paramo mountain vent pull on first impressions
Tue, Dec 6, 2011
Adam at Go Outdoors was kind enough to provide a Paramo Mountain Vent Pull On for review, which I was happy to accept as I’m a bit of a fan of Paramo gear. I actually have one of these but several years older and without the arm vents and a fair bit heavier so I was keen to see what the updated version was like.
To be honest, I’ve never seen the point of arm vents. I have them on several garments and I’ve never used them. Except the side vents on my old Buffalo that is. I’ve used them a lot but never in winter. Also, Paramo gear can be heavy but the first thing you notice about this top is how light it is. It feels about half the weight of my equivalent older version though I don’t have scales to verify that.
The Paramo is reversible, with a lovely fleecy inner and shiny smooth outer but again, I’ve never reversed my older one as I tend not to wear it when it’s warm. However, the fleecy inner is very comfy indeed and the buttoned cuffs are just right. Not too loose or tight and the stretch round the cuffs lets you push the sleeves up if you get too warm. I find the chest pocket ideal for a phone if I have a waterproof jacket on over it as it keeps the phone nice and warm and it’s in an ideal spot for fiddling around with volume controls when listening to music.
But what about on the hill? Well, I took it on an ascent of Fairfield from Grasmere via Stone Arthur and Great Rigg, coming down from Grisedale Hause on a stormy day of high winds and flooding rivers. I was hoping to see how it coped in windy weather but torrential rain from the word go meant I was encased in event all day so its breathability was tested instead. It was a terrible day. 50-60mph on the tops and water absolutely everywhere (trip write up to follow). I wore the Paramo next to my skin with a Rab Bergen over the top and it was fine all day. Despite 50mph winds on top of Fairfield and a screaming side wind coming down to Grisedale Hause I never felt cold, although the temperature never got near freezing to be honest.
The descent of Tongue Gill was a different story altogether though. When the path came out of the cloud I was confronted with a valley almost completely white with roaring streams and rivers and it was only with difficulty I got across the nascent Tongue Gill just below the waterfall, clinging to boulders mid stream with the water at chest height. It was back at the B&B that I realised how wet I was under the jacket as the water had forced its way up and underneath. The front of the Paramo was wet and yet I hadn’t noticed as I trudged down the gillside path eating on the go. In fact I didn’t stop once in 4 hours due to the weather. Likewise the lower part of the back was soaking too but it stayed warm enough not to notice. The Seal Skinz waterproof gloves eventually succumbed to the weather though, having to wring them out every 10mins or so on the way back along the road, wading through flood water on the minor road.
As for drying it out, that was easy enough and it was ready to wear by morning!
So first impressions of the Paramo are pretty good. Next time I hope to wear it on a cold and dry day to see how it performs as an outer layer.