Marmot Minimalist Jacket

This comfortable, no-frills Paclite shell jacket was taken to Yosemite this September, but to my relief was not tested in a downpour until I arrived back home, and went climbing in what turned out to be a vey wet Pembroke.
 
This jacket has two low pockets, which are inaccessible when wearing a harness, and a single-toggle zipper: this means it is unsuitable for alpine or multipitch climbing. There is one zipped chest pocket, however, which is large enough to get a map or guidebook in.

Cuff closures used a skinny strip of Velcro which was barely enough to keep them closed. Coincidentally, the same problem occured with the hood: a single Velcro volume adjuster which kept coming undone. The hood visor is stiffened but not wired with a drawcord closure, so it's not possible to roll the hood away. There are two storm flaps on the front zip: one inside and one out. This gives the Minimalist excellent windproofing.

A generous - but not excessive - cut allows the jacket to go over the top of an ultra-light down jacket without feeling uncomfortable and without loss of movement, which is an extremely useful feature of a multi-purpose shell such as this.

Overall, the Minimalist is a very good 'just in case' jacket, small and light enough to keep in your cragging sac if you get caught out, and robust enough to keep you dry in all but the worst conditions.

Technical details:

Weight: 454 grams

Main material: Drift P-250 Goretex Paclite

RRP: £140