r/Glasgow Tools

So it’s all about what your idea of a budget is. To some people, spending a couple hundred on a jacket is a no brainer because that’s a budget jacket to them, whereas others will never consider buying a jacket over £30. It’s totally subjective.

My best advice to you would be when researching jackets to look at their Hydrostatic Head (HH) ratings. This is measured in mm and is a laboratory test done to the waterproof membrane/material in a jacket by stretching a section of the jacket over a pressurised water machine that simulates a column of water. For a fabric to be considered ‘waterproof’ is must hold back 1500mm of water. This might seem like quite a lot but in reality a jacket with a 1500mm rating would leave you very wet. Water hitting you as a raindrop carries much more pressure than one might imagine.

The absolute bare minimum I would recommend in Scotland is 10000mm. Gore-tex, the industry standard top-of-the-line membrane which I talked about in my original post sits somewhere around 28000mm.

If you are after a few specific picks at certain price points, my ideals would be:

Mac in a Sac Packable jacket - 10k mm - £30-40

The North Face Quest jacket - 18k mm - £110

Patagonia TorrentShell - 20k mm - £180

Mountain Equipment Makalu - 28k mm - £300

Arcteryx Beta LT - 28k mm - £400

These jackets are really just the start and bear in mind that every single one will fit differently and have different features that you might find useful/pointless.

As I said originally, the best best way to find out is to come to a dedicated outdoor retail shop such as Tiso, Cotswold Outdoor, Ellis Brigham etc and talk to the staff. Any team member there worth their time knows the gear inside and out and has used it on the hill, as well as everyday pub and/or dog walking.

I hope this helps, and if you need anything else just give us a bell :)

All the best!