by wayno » Mon 12 Nov, 2012 2:59 pm
agreed , in this case i was interested in the grid fleece here on the borello. has a good loft for its weight, and it compresses well. its a tufted fleece, polartec seem to be a pretty reputable quality fabric if not a cheap one.... i think MD used to have the grid fleece or do on one of their softshells but the one i saw was pretty expensive. I don't think i've seen it on their fleeces.
kathmandu these days are putting out a pretty wide variety of fabrics, a bigger variety than i've been able to find in other shops in NZ, R&R sports would probably have the next biggest variety.
i've packed the kathmandu fleece in a bag and next to it packed my MD thor hjacket, its only 120gm lighter than the Thor. but it seems to pack down to about two thirds the size. the size of the thor in my pack was my biggest issue with it, unless i know i'm likely to be wearing the thor most of the time i'd rather take something smaller, so far i've only had to wear the thor once willl i'm walking...
the grid fleece jacket is about the same weight as my kathmandu ironside jacket but would pack to about three quarters of the size... and i think the loft is better on the grid fabric. its an old ironside jacket and the fabric may have changed since. i've never used it tramping, and being the fussy bugger that i am thought i might try out a new technology of fabric instead of use that as a smaller fleece than the thor... who knows, curiosity got the better of me and decided i'd try a new design of fabric. might just be splitting hairs in the end. its hard to know how much is hype and how much is reality in what the manufacturers claim.... sometimes it might just be as much about the belief that you've bought something better than you've had before that gives the effect that you feel you are better off... if you cant really spare the $100 and have something more important to spend it on then you may not really be missing out on anything more than a novelty item....
from the land of the long white clouds...