Sharon Kennedy and Graham Uney test drive this lightweight shell over a wet spring and early summer on the Cumbrian fells, and find a lot to like.

Over the soggy spring we have used our men's and women's Alto Light HS Hooded Jackets for many days working as outdoor instructors. Both of us took the opportunity to get straight out in our jackets in some really foul weather. The weekend after the jackets arrived we were working on a Hill and Moorland Leader assessment course in the Howgill Fells, and lo and behold, the first two days of the course were proper sideways-rain-minging. Perfect weather to test our Hill and Moorland Leader candidates, but also perfect weather to test the Mammut Alto Light Jackets.

Sharon: I started by comparing the two jackets, like for like, and found to my delight that they have exactly the same spec. The same features, the same pockets, and the same adjustment ability – hooray and thank you Mammut! You've acknowledged that women might want exactly the same features in their outdoor gear as blokes do. This first impression is a really big deal for all women in the outdoors, as they often don't get equality across products. So, straight off the bat, that's a massive score for the Alto Light.

In use

When Mammut says it's a "Lightweight Hiking Hardshell" they mean it, and Sharon's women's size Small weighs just 315g (men's quoted weight 355g).

Sharon: In normal use my lightweight waterproofs don't generally get much of a test as they are often the ones I put in my bag when it's very unlikely to rain and as such they tend to stay there.

However this is a gear test, so we put the Alto Light jackets to work in a whole range of wet days out and they performed admirably. On showery days they were perfect, on prolonged wet days they did as well as any other waterproofs would in the conditions, which is all we can ask of our kit. For summer walking where it is wet and warm this jacket is brilliant. I don't think I've ever had a pit zip on a sub £300 jacket and these are a winner for me. The ability to regulate temperature on a showery day is a joy.

Fit and features

Sharon: The women's jacket I found to be a comfortable cut, with a bit of extra space for a warm layer underneath, or for someone who is curvier up top than me. The sleeves are a good length with adjustable cuffs. The two decent-sized pocket zips sit just above rucksack waist strap level though you do have to shuffle stuff in pockets up a bit. The hood only has one rear adjustment point but with the stretchy strap below the peak I was able to get a good, wind resistant fit.

Graham: I was surprised how well-fitting the Alto Light HS was. The fitting is perfect for me, and I particularly like the arm length, and the baggier-than-usual wrists, with a good Velcro fastening, making it easy to put gloves on, and also to stow my compass (I tend to put the compass string over my wrist, and the compass lives up my sleeve – this is difficult with a tight-fitting jacket). Like Sharon, I really like the fact that this jacket has pit zips, which is unusual for a lightweight waterproof.

We opted for different colours as completely matching would have been just too much for us, and everyone else on the hill! To be honest, I was a bit horrified at the colour Mammut sent me. They call it 'Brick' which to me just looks like a vague dusky pink. Not really my thing, but having had a few people say it really suits me, and now I've seen a few photos of me wearing it, I'm coming round to the idea. Maybe 'Brick' is for me after all.

Fabric

Not using Gore-Tex may have helped keep the price down for this shell. The Alto Light HS is made from Mammut's own 2.5-layer 50D Mammut DRY Tour laminate with PFC-free durable water repellent (DWR) treatment. It feels soft and comfortable and holds up well beneath a pack on a wet day. Waterproofness and breathability stats are about middle of the road, but feel pretty good in real world use.

It remains to be seen how durable the fabric and its waterproofing will be for long-term use. It's worth noting that modern PFC-free DWR treatments need you to wash and reproof a shell more often than you might have been used to doing in the past, and the Alto Light jacket is no exception. For more on that see here:

Our initial views of the fabric are all positive. Graham often uses lightweight waterproofs for scrambling and mountaineering work, and it's unlikely that this jacket will put up with lots of abrasion from rough Lakeland rock, but to be fair, no other lightweight jacket is good for this either, and the Mammut jacket isn't really designed for mountaineering. For this reason we didn't try the jackets whilst wearing helmets, as that's not really their intended purpose.

Ethics and environment

Mammut are a member of fairWear. This is a Bluesign product and features PFC-free DWR. 

Conclusion

We both really like this jacket. All in all, a really nice jacket for three season hillwalking. Very packable, but good for those wet days too.

Sharon: It has given me increased confidence in lighter weight hardshells and although it clearly won't meet my needs though all four seasons, from Spring to Autumn it will do a grand job.

Graham: My thoughts are similar: Apart from the colour, I immediately took to the Mammut Alto Light HS. Any jacket that can put up with a Howgills Hoolie and keep me dry right from the get-go has to be taken seriously. After that first weekend wearing it, I had slightly damp cuffs on the fleece I was wearing beneath the waterproof, and a wet smear down my front. This was absolutely to be expected. The jacket hadn't leaked. Water had just found a way in through three of the four big holes that every single jacket has by design: One for your head, the other around your waist, and one for each arm. In many other, more expensive and heavier-duty jackets, I'd have been soaked to the skin. So, the Mammut Alto Light HS gets a big thumbs up from me.