Aegis Jacket

What’s It For?
The Aegis is designed as an all-round, lightweight and highly breathable all-round walking and scrambling jacket and uses Marmot’s new MemBrain® strata 2.5 layer fabric. You could also, at a pinch, use it for biking or running, but Marmot’s other new for spring 2009 Mica Jacket uses the same fabric in a more streamlined design and is better suited for that as well as being just over 200 grammes lighter.

The Techy Bits
Brand new for spring 2009 is Marmot’s own MemBrain® strata 2.5 layer fabric. It’s claimed not only to be very waterproof with a hydrostatic head of 20,000mm – which is very waterproof – but also extremely breathable. The lab figure Marmot gives is 20,000 gr in breathability. To put that in perspective, it’s roughly the same as we’d expect from eVent, which is the most breathable fabric we’ve used in the real world. Lab tests aren’t everything, but it’s definitely a good starting point. The fabric is a 2.5 layer lamination that uses very small non-organic particles mixed in with Marmot Membrain, which protects the Membrain from direct abrasion and has a dry touch. It means there’s no need for a heavy drop lining to protect the laminate.

Overall Marmot says that its 2.5 layer fabric is approximately 100 percent more breathable than 2.5-layer coatings on the market, which is a whopping advantage.
That’s the main event. The rest of the jacket is refined Marmot – there are pit zips, two big handwarmer pockets with mesh liners for venting and Marmot’s Angel Wing cut for easy arm mobility.

How It Performed
The first thing we have to say is that we’re blown away with the level of breathability you’re getting for under £100. We used the Aegis hard – that’s running and biking hard – in proper wet conditions and it performed as well or better than far more expensive jackets. It really is very, very breathable as well as waterproof.

Cut is medium with enough room for a full-weight mid-layer for us anyway but without excessive bagginess. We also really like thoughtful touches like the soft DriClime lined collar and cuffs that add a touch of luxury against the skin. You really are getting a lot of jacket for the money with touches like pit zips for added ventilation and a small sleeve pocket on the upper arm. The two big handwarmer pockets are a bit of a double-edge thing. They’re big and roomy, which is great for habitual stashers, but they also extend right down to the hem, which means they can foul pack belts. Also, while they haven’t leaked as yet, we’ll be keeping an eye on the unprotected water-resistant zippers on the pockets in heavy rain. Zips of this type can allow water in as they flex and while the mesh lining is great for venting, it’s clearly not waterproof. We’d also say that the tidy but slightly Trans-Atlantic, roll-away hood is more of a spring/summer item than a full year round one, mostly because the laminated peak is a tad on the flexible side for serious windiness, though fine in less blustery conditions. Mobility with the Angel Wing design was good.

Initial Verdict
Marmot’s 2.5-layer fabric is great. Fully waterproof and as breathable as more expensive fabrics, so far we’re highly impressed. On top of that, the Aegis has an awful lot of features for a sub £100 jacket with stuff like pit zips and the DriClime detailing really impressing. It’s not without its faults however. If you’re a pack and pocket user then you need to be aware that a pack belt will run over the lower part of the pockets, we’re reserving judgment on the water resistant pocket zips for now and we’d ideally prefer a stiffer peak for the hood. That said, the combination of features, breathability, light weight – a real 400 grammes – and venting makes the Aegis a bit of a steal at the price for general use. For fast and light fiends, the £90 and 185-gramme Mica looks astonishingly good. We’ll report back once we’ve used it a little more.

Buy if you run hot and are looking for a lightweight walking and scrambling jacket with great breathability and venting options on a budget and preferably don’t use pockets and pack at the same time. - Jon

All the talk at the show has been about prices inevitably heading up. But Marmot is introducing a new line of technical performance apparel that will cost less – far less – than similar gear.

The key is Marmot’s new 2.5-layer MemBrain Strata, a waterproof/breathable laminate membrane fabric. The half-layer membrane is printed on the inside of the jacket, making it lighter but retaining the advantages of lamination.

Used in Marmot’s men’s Mica and women’s Crystalline jackets, the fabric imparts all the performance of $200-plus jackets for just $130. The half-layer print makes the jacket less clammy than laminated jackets and much lighter (the Crystalline weighs in at a mere six ounces).

“Basically, we can offer the same jacket performance-wise that cost $260 just three years ago, at half the price,” said Brian La Plante, category merchandising manager for Marmot.

The Crystalline beat out 280 entries to win the Outdoor Industry Award at the Outdoor Show in Friedrichshafen, Germany. It’s also turning heads here at OR, displayed in front of the Marmot booth. Marmot has also put the Strata technology in its new Aegis jacket, which sports more features like front zip pockets, but is slightly heavier and retails for $140.

The Aegis rain jacket and the Strato use an innovative membrane (MemBrain Strata) to create a fully waterproof fabric that still lets you breathe. It also has a lined collar that is 100 percent seam-taped, as well as hand-warmer pockets and an adjustable hood. You’ll be singing in the rain. – Elsa Burette and Jean-Sébastien Massicotte

1. Keeping rain out is never the problem: a $2 poncho can do that. But if you want a jacket that also holds up the other end of the bargain, letting moisture out, it’s going to cost you – usually around $200. Which is why we were so impressed with the Aegis. Unlike most jackets in this price range, it’s decked out with thoughtful features, and it breathes as easily as a Buddhist monk.

2. Staying dry on the inside is all about the fabric, and Marmot uses a proprietary and slightly stretchy 2.5-layer membrane (most jackets are made with three layers). The result: a comfy – testers loved the subtle stretch – and respectably lightweight jacket that kept us dry and happy in everything from the clammy, constant rain of southeast Alaska to a drenching Colorado thunderstorm.

3. A pared-down price usually means pared-down features. Not here. Pit zips and mesh-backed front pockets take care of active temperature regulation, and the hood can be rolled up and stashed in the collar. Soft, fleecy patches around the chin and behind the neck prevent chafing – and, as one tester pointed out, “are surprisingly luxurious when it’s cold and nasty.”

There’s a reason why the Marmot Aegis has earned acclaim – it’s as waterproof and breathable as jackets twice the price, but lighter in weight.

1. Keeping rain out is never the problem; a $2 poncho can do that. But if you want a jacket that also holds up the other end of the bargain, letting moisture out, it’s going to cost you – usually around $200. Which is why we were so impressed with the Aegis. Unlike most jackets in this price range, it’s decked out with thoughtful features, and it breathes as easily as a Buddhist monk.
2. Staying dry on the inside is all about the fabric, and Marmot uses a proprietary and slightly stretchy 2.5 – layer membrane (most jackets are made with three layers). The result: a comfy – testers loved the subtle stretch – and respectably lightweight jacket that kept us dry and happy in everything from the clammy, constant rain of southeast Alaska to a drenching Colorado thunderstorm.
3. A pared-down price usually means pared-down features. Not here. Pit zips and mesh-backed front pockets take care of active temperature regulation, and the hood can be rolled up and stashed in the collar. Soft, fleecy patches around the chin and behind the neck prevent chafing – and, as one tester pointer out, “are surprisingly luxurious when it’s cold and nasty.”