I've been using Rab's Vapour-Rise Lite jacket for the last 4 months over winter and it's become my automatic go to jacket for cooler, active use. I picked it up on a whim from Rab's factory shop purely because it was stupidly cheap and I'm rather darn glad I did! Price wise it was silly cheap. Cheap to the point where the girl on the till was sure it was mislabelled but gave it me anyway. Would I pay the full £100 RRP? Absolutely! I don't think I've done any outdoor activities without it since I bought it. At times I do wish I'd got the Alpine hooded version but that wasn't available plus the majority of the time I think I prefer not having a hood for ease of layering.
On the Rab website it claim to weigh 260g for the 2013 model. Mine weighs in about 100g heavier though but that's for a large. Rab call the fit regular, while the Alpine version is slim fit. I'm usually the smaller end of large, with medium being a little to small in the majority of technical clothing. This jacket fits me a little looser than most Rab clothing. A medium probably would have been fitted on me. The large I have though will comfortably fit a fleece underneath to beef up its winter protection.
The Pertex Equilibium outer is pretty water resistant. I've worn this is some pretty heavy rain and the DWR and Pertex has managed to keep me dry...well as dry as you can expect without a hood, but that's by no means a design flaw, just the wrong tool for the job! To partially battle this though you can use the elasticated drawcord to tighten up the neck to keep the warm air in and rain out, same with the bottom of the jacket. The inner is a high wicking, smooth, micro fleece drop liner.
As you'd expect from Rab the sleeves are a little longer than average which I've found works great when scrambling or mountain biking and you can adjust how tight you want them with the velcro adjustment. With the velcro undone I've found theirs enough stretch in the elastic to slide the sleeves up past your elbows without feeling overly tight.
To keep the item simple and cut excess weight there's only 2 hand pockets at the bottom of the jacket. I kind of like this. They aren't high to be "harness compatible" yet I've found them perfectly fine using a hip belt on a backpack and see no reason for them not to work fine with a harness. The pockets are pretty deep and will pass the standard OS map test no problem! The pockets are lined with the same fleece liner as the jacket but in a mesh form to give a little extra venting. One really smart, well thought out feature I like about the pockets is that the bottom inch of them are smooth pertex which will stop crud and keys poke through the mesh and cause extra wear. I've found on pockets with mesh all the way to the bottom that small twigs and dirt work their way through the holes into the liner and become really fiddly to work out. This goes some way to combating this and in use I've found it actually works! The pocket zippers have nice little Rab detailed zip pulls. The devil's in the detail and corner certainly haven't been cut. I've found the jacket folds really easily into one of the pockets but their isn't an internal pocket zipper tag to seal the pocket from the inside, doubling it into a stuff sac.
The main zip is a sturdy 2 way YKK affair, backed with a storm flap and small fleece lined beard guard (same liner as the jacket itself). The collar itself isn't that high, but then again this isn't really a full on winter jacket.
In use I've found it incredibly breathable and I've never felt damp or clammy in it. Definitely a softshell to look at if you want one for very active use, like mountain biking or winter fell running. I've been using it as my active outer layer when dry over the winter. I get pretty hot when working hard and this has been perfect for me. For example, today I used it scrambling with a merino wool t-shirt under in about 1-4C and didn't feel cold or overheat, but soon start to cool down when inactive. When below zero a thicker baselayer or thin fleece underneath works really well, especially if using a really high wicking base to keep up with the super breathable outer. Of course this has its drawbacks, if you want more moisture to escape than other softshell's you'll have to sacrifice a little windproofing. In all but the strongest winds you'll never notice that it's wind resistant rather than proof, even than the difference will be marginal. As well as using as an outer I've work it under a shell in cold, rainy conditions and for that use it's been spot on too.
Overall I'd say this is the best softshell I've ever had the chance to use. For me it's been the perfect 3 season softshell (I'd go for the VR guide or normal VR for proper winter conditions) and super adaptable. Works great as a replacement for a light fleece and windproof combo. It's great for mild winter active use all the way upto a light, warm layer in the summer. It isn't the cheapest but after a decent amount of use and a couple of washes it looks like new still and I can't see it not lasting quite a long time. Improvement wise I think a zip to allow the pocket to double as a stuff sack and a very slightly taller collar (I'm talking like 10mm here) would make this even better, but that's just being overly fussy. All I need to do now is get the Alpine version to complete the set and add a little extra protection from the elements! Plus it looks cool enough to wear about town (It is a little too nice for just hill use).
Photos coming soon!
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