The Devil is in the Detail | Waterproof Design

There are a few features which we think make our jackets stand out. Our Alpine Fit is very highly regarded and it's been through so much refinement we barely change it now, but when it came out in 2014 it was a complete revolution. We're not going to wax lyrical about it again, and instead will leave you with a few features of our Gore-Tex Pro jackets which you might not be aware of:

Hood Design

Cohaesive® cord locks

Cohaesive® cord locks at the hood offer simple adjustment whether worn with or without gloves and are easy to locate in any weather conditions. They provide a secure grip even on frozen elastic and are easier to release than other designs.

High modulus elastic

We have scoured the world for elastic cord with exactly the right level of stiffness and elasticity: saggy hood elastic that pulls halfway down your jacket and slaps you in the face just isn’t good enough. Our high modulus elastic offers improved recovery without sacrificing extensibility. The firm grip of the high modulus cord is perfect for running over the hood’s opening. However, lower modulus elastic is used in the hood's rear drawcord because it improves comfort – no one wants to feel like their head is being squashed - while maintaining adjustability.

Elasticated cord lock tethers

Previously found only on our sleeping bags, elasticating the cord lock at the back of the hood means it remains tethered while offering improved adjustability, particularly while feeding slack back into the hood.

Hood shape

Our hoods are rightly regarded as among the absolute best available. We spend hours trying them on and tweaking them when worn over a midlayer's hood, over hats, over helmets, with goggles, with sunglasses, and then trying to look left, right, up and down. There's no greater challenge for a jacket's hood than leading a pitch in foul conditions with your hood up without restricting movement or vision: this is what we're thinking about.

Internal facing

The internal facing on our jackets is unique in the marketplace. Cleaner, neater, lower weight and more comfortable than other designs, its seamless design doesn’t trap moisture and doesn’t freeze up. ‘Beardguards’, as found on many other jackets, might be nice in dry weather, but as soon as the rain really starts you’re left with a wet sponge rubbing against your face.

Pocket Design

Pocket gutters

Even Aquaguard® zips leak. However, with laser-cut and bonded gutters inserted behind our pocket zips, and with a cunning drainage channel at the bottom of the pocket complete with exhaust port, we’ve done everything we can to keep the contents of your pockets dry. All of our pockets are internally seam sealed so that, even if water does enter the pocket, it can’t get through to your body.

Sensibly sized pockets

Our pockets are designed to work with real world objects. Gloves or a map fit in the chest or hand pockets, and (almost) any phone will fit in the internal pockets. Our internal pockets keep having to get bigger…

Cuff design

Cuffs

We’ve been making waterproof jackets for as long as anyone and know practically every way that they are likely to fail. That’s why we have a bartack at the end of every cuff insert, because we know that stitching and taping alone isn’t strong enough here. Why not two bartacks? Because you don’t need two, and we've the thousands of hours of testing to prove it.