OMM Kamleika Race Smock, Jacket, and Pants Review

Mike – I agree that the Cypher Smock is a great shell as well, and speaks to the quality, value and focus of OMM's design team. I'm glad you like your jacket! My statement was more to the fact that there are quite a few other lightweight eVent shells/smocks from other manufacturers.The Kamleika fabric is really what made these shells stand out for me, not compared against OMM's other jackets but in comparison to the market as a whole.

I used the Kamleika pants recently in wet mist, rain and wind at 8'C, and finished the walk completely dry.

I have had the Kamleika pants for 5 years: I've occasionally thought about reviewing them but since they're rare even in the UK I thought it would be of limited interest. So it's nice to see these reviews. In addition, other than for the colour of the zips the current pants appear to be similar to mine, so my comments will still be relevant despite the age of the pants.

My thoughts on the pants:

I wear the pants for cycle commuting in rain. The quiet, soft stretchiness is great for cycling and I find them sufficiently breathable. The ankle zips are usefully long. The problem I find is that I get water spotting through the fabric in the area on top of my thighs: this appears to be because the fabric in this area gets stretched and this opens up the knit: that combined with the fact that this area always faces the sky and has water sitting on it leads to leakage. I suspect that the Gelanots fabric is like Paramo and would leak if you put pressure on them, for example by kneeling in a puddle. It's never so much as to be uncomfortable or to really make my legs wet, but it is noticeable. My view is that despite that they are preferable to riding in most Goretex pants I own.

The fit is also not ideal for me. I'm 178cm (5'10") but the size XL is obviously designed for someone significantly taller than me and significantly slimmer – in other words, they're designed for fell runners. In order to get them to fit at all around the waist I had to remove the elasticated draw cord, as it was so strong it was cutting me in half (there is still elastic in the waist material itself). I also find the pants too long, which means that they bunch around the calf, kind of hanging out from the zippers .

If my memory serves me correctly Miguel may also have had some Kamleika gear.