Berghaus Ilam Jacket Review
Published December 2012
This Autumn, Berghaus brought out two new down jackets: the Ilam (lighter-weight version) and Ramche (heavier-weight version). The BIG selling point here is that they are both filled with their new Hydrophobic Down which should retain its loft even when wet.
Allow me to quote Mick Fowler:
“Without doubt the star piece of clothing on the trip. Whatever Berghaus have done to the down works. My sleeping bag became damp and cold but the Ramche down jacket held its loft and just kept going. I can't speak highly enough of it.”
Nice one Mick. After testing it out for the past 6 months, here's what I've found...
“It is shiny, very shiny. The Pertex Quantum GL coating gives the red, blue and purple panels an intense glossy sheen.”
First impressions
It is shiny, very shiny. The Pertex Quantum GL coating gives the red, blue and purple panels an intense glossy sheen. I've worn the jacket at a number of UK crags, in Chamonix, in the Altai and out clubbing. In all of these, friends felt compelled to comment on how I looked. If you don't like attention, I suggest you go back to Blacks and find yourself a nice British dull blue or green coat instead.
At 320g the jacket is also ridiculously light. Given how light it was, I was expecting it to pack down a little better into the stuff sack, which expands a lot as you pack it in. In fact, the stuff sack all round is fairly poor, after a few uses mine has started splitting along the seams. I'm not a fan of separate bags in any case, its just going to get lost.
Hydrophobic Down
Last week I headed up onto Glyder Fach in Snowdonia to take advantage of the early Welsh winter conditions. The day started brightly but after midday we were enveloped in rain for most of the remainder of the route and descent - ideal test conditions! For me, the hydrophobic down should have two real benefits:
- If you're getting wet, it should keep you warm
- Once you've got it soaked, its not game over for the down
It's fair to say, for the most part the jacket stayed pretty warm even though it was quite damp. I certainly didn't feel the need to take it off and after topping out, the down was pretty sodden but I slung a hardshell over the top for the walk off without worrying about removing the jacket. However, I did notice in places that the wet material was making me cold, particularly around my elbows where the water was gathering and soaking the fabric. The body matching on the jacket's panels means reduced fill along the under-arm areas which may or may not have been responsible.
The general concensus upon returning to the bunkhouse was that the bedraggled, sodden mess of a jacket I was craddling was never going to be worn again. After an overnight spell in the drying room, it was looking considerably better, but the lower back panel (which had been one of the wettest) was still looking quite suspect. It took most of the next day to completely dry (this might have been related to the quality of the drying room) but the jacket, and most importantly the down within, is now as new. Whatever Berghaus have done to this down has worked, I would expect other major manufacturers will be following suit very soon.
“The general concensus upon returning to the bunkhouse was that the bedraggled, sodden mess of a jacket I was craddling was never going to be worn again.”
I'll admit that in Russia heading out to a bivy, I took my older synthetic jacket rather than the Ilam.
Why? The fit of the jacket is brilliant, for a small it sits very nicely over a baselayer or softshell and the panels hold their loft nicely within being too loose. However, the jacket doesn't really facilitate throwing it on over whatever clothing you're wearing. I struggle to get it on over a hardshell, and if I'm wearing gloves I end up taking them off because the elasticated cuffs are very awkward to pull clothing through. I've nearly lost the separate stuff sack fumbling with it in the wind.
The hood pulls over a helmet without any difficulties, and whilst it gives good coverage of the head when your lid's off, with no drawstring adjustment it sits quite far back around the face and gaining any respite from spindrift is hard.
Despite these issues, there are some well thought out details on the jacket.
There are three pockets, two on the outside with tiny, shiny zips (hard in gloves) and one internal (with a pullcord - much better!). The main zip is back-to-front to improve the outward facing seal without adding weight. Berghaus have added a nifty plastic guide at the bottom which really helps in joining the two halves at the start. The pullcord for the lower edge is a toggle on a single thread, rather than a loop, to prevent you from accidentally clipping gear into the toggle loop.
To conclude
A combination of the small panel sizes, the body matching of the thickest down to the warmest areas and the 850 fill power make this an incredibly light and warm jacket. I don't dispute Mick's opening statement for a moment. The recovery of the down when drenched in rain was really quite incredible, and since I had access to mine I'm told Berghaus have made further improvements and videoed people swimming around in swimming pools wearing the jackets.
On the Russian bivy, I'd not yet seen the power of its wet-weather performance. Its not ideal for throwing on over your other clothing at a belay, but I can forgive these flaws. For the pleasurably variable weather we are blessed with in the UK, it seems like an ideal belay jacket to stay warm even when wet.
Some further notes:
The jacket I was testing was a demo piece supplied by Berghaus for the Altai expedition in summer 2012. So I can't comment on the price, and I would expect that some details of the jacket may have changed slightly now it has gone into production. For further details, the MtnHaus website has a good overview of the technical design features.
Thanks to Greg Annandale, Eleri Dawson and Clay Conlon for some of these images.
“For the pleasurably variable weather we are blessed with in the UK, it seems like an ideal belay jacket to stay warm even when wet.”
