Montane Dyno Jacket Review

The Dyno Jacket produced by Montane is a soft shell jacket made from Pertex Equilibrium ECO with claimed green credentials. It allegedly balances levels of waterproof, windproof and warmth. Oh, and did I mention it's supposed to be environmentally friendly too? It is a bit of a jack of all trades and master of none, but don't let that fool you.

Features

Joking aside, this jacket has become my my most worn piece of outdoor clothing. For an average British Autumn or Winters day it does work well with a base and mid layer. Surprisingly, for a Montane, the fit is very reasonable. Montane have tended towards the more sporty fit just lately. But I have to say that the cut of this jacket is nice. I can comfortably fit a lightweight synthetic down jacket underneath. Yet when worn with clothes less bulky it still fits nicely.

The material the jacket is made of, as previously mentioned, is Pertex Equilibrium ECO. Having worn the jacket on a few walks over the last couple of months I have found the claims of windproof, waterproof and warmth pretty acceptable for a jacket of this type. As far as waterproof is concerned, it took a light shower for about 10-15 minutes before starting to wet out. It will resist wind to a point, there are probably more wind resistant soft shells around, but would they be as breathable as the dyno? In 'no to low' wind speed the jacket has quite a good level of warmth. Once the wind picks up though the warmth becomes questionable. The material does seem pretty hard wearing with no marks, pulls or abrasions as of yet.

The hood on the Dyno of a good fit. I have a Montane V2 jacket from years ago that uses a Velcro volume adjuster on the back of the hood same as the Dyno. I have to say that I like this system compared to drawcord adjustment. The hood does have drawcord adjustment to close the hood around your face which works fine, but strangely the ends of the cords feed through holes into the inside of the jacket. The wired peak is a welcome addition making the hood a little more flexible.

The zips on the Dyno jacket are all YKK types. None of them are waterproof, but since the jacket is only shower proof, waterproof zips would possibly be moot. They do slide nice and easily on the pockets. The main zip is a vast improvement on the Montane V2 I have which has a zip that usually has problems just at the wrong time. The main zip is also 2-way allowing for some flexibility and easy cooling if needed.

The cuffs of the dyno jacket are partially elasticated as can be seen in the photo below (the lighter grey material). This makes them easier to pull over items of clothing or gloves being worn. The thing is, I have a couple of items of clothing that i have purchased lately with thumb loops and I can't decide which I prefer.

Conclusion

The Montane Dyno isn't perfect, but then what jacket is. But it does make an excellent 'average weather' outer layer. It wont compete with hardshells for waterproof or windproof abilities, and it's not as warm as a fleece. But it does sit quite nicely in the middle, pretty much like a lot of the weather here in the UK. The high level of breathibilty has to be a bonus for someone like myself who walks very warm. Price wise, it should retail for around £80-100 online, although I picked up my jacket for just under £47 + P&P. Would I recommend it? At the price I paid, without a doubt. At the full price, it depends on if it fills a need.