Montane Litespeed H2O – First Look

Following from my earlier reviews of the Vango EOS 350 tent, the Hi-Tec Blaze Ti Stove and the Petzl Tikkina head torch, Go Outdoors got in touch again and asked whether we would like to review an item from their range of waterproof jackets.

More precisely, they asked if Mick would like to review one of their men’s waterproof jackets, and having surveyed the range that fell within the allocated budget Mick opted for a Montane Litespeed H2O, which I had to agree looked like an interesting jacket.

Mick, being no stranger to bright yellow Montane jackets didn’t flinch at the colour! It does also come in black.

At a glance the jacket has many similarities with items in Montane’s windproof range – the fabric is very light, and it’s a minimalist jacket with no pockets and with elasticated (rather than velcro-adjusted) cuffs. The difference is that rather than being simply a windproof the Litespeed H2O is a waterproof, complete with taped seams and a hood (albeit a very basic hood).

On-line you’ll find the jacket listed as being waterproof, with no obvious mentions of limitations on that description. On the swing tag it is a little bit more conservative, stating that it is ‘moderately waterproof’. That’s a little confusing, to my mind. Is it waterproof or isn’t it?

The swing tag does also declare it as having a 1300mm hydrostatic head (HH) and gives a high ‘waterproof’ rating on Montane’s own comparative scale – all of which (together with the taped seams) seems to me to point at it being able to withstand quite a lot of rain (you can get tents with lower HH than that), although perhaps not an extended torrential downpour. It also advertises itself as being pretty breathable too.

Given the light weight and lack of features on the jacket, it looks to me to be an ideal jacket for throwing in your pack for the summer months on days when you’re not expecting wall-to-wall rain. At 138g (in a size small, without the 12g stuff-sack), and scrunching down to the size of a grapefruit, you’d hardly notice that it was there. It’s certainly the main use I can see in this household, although it may get some use for running too.

The observation in first trying it on is that it doesn’t seem to be cut quite the same as the Featherlite or the other Montane Windproof that Mick owns (the name of which I can’t remember). Mick fits nicely into my size small Featherlite, but the Litespeed H2O seems a touch smaller and shorter. It still fits him adequately – and as an added bonus it doesn’t swamp me either (that’s not so much a bonus for Mick, as he’ll be fighting me for use of it!).

Even though it only arrived a week ago, it has already been out on a few walks, but so far has only seen about 20 minutes of wear, and I don’t think that 20 minutes of walking around the centre of Birmingham really counts as a good test. Admittedly, it did bead the water really well during those 20 minutes, and I did remain dry, but then my windproof, when newly proofed, would have dealt equally well with those conditions, so it wasn’t really a valid test. I would have been shocked indeed if a £70* garment that’s billed as being waterproof hadn’t been able to cope with its first 20-minute shower. (*I see that Go Outdoors has it on sale at £36.82 this week, albeit with only the size small left in stock.)

Mick will be on a mission to test it properly over the coming weeks and we’ll report further in due course. Of most interest to me is how long the jacket will remain waterproof if worn with a pack (just a daypack; I don’t see this as a backpacking jacket).

If a mininalist (no pockets, no cuff adjustment, basic hood with a cinching cord but not a stiff peak), 138g waterproof doesn’t cut it for you, then Go Outdoors does sell quite a wide range of other waterproofs – right the way from the budget end of the market, through this super-lightweight and up to a reasonable range of Paramo items.