Lightweight and well-cut for climbing and scrambling, this is a perfect just-in-case shell to live in the bottom of your bag, says Tom Ripley. But it's pretty decent when you get it on, too.

Read more

Hi Tom - it's interesting that you found this this jacket 'as breathable as any other breathable jacket' you have used recently. UKC will soon publish my review of the Rab Latok Paclite and I've found very similar. Rab have actually published (I think) their own RET values for the different goretexes, and they're are not very surprising - Goretex Pro is the most breathable, and Goretex Paclite in the "very breathable" category, not as good as Pro. But in real life terms I'm not sure if I've worked out a difference between the two. With Paclite being the same hydrostatic head as Pro and so much cheaper, it looks like rather good value!

I agree - it’s really hard to tell the difference in real life. 

I was going to say that this fabric seem less durable than Gore-Pro, but I don’t think that’s quite fair, or if it is I can’t back it up. However I think the backer is more fragile, and I’ve manage to make a small hole in the jacket from the inside.

I've got a Berghaus pretty cheap paclite from a review a couple of years ago, I haven't used it loads but it is still in very good shape inside and out. For the same review I also used a Mtn Hardware lightweight waterproof that also was "2.5 layer" but non gtx fabric, that definitely got a few tiny spots of damage on the inside. So far with the Rab Paclite that I've used a reasonable amount, no signs of any damage on the inside, so while Paclite must be more delicate inside, it seems less delicate than some other '2.5 layer' fabrics.