Wednesday 26 September 2012

Montane Featherlite Marathon jacket - long term review


This light weight jacket has gradually redeemed itself since my initial impressions when I commented that I was a bit disappointed.  That was quite some time ago and since then, it's been worn many times.

All of my original reservations still stand.  This includes not having any pockets and not being very breathable.

It also appeared a bit flimsy and I was thinking it was probably going to fall to pieces before too long.  Not so.  Most of its use has been as a running jacket rather than on the bike, as in the above photo.  I have gone through bushes, hedges, scraped it on gate posts and all manner of things which could cause a snag or a tear.  Not so, again.  In spite of my initial scepticism this little jacket has proved to be very durable after all.  After it has been washed, it looks new.  You'd never know how much it has been used from looking at it.

Montane has an Environmental statement and also a Manufacturing statement (click here)  which is good to see.  However I don't think they go far enough and I know I'm not the only person who makes a big deal of these things.  They talk about child labour and the terms of employment within their supply chain but sadly little more - there's much more they could elaborate on.  They also talk about the monitoring that goes on but they could do with publishing some of this information - the results, the outcomes and so on.

As ever it's important to keep this in perspective.  Price-wise it is fairly modest and economical so perhaps I'm asking too much in terms of breathability from a feather weight jacket that costs considerably less than a pair of running shoes.

2 comments:

  1. I have a Montane Featherlite (not Marathon though) and I swear buy it. It's one of my favourite bits of kit I carry all the time. So compact it rolls up so small. I've used it on days when its got colder later on and as always keeps me toasty warm. I've even let someone who wasn't dressed appropriately for a ride and had started to shiver and within minutes he was fine. It's helped me and a number of other riders who have borrowed it out many times over.

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  2. Thanks Graham, good comment. I suspect you are not alone in having such a good view of this jacket. It sounds like other cyclists have really valued it and appreciated you for always having it with you, ready to help someone else out.

    All the best,

    Doug.

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