Just back from a Mountain Hardware clinic, where we were plied with beer from our finest local microbrews and catered food whilst hearing a speil on the latest from this estimable firm.
They are fairly tone deaf to UL clothing and equipment and continue to push their proprietary PU based W/B–Conduit– and are totally beholden to Gore-tex for their higher end clothing. No eVENT for them–name recognition issues. They seem very into the concept hybrid hard/softshells built around their Conduit and Gore’s Windstopper. They will have one lighterweight softshell (sub 16 oz.) using windstopper and powerstretch–the women’s model actually being better designed w/ trick inner sleeves and thumbholes.
They are introducing one item of note— a 3 person singlewall (Conduit, again) bomber tent using some very interesting non-Easton aluminum poles that weighs in at 6 lbs. (more or less)—-called the EV-3. It looks like the earlier Ed Vie surs’ speced 2 person EV-2. This is a very cool, not real cramped 3 person expedition tent, too.

