Rab Men's Prosar Down Jacket

Product Information

Breathability is just as important, because many man-made polymer fabrics can be waterproof (e.g. polythene), but if it doesn’t breathe at all then you’re just going to sweat inside and get wet anyway. I’m really not sure why this is because if you study the specifications of Rohan gear (and in particular their Barricade technical fabric – i.e. their Gore-Tex equivalent), you will find it is head and shoulders above their competitors. I bought the Valiance at the perfect time for testing it – the nights had begun to draw in around November time, and freezing rain was hammering Sutton Park (my local stomping ground) on a regular basis. Size-wise, I went for the Men’s XL which fitted me well at 6ft3 tall and average build. Each of the sleeves has cinch-able (is that a word?) cuffs using Velcro tabs to secure the end of the sleeve and make it as tight around your wrist as you require.

Another factor that can be a great indication of product quality is the brand. Brands like Rab are of course extremely well known, especially for Christmas Gifts. The cuffs are similarly excellent, using a hook and loop (i.e. Velcro) system to allow adjustment to a user-preference tightness. The Kaon uses Rab’s ‘Slim Fit’– this sits snugger to your body than Rab’s Regular fit so you don’t get any extra weight, bulk or excess material flapping in the wind. It can fit a couple of thinner layers on underneath it but isn’t designed to go over bulkier layers. The outer Pertex Shield layer is reasonably thin too. I have been slightly worried about catching the material on thorns and hedgerows in case it gets ripped. The fabric has rip-stop properties however and so perhaps I am being unjustly cautious. Something to bear in mind in any case.

That got us thinking though, that we’re looking at every possible item from Rab so it would be good to narrow our search down even further and only look at Rab branded products within the Christmas Gifts category. The cost of Rab Christmas Gifts

A word on the Barricade specifications – these are extremely impressive. From a waterproof point of view, the fabric can withstand a hydrostatic head of 20000mm. This is huge when you consider that the British standard for fabric to be considered waterproof is 1500mm. The Ventus is more than ten times as waterproof. Breathability Insulation is where it all began for Rab®. From the early days in Patagonia and Sheffield where Rab Carrington harnessed his knowledge of outdoor clothing and equipment design, through to present-day Derbyshire, our team continues to redefine the future of insulation technology.

Preview

Rohan are a UK outdoor clothing brand with over 50 stores in the UK and yet are not really talked about in the same way as other brands such as Arc’teryx, Mountain Equipment or The North Face for example. I did further testing on subsequent days with the pit zips open and found internal moisture much reduced. The material the product is made from is often a sign of the quality for Christmas Gifts. Take a look at the product details over at Go Outdoors to get a feel for this. When buying Christmas Gifts, the quality of the product is going to be one of the factors that you really scrutinise before you commit to buying.