Lightest Gore-Tex Pro Shell Jacket with Pit Zips?

I suspect all the WPB fabric name changes we see by all of the respective OEMs is just that and the technologies have actually NOT undergone any meaningful developments that translate into dramatic practical improvements in vapour transfer comfort.

Normally, that is indeed the case, but here Gore made what might be a pretty significant change (for some): the development of an air-permeable membrane that was used in their ‘Pro’-range (and now the base for their Active with PBS).

“Dan – I have looked that the Norvan but am unsure about the cuffs as I have thin wrists, and the sizing, since it is a slim cut made for runners.  How is the fit?  Can you fit a light puffy underneath? I am about 6′ and 170lbs.”

I’m not a Norvan owner but I’ve tried one on in the store several times. I’m still waiting for a great deal. I’m a very similar body size as you (I’m a 1/4″ shorter and 2 lbs heavier) and the large is definitely the way to go. In medium the sleeves are a bit short and it’s too slim to put anything underneath. The large has good sleeve length, a bit of room in the torso and an acceptable torso length (a bit longer than the average lightweight rain jacket but still a little shorter than ideal). Other than desiring another 2″ in the torso length, the fit seemed as good as it gets. My impression in the store was that I could layer my light puffy (Patagonia UL Down Hoody) under there and it seemed like it would fit fine.

I’m a little fuzzy on the wrist situation, but know I did look at them when I tried it on and deemed them pretty good. They are fixed girth but it’s a pretty small and stretchy girth (IIRC) so the sleeve doesn’t fall down your forearm when you raise your arm.

The pit vents also look pretty good. I’ve had pit vents in the past (Marmot Essence) and these ones look good. Very little chance of rain ever getting in, but should move a decent amount of air out.

I have looked at the following jackets:

Marmot Speed Light – GTX Pro 40d with pit zips, vislon zipper, and hand pockets.  Its 14.5oz according to Marmot (some places list it as 12.5oz), and can be found at pretty good prices on sale.

Mountain Equipment Firefox – GTX Active 20d with 30d shoulders and arms.  Pit zips and hand pockets.  12.9oz and can be found at good prices on sale.

Mont-Bell Storm Cruiser – GTX C-Knit 20d.  Pit zips and hand pockets 10.9oz

Arcteryx Norvan – GTX C Knit  Pit vents, Vislon zipper.  7.5oz  Pricey

Does anyone have any experience with the jackets above, or real world experience with the newer GTX Pro or GTX Active?

That Marmot jacket looks promising. Most 40d jackets have been closer to 500g than 400g. Good catch!

As you mention that you desire increased durability, I don’t know if the 20D face fabrics of the Firefox, the Storm Cruiser and the Norvan are strong enough.

Another interesting option (other than I can’t find it at a discount) is the Montaine Spine Jacket – a Gore Tex Active shell with a 30d face fabric and pit zips for 10.26oz.

I love my Marmot Speedlight Jacket. Fits great (I am 6′ and 155lbs, aka tall and skinny) in Medium and has the features you like. Not sure on weight but a simple search will tell you. I am very picky about the hood fit and this one was the only jacket that did it for me. I got it on a super sale too for like $220 which is a great deal. It did wet out pretty quickly but I had some Nikwax laying around to treat it. Great jacket.

I use a Norvan for my bike commute rain shell, and did take it on one overnight trip. It fit over my Arc’x Cerium LT hoody fine. I’m 5′ 11″ and 190 lbs, size large Norvan.

It’s a nicely tailored jacket, but there are no hood adjustments, so you can’t cinch it down. I have reasonably thin wrists, and I think the cuffs are fine, but again adjustments would be good for backpacking. It’s also not that long, so in brush/rain you will get water creeping up from below. The pit zips aren’t as big as on alpine shells, and are non-adjustable and vent less than you might want. It’s a good runner/cycling/day-hiker shell, but not suitable for real backpacking imo.

I really like what I see from the Montane Spine Jacket but it appears to be new and Montane has just switched from eVent to Gore membranes.  It is a 30d GTX Active Shell with pit zips for 10.25oz .   No reviews that I can find.

The Marmot Speed Light looks good too, but heavier at 14.5oz.  Its a 40d GTX Pro Shell.

“[The Norvan is] not suitable for real backpacking imo.”

I agree that a longer torso would be nice, but I think it’s a lot more suitable than most UL rain jackets that get taken backpacking. Most UL rain jackets are even shorter in the torso, less durable and lack pit venting entirely.

I really like what I see from the Montane Spine Jacket but it appears to be new

It’s indeed brandnew.

Anyone find the back/torso length for hte Montane Spine? I’d love for it to be well over 30″ (e.g. 32-33″) but I suspect it’s not.

I have asked the question as well as inquired about the length of the pit zips.

I will post here when I get a response.

For what it’s worth I have a Montane windshirt (~2006 Montane Aero) and it has a really nice long drop tail.

According to Montane customer service, the back length for the men’s Spine jacket size medium is approximately 77cm

On a men’s medium the length was 78cm or 30.25″ and the pit zips were 21cm or 8.25″

Being in the market for a rain shell, I got these measurements from the manufacturers:

Men’s OR Axiom Large
Front hem 25.75 in.
Back hem 30 in.

Women’s OR Clairvoyant Medium
Front hem 21.75
Back hem 26.75 in.

Montbell Peak Women’s Medium
Front hem 24.5 in.
Back hem 26.5 in.

Montbell Peak Men’s Large
Front hem 26.25 in.
Back hem 28.75 in.

Montane Spine Men’s Large
Front hem 75cm = 29.53 in.
Back hem 79.5cm = 31.30 in.

Montane Spine Women’s Medium (UK 12)
Front hem 68cm = 26.77 in.
Back hem 72.5cm = 28.54 in.

I ended up with a Montane Spine Jacket Mens L which came out to 10.5oz.  I haven’t been able to try it in the field yet.

I kept the Storm Cruiser for winter and for when I am sure I will encounter a lot of rain. I bought the Montbell Versalite to satisfy my initial pressing need: something to replace the Super Mica that is UL and mostly used as a wind jacket, with pit zips and pockets. It worked well on my last 10 day hike. 7.2 oz in large. My only complaint is that the main zipper is micro-small and seems “fiddly”. It has this cute Japanese feel, sort of like Muji stuff- beautiful but you are not sure if it really is robust. We’ll see. Pics attached.

My friend and i did denali ul for a week with tundra. I used the ultimate direction ultra jacket and he used a seirra designs kagul. Both worked without any tears in the jackets. I guess what im saying is for denali, at least in the 6 units i did, the tundra is soft and the branches were soft enough that nothing smaking my back caused rips in my light rain jacket even when moving at faster passes. I also had zero rips in my mld cuban bag or netting. Even when pushing through it in my montbell wind jacket i still didnt have an issue with durability. I’m not promoting the ultra from a rain coverage standpoint as it soaked through too much in denali, but i i guess im saying i dont agree that alaska requires goretex pro. If i had any advice for it, I would recommend some options that cover upper legs or groin however, like zpacks cuban challenger in long version  (7oz) or seirra deisgn kagul bc tundra pushing with wet grundle is worse than a fixible tear.  And no a skirt isnt really ideal there. Ive since picked up the challenger in long for this very reason.

Just to let everyone know REI has the Montane Spine jacket on sale for less than $200.  I have only used mine on a couple of overnighters in the rain but thus far I have been very happy.  It will get a real test on a two week trip in August.

GTX Active

30d shell

pit zips

10.5oz in Large

Update on the Montane Spine :  Two weeks backpacking in Alaska where it rained several days (a solid, but light rain – no deluges) and I had multiple days walking through dense wet alder, willow, and dwarf birch, which if you have ever done, you know that wet brush can get you wetter than most rains.  The jacket held up well and I was very happy overall.

Another winner were my Mountain Equipment Firefox(?) GTX Rain Pants.  I was the only one in our small group to have rain pants that would actually keep their hiking pants dry while hiking through wet brush.  By the end of the trip the pants were nasty dirty, and the DWR was gone, but they were used hard and hopefully I can revive them.  They did their job, and were far superior to any other pants I have used under similar conditions.

Brad,

Can Firefox rain pants be found in the USA?

Thanks.

Moosejaw used to have both the Firefox jacket and pants but I am not sure if they still have either.

4 years later, the Spine appears to be discontinued

relatively sturdy Gore-Tex Pro with pit zips, lighter would be good :)

options?

Check out the Mountain Hardware Quasar Lite.  3L Gore Active with  14D face fabric.  No pit zips but does have net lined side pocket liners for ventilation.  I would add pit zips if these prove inadequate.  9.31 oz in large.  $375.  Gore pro in a Beta will set you back $600.  Here is the best news:  I am in the process of doing MVTR testing.  It is over 3000 g/m2/24.  This is better than any Gore Pro I have measured and is nearing Shakedry performance.  Available at Backcountry.com.  I will post the final MVTR when I have it. If Shakedry was not great for me, I would get one of these.