I’ve the same jacket. But mine was an older model, not a zipped chest pocket and not £127. £55 (as I said older model on clearance). At that price point. Perfect.
I too have leaned into the OR line of gear. I’ve been extremely impressed with/ the OR items I’ve picked up. Look forward to even more exciting products.
I bought this to combine with my Patagonia down sweater. When wearing both its almost too warm. The clerk who sold this to me recommended that I get some of the dwr coating to reapply to areas like the shoulder and cuffs to extend the jackets life.
Looks good, I use a berghaus mainland goretex jacket for climbing mountaineering and when I know I don’t need to be really lightweight, then for us I use a Quechua kids rain cut jacket which is really light, very waterproof and even has a fleece lining that keeps you a little bit warmer when you need it and only for £7
Good review but some little quibbles: 1. This is the newer Helium, not the older Helium II. I own both and the Helium is more durable and has better reflective elements (worse chest pocket IMHO though). 2. I don't think this is the intended usage of this jacket honestly. I use mine as a peace of mind piece of emergency kit that sits in the pack or waist bag, where the size & weight makes it phenomenal. I have used my new Helium jacket exactly... twice... in this role. In this role I'd expect it to not do well when exposed to backpacking (straps, brush, etc...) as I view it as something you either always carry (for wind even) but rarely use. If I lived somewhere where it rained more often I'd bite the bullet and carry a heavier 3L rain shell. If there's more than 20% chance of rain I'm leaving this at home and going for a OR Foray or Arc Beta instead. I will say that using this with a waist bag as part of a fast & light day hiking setup works really well in my experience. 3. OR has the best clearout sales of any decent outdoor brand I've ever seen. If you buy this for more than 50% of the MSRP you're being impatient. My old one was $70 CAN, my new one was $90. At that price point this is very hard to match.
Thats not too bad a price. Looks similar to my Rab Flashpoint. I've only worn it once, in the desert sand dunes - when it rained (!) & even though it was cloudy, I still got badly sun burnt before I wore it. Anyway, can't complain as I've only had to wear it once so far! I use a beefier eVent jacket in the colder climes. I''ve stopped using my Paramo gear for winter, but will start using them again & overdose on the Nikwax reproofing for them. You'll appreciate the PTC 10x more when you get back on it!
I have this jacket. I love it for two years. But I agree the pack straps are wearing off the coating, on hard rains it wets through some now. Im going to try a zpack next.
Hey man, ty for ur newest content. I am really enjoying it ;) Maybe look into the Montbell Versalite for ur replacement. Got mine last year and hiked the WHW und the TMB as well as some smaler trails with it. It is as light as the Helium but has real pockets and even pit zips (absolute must for me). It also did hold me absolutely dry even during a typical Scottish day of rain :D
Apparently: "Pertex Shield+ Fully Waterproof Breathable Fabric - with high 15,000mm Hydrostatic Head and high 20,000g MVTR breathability rating Pertex Shield+ delivers very high performance at very low weight."
You have to reapply dwr coatings. Reapply some dwr and you’ll get another 200 miles. Dwr coatings are not meant to be permanent. You want permanent? Wear a plastic bag haha.
Pertex® Shield 2.5L as used in The Helium II Jacket is waterproof up to 20000 mm, and breathable till 20000 g/m²/24h. So pretty waterproof (if there is such a thing) and pretty breathable too.. ;-)
Waterproofing and breathability are hard to balance. That's why even with good gear like this I still keep a large trash bag rolled up in my pack for those torrential Pacific Northwest rainstorms.
Wicked review. Thats not the helium II though, its the newest iteration which uses some newer diamond tech fabric. I've got the helium II and it suffered some mild leakage around the wrists and neck after a torrential hammering on Mam Tor with 50 mph winds. Use the Helium II as a lightweight emergency waterproof that sits in my pack and Outdoor Research Foray for when I know its gonna be pissing it down all day. Have the Keela Munro but its overkill for normal UK weather.
Frog Toggs are awesome and for the price I’d say are better value for money than this. But they won’t last as long. This didn’t last very long either to be fair. 🤙 happy trails!!
Curiously enough a frogg togg jacket is lighter than that OR jacket, but it's super delicate. On the other hand, you could buy 8 sets of frogg toggs (jacket and pants) for the price of 1 helium.
I’ve the same jacket.
But mine was an older model, not a zipped chest pocket and not £127.
£55 (as I said older model on clearance).
At that price point. Perfect.
I too have leaned into the OR line of gear. I’ve been extremely impressed with/ the OR items I’ve picked up. Look forward to even more exciting products.
I bought this to combine with my Patagonia down sweater. When wearing both its almost too warm. The clerk who sold this to me recommended that I get some of the dwr coating to reapply to areas like the shoulder and cuffs to extend the jackets life.
Excellent review, loved the editing, thanks mate 👍🏻
Looks good, I use a berghaus mainland goretex jacket for climbing mountaineering and when I know I don’t need to be really lightweight, then for us I use a Quechua kids rain cut jacket which is really light, very waterproof and even has a fleece lining that keeps you a little bit warmer when you need it and only for £7
Good review but some little quibbles:
1. This is the newer Helium, not the older Helium II. I own both and the Helium is more durable and has better reflective elements (worse chest pocket IMHO though).
2. I don't think this is the intended usage of this jacket honestly. I use mine as a peace of mind piece of emergency kit that sits in the pack or waist bag, where the size & weight makes it phenomenal. I have used my new Helium jacket exactly... twice... in this role. In this role I'd expect it to not do well when exposed to backpacking (straps, brush, etc...) as I view it as something you either always carry (for wind even) but rarely use. If I lived somewhere where it rained more often I'd bite the bullet and carry a heavier 3L rain shell. If there's more than 20% chance of rain I'm leaving this at home and going for a OR Foray or Arc Beta instead. I will say that using this with a waist bag as part of a fast & light day hiking setup works really well in my experience.
3. OR has the best clearout sales of any decent outdoor brand I've ever seen. If you buy this for more than 50% of the MSRP you're being impatient. My old one was $70 CAN, my new one was $90. At that price point this is very hard to match.
Thats not too bad a price. Looks similar to my Rab Flashpoint. I've only worn it once, in the desert sand dunes - when it rained (!) & even though it was cloudy, I still got badly sun burnt before I wore it. Anyway, can't complain as I've only had to wear it once so far! I use a beefier eVent jacket in the colder climes. I''ve stopped using my Paramo gear for winter, but will start using them again & overdose on the Nikwax reproofing for them.
You'll appreciate the PTC 10x more when you get back on it!
Interested to know what other shells you’d consider as a replacement Russ 🙂 Did you look at some of the Colombia OutDry jackets?
I have this jacket. I love it for two years. But I agree the pack straps are wearing off the coating, on hard rains it wets through some now. Im going to try a zpack next.
Wash with the nikwax, softshell. It should improve and help the DWR
Hey man, ty for ur newest content. I am really enjoying it ;)
Maybe look into the Montbell Versalite for ur replacement. Got mine last year and hiked the WHW und the TMB as well as some smaler trails with it. It is as light as the Helium but has real pockets and even pit zips (absolute must for me). It also did hold me absolutely dry even during a typical Scottish day of rain :D
You mentioned it is woter-proof, but everyone is wondering: is it waterproof?
Apparently: "Pertex Shield+ Fully Waterproof Breathable Fabric - with high 15,000mm Hydrostatic Head and high 20,000g MVTR breathability rating Pertex Shield+ delivers very high performance at very low weight."
You have to reapply dwr coatings. Reapply some dwr and you’ll get another 200 miles. Dwr coatings are not meant to be permanent. You want permanent? Wear a plastic bag haha.
Pertex® Shield 2.5L as used in The Helium II Jacket is waterproof up to 20000 mm, and breathable till 20000 g/m²/24h. So pretty waterproof (if there is such a thing) and pretty breathable too.. ;-)
Waterproofing and breathability are hard to balance. That's why even with good gear like this I still keep a large trash bag rolled up in my pack for those torrential Pacific Northwest rainstorms.
Would you want to size this up one size to accommodate a fleece or thin puffer layer underneath? Anyone that has one feel free to answer.
Wicked review. Thats not the helium II though, its the newest iteration which uses some newer diamond tech fabric. I've got the helium II and it suffered some mild leakage around the wrists and neck after a torrential hammering on Mam Tor with 50 mph winds. Use the Helium II as a lightweight emergency waterproof that sits in my pack and Outdoor Research Foray for when I know its gonna be pissing it down all day. Have the Keela Munro but its overkill for normal UK weather.
Blimey. It said Helium II on the label in REI when I got it. Haha thanks for the input! I’ll check those out!
I didn't use OR, but I used Australian local brands but it have the same Pertex Sheid 2.5 layer same 20K fabric with 1/3 of OR price
I’m in Aus, what jacket did you go for?
@@gixxerjesse69 I use Mountain Design Stratus rain jacket
What do you think of the Montbell looks a bit more breathable and waterproof ?
the versalite by montbell, is the best waterproof around. great fabric and the pit zips keep you supper vented but stay dry.. i highly rate it!
Impala on trail Thanks I thought as much looking to get one. I have a montane and when it was raining I got wetter inside than out 😂
Hello, Are there many differences between this model and the prevail jacket? Thank you
Very good, fair and honest review, thanks.
Thanks very much, Craig. Glad you enjoyed the review.
Price point is actually very cheap. Most jackets in this category go for 200+
how does the frogg toggs stack up to this
Frog Toggs are awesome and for the price I’d say are better value for money than this. But they won’t last as long. This didn’t last very long either to be fair. 🤙 happy trails!!
Curiously enough a frogg togg jacket is lighter than that OR jacket, but it's super delicate. On the other hand, you could buy 8 sets of frogg toggs (jacket and pants) for the price of 1 helium.
I use the frogg toggs extreme lite rain jacket
I didn't realize anyone hiked the PCT in 2020
are you related to paul joseph watson?
Pertex Shield is 20K/20K
The jacket is Made in Bangladesh to help Make Bangladesh Great Again (MBGA)