Mountain Equipment Mens Astron Hooded Jacket

"After hours spent reading reviews by professionals and users on the web, I decided that the Astron and the Shield jackets are the winning couple of jackets for all-round use under temperate climates. Being a French living in France, Mountain Equipment stuff is not easily available to me, so I decided to purchase these jackets in their country Great Britain, and the best prices I found were here, on e-outdoor. I asked them some questions through mails, and they were answered promptly, so I thought I could trust this shop, and I was not at all disappointed. Now what could I tell you in my best possible English that you would not already know from the description here? As I said, the Astron and the Shield jackets are the winning couple. The Astron will keep you comfortable in temperatures ranging from 10°C to 20°C, without a midlayer underneath, while the Shield will cope well with colder climates, from 0°C to 10°C; of course they would go below these temperatures if you warm up through physical activity or with a warm midlayer. As you may already know it is -yet- not possible to block the wind coming from outside without also hindering the flow of air from inside the jacket to its outside, so it is a matter of compromise here : the Astron is nicely breathable, so its stretch cuffs are welcome -being lightweight, while the Shield is more windproof, hence has velcro cuffs for a close fit (you can read in the description here by e-outdoor that the Shield has stretch cuffs, but I bought the navy/ocean model and it is not the case, it has velcro cuffs, ask e-outdoor they will tell you so, I guess they reviewed another version). The materials inside both these jackets, while different, are both very nice to the skin. I can not say anything about the waterproofness of these jackets since I did not use them under the rain yet but, according to the reviews I read, both are "light rain proof", the Shield being better on this respect as could be expected from a jacket for harsher climates; no softshell is enough for heavy rains though, so you will still need a hardshell for most inclement weathers. I can not comment neither about their durability, but the materials used are the best on the market (for the Shield : Gore Windstopper for the main body and Polartec Powershield for breathability without sacrificing too much windproofness on the side panels and on the inner part of the arms; for the Astron : Polartec Powershield on the main body and Polartec Powerstretch for even more breathability on the side panels and on the inner part of the arms) ; moreover according to other reviews they should last many years. My last point is about aesthetics: I was a little worried about the Astron jacket, because I do not like light blue lines over black and its pockets seemed huge; but in reality, the ocean blue is darker than it seems on the photos, and fits nicely with the black, while its pockets are still of an acceptable size (and may even be handy to carry maps) ; the navy/ocean Shield is superb with not too dark colours for not too sad winters. To conclude I think these jackets deserve six stars out of five, but this was not an option so I give them only five stars. I hope that my english was not too bad, and that my review will help some of you."

Mountain Equipment Mens Astron Hooded Jacket Review submitted by Emmanuel

5 out of 5

Submitted on : 30/03/2013 19:54:43