[Closed] Jottnar Jackets

I have the pricier insulated mid layer and really rate it. Knocks all my Arcteryx kit into a cocked hat.

Jottnar trousers are nice. Jackets are much of a muchness - fir is more important once you're onto Goretex pro than a particular brand. I'm not super fond of the material Jotnar use, and they're not the only people who use it. The upside Arcteryx have is that if you know what you want, and the difference between Alpha, beta and gammma ranges you can get a jacket that works really well. Personally I've never regretted the money I dropped on a Norrona trollveggen from their outlet, and their repair service is really good i.m.e.

Gonna upset you all now and say that the absolute best goretex jacket I ever used was an early 90s issue army goretex jacket. It wasnt light, it wasnt fancy, it had some chest pockets and a hood and was by far the best performing goretex waterproof I have ever used.
Overall i have found goretex to be absolutely shite since,I owned loads ,hoping to find one which worked, til i bought the overall best jacket I have ever used ,my Paramo . Not popular on here and I have no idea why, it does everything, kept me warm in Canada, kept me dry in UK.
Is looks or exclusivety more important to you than performance? Not putting your priorities down at all, its your choice , but I'd be looking for performance over looks as we head into into another soaking wet, windy, poxy British winter.
Jottnar jackets performance might be the bollocks, i dont know, seems a lot of money to risk. What about some exotic foreign camo surplus goretex jacket, like the Canadian or Swedish M90 ?

I’ve got a Jottnar base layer, an Uller yak wool long sleeve shirt they no longer make, the nearest would be the Erling shirt, a mid layer Magni, which they also no longer make, and their ultralight Fenrir down jacket, which I bought in an end of year sale, so was a lot cheaper than they are now, and I love all of them. Beautifully made, comfortable and really well designed. The Magni jacket has longer sleeves than normal with thumb holes, to stop the sleeves riding up, and I wore my Fenrir jacket on a pretty long walk once that started overcast but bright, but rain started half way round, so I ended up doing the last four or five miles in fairly heavy persistent rain with a wind behind it, and by the time I got back to my car, the only place water had come through was in a couple of places along the stitching across the shoulders! I was incredibly impressed that a lightweight down jacket kept the rain out as well as it did.
I’ll buy more of their stuff in future, without question.

exotic/rare (normally Scandi) brand I need to be aware of??

Uh, I hate to break it to you, but Jottnar are a British brand, based in Cardiff. Their name and their range names come from the fact that the blokes who set up the company are ex-military who trained in Norway during the winter, and talked about what equipment/clothing they would personally like, then set about forming a business to make it.

🙂 I try to get waterproof coats / outerwear other people don’t have.

Bizarre.

I try to get waterproof coats / outerwear other people don’t have

What about thru-dark? Stupidly expensive and many of those who could still afford it would get put off by the marketing. So long as you avoid airsoft conventions I reckon you will be sorted.

I think Paramo beats anything else I have used too. Goretex jackets have never kept me dry.

I try to get waterproof coats / outerwear other people don’t have

Says the man who went out of his way to ask another man about the jacket he was wearing 🤣

Ha you got me 😄

I still have a Jeff Lowe Latok brand jacket (before he set up Lowe) that is very nice, and the 3 ply Goretex is in near perfect condition - but if you get the right jacket they are very good now also - and a lot more flexible, light to wearI remember it caused shock horror at the time as it was short - too wear with a harness. No hip pockets - harness again... and so on and so forth.
The problem with the army ones is they can be a bit thrashed and the pockets are actively hopeless. I don't get on with Paramo at all.. I'm amazed mountain rescue use it as it needs treating all the damn time....

Thrudark is nonsense. For gods sake grow up

Thanks for the inspiration. I have just bought one of the Floyen jackets from the outlet.

Strange that they are a British company (?) but the name suggests Scandinavian.

Not popular on here and I have no idea why,

Because while they're great if you're standing around doing low energy stuff, they tend towards too sweaty for lots of folk unless you're doing a long Z2 type ride. For more full on MTB they generate too much heat for lots of folks.

I don't think there's a single answer to the "What Jacket" question. The UK has a Maritime Wet/Warm climate and anything coming from abroad (especially stuff made for V cold winter wear in continental climates) is often too warm. I think as far as MTB is concern layering is still the way to go, and Outer shell is only on part of that.

Paramo

Not popular on here and I have no idea why,

Cos it's shite. I have a Halcon jacket and it's utterly useless in wet weather.

So does anyone have any Jottnar Jackets and do you rate them? Or is there some other exotic/rare (normally Scandi) brand I need to be aware of??

Do you use your shells for mountaineering? If so I reckon Mountain Equipment's GTX stuff is better than anything else out there including Arc'teryx tbh.

If you want niche Scandi then Norrona, maybe Klattermusen and the high end stuff from Fjallraven maybe. There are also loads of brands not sold in the UK at all doing quite tech stuff. As a north American alternative to Arc'teryx, Black Diamond does seem neat stuff, though not amazingly innovative. Top-end Mammut for the mountaineering equivalent of Assos.

If you want proper niche and technical, Black Yak from Korea 🙂

Or UK niche and high tech fabrics: https://www.vollebak.com

Jottnar? Started by ex Royal Marines. The early stuff was a bit meh, more recently better. No idea why they went for the whole Scandi, norse mythology vibe thing, I find it a bif off-putting, but you're buying technical clothing not an image right? The latest stuff looks interesting, but I've not used it, so can't really comment on function.

If so I reckon Mountain Equipment’s GTX stuff is better than anything else out there including Arc’teryx tbh.

They all use the same GTX Pro fabric and all designs are approved by W L Gore, so it's just down to style / cut.

Do you use your shells for mountaineering? If so I reckon Mountain Equipment’s GTX stuff is better than anything else out there including Arc’teryx tbh.

ME were crap for years but I bought the Makaluk? Lhoste? as my full winter waterproof 2 years ago and it is a fantastic jacket.

Thanks for the inspiration. I have just bought one of the Floyen jackets from the outlet.

Do you live near Jonno101? be funny if he kept bumping into you wearing it....

Or UK niche

Lordy, I thought Thrudark were the kings of Hyperbole.

F@!k me that thru dark is next level bollox !!

Single men with extensive ‘edged weapons' collections must love that stuff.
great for late night tactical missions to buy 6for5 deals on cans of stella from the corner shop or the winter morning commute in your warmed up executive saloon to a dull out of town trading estate.

They all use the same GTX Pro fabric and all designs are approved by W L Gore, so it’s just down to style / cut.

Yes, that's my point. ME did a two year fit development project with a Swiss specialist pattern cutting consultancy and the resulting cut is very, very good - great mobility without loads of excess fabric. They also produce excellent hoods. Two cuts: Alpine, which is their slimmed down technical fit and Mountain which is for fat people 😉

For walking none of this matters overmuch, if you're going to climb in the thing it does make a difference.

Do you live near Jonno101? be funny if he kept bumping into you wearing it….

haha yes could be a problem? Run the other way quick or else all individuality lost in a second 🙂

Do you use your shells for mountaineering?

@badlyWiredDog er no!!! Just general outside duties. But appreciate your info and will look them all up. So thanks. I just like technical outer wear for some reason!!

Glad I’m not the only one who finds Paramo utterly useless unless I’m standing still on a dry day 🙂

I use Arcteryx kit for personal and work activity and generally find it pretty good - I have one of their Beta AR waterproofs that’s nearly a decade old and still doing it’s job, although the fabric on the back where my rucksack sits is beginning to approach ‘end of life’. I’ve also got a Norrona waterproof - one of their ski specific jackets with wrist cuffs and a powder skirt; it’s been hammered on multiple on and off piste ski trips over the last 5 years and, apart from the wrist cuffs looking a bit tatty, it’s still in great shape.

Worth paying attention to the face fabric denier of any Goretex or similar jacket you’re considering - 80 or higher will be pretty hard wearing, 40 is lighter for occasional use in summer etc, but might prove fragile under a heavy rucksack in winter. Once the face fabric goes, the laminate layer will follow pretty soon after.

Regular cleaning and re-proofing with Nikwax or similar also helps the jacket perform as the manufacturer intended - I’m amazed at the number of people who spend big money on Goretex jackets them dump them in Persil and wonder why they don’t work as advertised…

https://www.blackyak.co.uk
🤔

https://global.blackyak.com

Sport Pursuit had some of their stuff recently, which was a surprise.

Houdini, Swedish brand, are nice people. Very eco sound, make some quite cool outdoors stuff.

I find the Paramo thing so odd. I bought one of their jackets 3 years ago and it's the best waterproof I've had by miles and miles. It's been totally waterproof in prolonged downpours and is comfortable in temperatures from just above freezing to about 15 degrees. Perfect for British winters. I'm a total convert, having spent too much money on Haglofs, North Face and Montane waterproofs previously. Odd.

I was curious about Jottnar too as i love the back story. I was worried about the fit as it looks like its designed for typical boot necks Ie upside down triangle. To that end i bought one of their t-shirts in large to see what fit was like. It was too big so sent it back for a medium. It was too small.

I'm a bit of a Norrona fan. I have a lot of their kit, including some of the MTB range and it's faultless. Highly recomend sigining up on their website to the outlet and they send you an email when its fully stocked. The discounts range from 20 to 50% off most of the time.

So as I mentioned above I bought a Jottnar Floyen jacket which has now arrived.

It is to replace a battered Arcteryx Atom LT with a couple of rips. In summary, the Jottnar is a better jacket.

I am size small in both jackets but the Jottnar is closer fitting. The stretch in the fabric means it is still very "free". The face fabric of the Jottnar feels tougher.

The hood is waay better on the Jottnar. It is close fitting and has adjustment. Whereas the Arcteryx hood, which I think has been designed to fit over a helmet, has no adjustment and is very baggy and practically useless.

The elasticated panel cuffs on both jackets are excellent.

The Arcteryx has less insulation and the stretch panels on the side are quite thin and result in cold spots. Whereas for the Jottnar the stretch polartec fleece side panels and thicker and equally warm to the rest of the jacket. Overall the jacket is warmer probably good for another 5 degrees. But then it is 100g heavier.

Pockets are also better for the Jottnar - the Nelson pocket on the chest always useful for phones.

Basically I can't think of a single thing that is better with the Atom. Which is saying something as it is itself as excellent jacket.

jonno - to satisfy your brand snobbery requirement...
https://shackleton.com/collections/all-expedition-clothing

Nice stuff, being a brand snob sure is expensive? Maybe Primark is not so bad after all!!!!??:)

Mountain photographer I follow on Instagram just done some work for that Thrudark mob where they ‘deployed to Nepal to test… <blah, blah>’. No idea if it’s any good but holy shit what someone posted up ⬆️ about edged weapons and deploying to buy beer.

Thank you for introducing me to Thrudark. Their website is brilliant cringe material.

Glad I’m not the only one who finds Paramo utterly useless unless I’m standing still on a dry day

I've winter climbed and ski toured for the last 13 years in paramo salopettes. They are absolutely fantastic in snowy conditions but dangerously useless if it's raining. If it looks like rain on the walk in I wear hardshell salopettes instead.

I need to replace my RAB Alpine. I think one of those Vollebak Mars jackets would be ideal for my next jaunt onto Kinder.

The Vollebak website - hyperbole and marketing bullshit, both in overdrive.
Products may be good but, having read some of the drivel, not for me.

That Vollebak site, WTF? I thought Thrudark was bad but that's a whole other level of bullshit.

I do have a certain admiration for anyone who wears that Vollebak Mars jacket. It makes a strong statement. I would love to have the self confidence to pull it off.

It makes a strong statement.

Yes and one which would have me reaching for the vomit bags.
I am not sure which of the two are worse. Thru-darks ninja commando vibe or vollebaks "have you put your deposit down on a virgin space trip now try this". The ice age fleece is particularly good with the satellite phone/stone axe pockets.
The solar charged jacket looked like it could be okay but reading the blurb doesnt seem to do much useful.