Montane Venture Jacket - Women's - 2011 BCS

Purchased this a few months ago for my wife. She's been wanting an eVent jacket for years to replace a 12-year-old Goretex jacket that is incredibly heavy. And so far, the limited quantitative research that is out still shows eVent to be the best waterproof/breathable fabric option, even with all the other new fabrics that have come out in the last year.

The trickiest part about purchasing this jacket is getting the sizing right. My wife is 5'5", 135#, and on top, usually wears a small in most outdoor gear brands. She's a small in Icebreaker and Smartwool, for instance. We got this jacket in a "US10/UK12," and it fits very well, somewhere between a small and a medium in most U.S. brands. I'm guessing she could have fit into a US8/UK10, but I think it would have been a little too tight, and since this is supposed to be her goto year-round shell, I wanted it to have enough room for a baselayer plus an insulating layer underneath. A midweight Icebreaker top and a Stoic Luft Down Sweater, size S, fit perfectly underneath this, and it looks good (not baggy). So she's set.

I'd also add that the color is nicer -- and a little lighter blue -- in person than it appears online (at least on my screen). I was pleasantly surprised. Weight is a little lighter than listed as well, with her US10/UK12 coming in at 14.2oz, which is totally acceptable for a 3-layer hooded shell. The biggest disappointment with this jacket is the zipper, which is hard to engage/disengage. But having owned a Montane jacket of my own for several years and having had similar zipper problems, I'm not surprised. Despite the fact that Montane is a UK company, the jacket is made in China (which is disappointing), but fit and finish is better than I would have expected for China, but not up to finish of products like the Canadian-made Westcomb line.

The zippers seem to be the cheapest part of the construction, and with a better zipper, this would score a five-star review, especially at the clearance price. My wife has worn this in several storms already and has stayed dry and happy. Based on owning a similar Montane jacket for several years and seeing no noticeable wear, I would expect this to serve her well for the next decade ... or at least until some kind of breathable cuben fiber becomes commonplace and gives eVent a run for its money.

If you want a good eVent jacket, you don't have a lot of options -- Westcomb and Rab being the best, but for the price, this is a definite winner.