives.

Fit and Feel

Ultimately it's a personal decision, and there's only one way to decide - try it on. Even though you can often get a better deal online, it's definitely worth the effort of trying a few on in a local outdoors shop first.

Here are a few suggestions:

Berghaus Trango XCR: Winner of the Trail magazine's Nov '04 review of winter mountaineering jackets, the Berghaus Trango XCR was new for Winter 2004. Fully featured versatile and robust 3-layer GORE-TEX® XCR® jacket designed for mountain walking and ski mountaineering; with detachable snow skirt utilizing GORE-TEX® Micro Tape to maximize breathability.

Berghaus Suillivan III: An extremely good general purpose jacket. Also new for Winter 2004. Combining a new and exclusive lightweight GORE-TEX® XCR® Cordura® fabric, with the Berghaus Simplex design philosophy and GORE-TEX® Micro Tape®, offering excellent durability with maximum breathability.

Berghaus Paclite Alpine Pro: Another Trail magazine number 1, and no Berghaus bias! Designed for lightweight use this jacket offers the best performance available in lightweight GORE-TEX® technology. Using an exclusive new Cordura® face fabric, to give great durability with minimum weight of GORE-TEX® Paclite®

Montane G-Force Smock: Just to avoid being accused of bias, this excellent multi-purpose jacket is not made by Berghaus! Thought to be both the lightest weight eVENT® smock in the world and being made from eVENT® 3 layer fabric, amongst the most breathable. Designed as a technical garment for the purist user, the G-Force features FREEFLOW® Stretch panels to provide lightweight waterproof comfort for the active user in the most demanding conditions.

Waterproof Jackets | Trousers