Hey all,
Over the years I haven't seen too much discussion about this humble brand called Mountain Equipment. It appears to be similar to Montane, at least simplistically — they strike me as a no-nonsense british brand, with straightforward pieces and (I might presume) sensical design choices. In fact, in that regard they might be more sensical and less market-y than Montane.
Anyway, it looks like Campsaver.com, one of my favorite outdoor vendors, carries a lot of their line.
In my current search for a midweight down jacket, I picked up the Arete jacket a few days ago when it was more steeply discounted:
http://www.campsaver.com/arete-jacket-men-s-1
Sure it's lower fill power, but as I understand it, European down fill numbers are on a different scale, no? I was impressed by the specs and thought the slightly less-precious nature of this piece might make a good all-purpose down piece, both for town and country. It should arrive today and I'll post comments once I get a look at it.
Meanwhile, today I stumbled upon this one:
http://www.campsaver.com/eclipse-hooded-zip-tee-men-s
… and wow that's cool! Check out that hood! That might be the most promising design for a 'clava-like hood that I've seen yet. I'm almost tempted to get it just to see what it's like to zip it up. But, I shouldn't … being in central Texas I have almost no use for such a piece.
But somebody should!
