Comments on: REI Shuksan Shell Jacket

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:31:46 +0000

I was wondering how HyVent Alpha compares in all this. I was looking to get the TNF Heathen or Lightspeed but wondered what the real difference in the fabrics were. Are they similarly waterproof and durable? Sorry this has absolutely nothing to do with eVent.

By: Seth the sweater

Seth the sweater — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:48:05 +0000

So I recently got the Shuksan and must say it works better than anything else I have tried. After skinning to the top of a mountain recently in VT I was so wet in my North Face Mountain Light shell water was dripping from the inside of my shell down my pants. I thought my water bottle in my pack had sprung a leak.

I did a test recently running for 1 hour in all my respective shells in the same weather (different days) with the same layers underneath. Here is how they all did:

-North Face Mountain Light (Gore Tex)-shirt mostly soaked, shell partially soak and saturated

-Columbia Titanium soft shell- completely soaked shirt, partially soaked and saturated shell

-Marmot Precip Shell- shirt mostly soaked, shell dripping with condensation but not saturated like the other two

REI eVent Shuksan- lower front of shirt damp, top front dry, upper back of shirt very damp, shell damp in upper back but the rest of it was mostly dry to slightly damp

In summary the only thing I own that is better at breathing is my cycling shell and running jacket. Neither is waterproof or windproof and both are one layer design. They obviously both breathe better but not significantly which is impressive considering.

By: Clyde

Clyde — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:15:03 +0000

I’d still give the nod to Proshell for best available hard shells. The woven backing is far superior to tricot-backed or unbacked fabric packages, particularly in the context of a functional clothing system. No doubt, the higher-end products from the likes of Arcteryx, Marmot, and Mammut are pricey but I think they are a better value in the long run considering performance and durability. As said earlier, not all Proshell fabric packages are the same so you have to be careful about making apples to apples comparisons and look carefully at cut and features as well (Arcteryx has lousy hoods for example).

It gets even more complicated now because eVent no longer exists as a brand name. Instead GE is licensing their laminate to each manufacturer so they can call it what they want and use it however they like. So if you think things are confusing now, wait till next year! At least with Gore, there is a modicum of consistency on naming and testing (could be better but still leads the industry).

By: Lou

Lou — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:37:58 +0000

Clyde?

By: Joss Smith

Joss Smith — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:47:12 +0000

So I too am in the market for a new shell, and the REI shuksan is at the top of my list thus far. I own a Loki Myth softshell with eVent for snowboarding, but i want a hardshell that is lightweight enough for alpine backpacking and such. Most of the comparisons that I have read say eVent is better than Gore-Tex XCR, but is Proshell really the top of the line? Can anyone give me some advice?