Haglofs Endo

Haglofs Endo Jacket (Castleberg outdoor)

I bought this jacket especially to compete in the Lakeland 50. I wanted a waterproof top that is lightweight, low bulk, and suited to high-intensity activities.

Over the years I've collected jackets from most of the mountain brands; Berghaus original goretex (dependable but heavy), Mountain Equipment (works but leaky zips and cuff velco has given up), Paramo Velez (of which I'm a HUGE fan.....but it's too heavy, heavier than it needs to be thanks to excessive zippery), even a Vango thing that's way too heavy but has almost Fastnet-race levels of build quality.

So I narrowed my choices down to a few lightweight offerings:

• OMM Cypher (eVent smock) 240g, a bit weird looking, helmet-friendly hood is out of proportion?
• Montane Air (eVent), great jacket, 310g
• Montane Spektr smock (eVent), weird-looking closures (no zip), 210g
• Rab Kinetic (Pertex shield), 220g, I'm not a fan of Pertex but you can't fault the weight
• Rab Momentum (eVent) 360g, great all-rounder, same bulky hood as the Cypher 
• Haglofs Endo (Gore Active Shell), 320g

I tried the Montane Air, expecting to like it since I'm a big fan of Montane's gear in general, however back to back with the Haglofs Endo, it exposed the difference between eVent and Active Shell - eVent is a much stiffer fabric, that's harder to stuff down when packed and hence effectively bulkier. When wearing it, the stiffness means that it doesn't conform to your body so closely, and has a more restrictive, slightly hampering-your-movements feel to it.

Apparently this improves with age and washing, but there's an alternative:

Enter the Endo.

Active Shell by contrast is supremely comfortable when being worn - it's soft and moulds to your body, and feels more like a snug baselayer than a bulky shell. One surprise side-effect of the snug-ness was sizing - I'm a L in most tops (42" chest) and the Endo in L felt as though it was going to be too small with a fleece under it. I tried with a fleece (Montane Fury), and what do you know, it was perfect.

Given this is a jacket for high intensity use ie running, I don't suppose it will get much use with a fleece, but at least with a snug-fitting fleece like the Fury, it works, should you need it.

So the Endo won hands-down - and that's before considering the small details like the excellent soft-feel sleeve ends with thumb holes, the snug yet secure hood, excellent zip and minimal pockets (a plus in my book!), and low-cut at the back. Weight is an acceptable 320g rather than a class-leading 210g; I'm not at the stage where 100g or so makes much difference!

In use - the Lakeland 50.

The event started dry so the Endo was in my pack (Inov-8 Race Elite 25, which was too big with hindsight). Gusting wind and rain saw it being put on and taken off again on the leg into Mardale Head, and from the top of Gatescarth Pass it went on, never to be removed.

I can honestly say I never gave the jacket another thought - it just quietly did its job of keeping me dry for the remaining 30 miles or so. Cracking the front zip open, swapping my hat for the hood, and slipping my thumbs in & out of the thumb holes was all I needed to help regulate temperature a little, I stayed dry throughout, and even the usual damp patch under the rucsac (which I mostly didn't even take off at checkpoints) was pretty much non-existent.

The front pocket is useful for a couple of small items, although I didn't use it at all. I have an OMM Trio front map carrier/ pouch which sat over the top, but even so, the pocket is too small to carry much more than a buff and a snack. That's no bad thing IMHO- small pocket = small zip = less weight. (If you want a pukka map-pocket, have a look at the Montane Air).

Conclusion - a brilliant jacket, tailor-made for the event and the conditions.

Would I wear it out with the family on a slower-paced walk, with more gear? Probably yes, although where weight isn't an issue I still love my Paramo Velez.

But now Haglofs have added further confusion with a 300g Smock version of the Endo. A contender for the best-ever lightweight intense-activity waterproof shell? You bet.....

Gear thoughts....

It's the aftermath, just wasting time until 1st Sept and I can enter for 2013, so I'll post a few thoughts about gear.

In a sort-of order of importance, here's what I used together with a view on would-I-use-it-again IYSWIM:

• Shoes - Inov-8 Roclite 295s. Absolutely brilliant, they survived the Trailwalker 100km last year, the Lakeland 50 this year, and pretty much all the outdoor training in between. They're unscathed. Might get replaced by Terrafly 303s for next year, although Michael was so enamoured of his Hokas that I've really got to try them. Castleberg Outdoors offer a 2-week road test that I'm about to sample, so I'll report back.

• Haglofs Endo jacket from Castleberg Outdoors. What a brilliant piece of kit this is.Waterproof, light, easy to move fast in, I can't fault it. Detailed review here.

• Water Bottles. Big learning point this one. I'd already given up on using a hydration bladder - they're too inconvenient to refill at checkpoints - so had 2 bottles, one in a Raidlight pouch at the front and one in the side pouch on the rucsac. This worked, but I've since seen better solutions. Camelbak make a 'hands-free adapter' that fits a hose onto a 'better-bottle', giving you the best of both worlds - drink like a bladder, refill like a bottle. Now all I need is a pack with 2 bottle holders and I'm sorted, which leads me on to.....

• Inov-8 Race Elite 25 rucsac. Mine is the older version of this, it's a great daysac but with hindsight is really bigger than it needs to be for this event. The mandatory gear is only 4 litres (it fits into my 4L Inov-8 bumbag) so this was overkill. Also I've realised I need to change my water-carrying habits, so for next year I'm looking at Salomon's SLAB-5, XT Wings 5 or possibly an Ultimate Direction Highline if I can find one in the UK. Key criterion is 2 external bottle holders at the back/ sides, and low volume, 4L is plenty bearing in mind:

• OMM trio mapcase/ front pouch. I generally hate map cases - they're too bulky and flap about in the way. OMM has come up with a neat solution that attaches to both rucsac straps, and hence stays put. It makes taking the pack off more difficult, but you have less need to take it off with 4L of storage right under your nose.

• Zebralight H31 torch. I used this as a head torch with another (cheapie) headtorch disassembled and attached to my rucsac waist belt. This gave a low-down light that helped pick out the rocks underfoot, with the Zebralight giving distance viewing. It's got 6 light levels that are easy to switch between, ranging from glimmer to searchlight. It ran all night on a lithium battery that's still going, 2 weeks later. No need for spare batteries. An absolutely brilliant torch that's well worth the money, and Flashaholics sent it within a day.

• Under Armour cool gear t-shirt and Edz merino long-sleeve - I wore these the whole time and they did the job perfectly. I like the look of Rab's MeCo shirt though....