Travel

Northwater 2.5L Shell

Northwater

Packs to a fist, keeps a shoulder-season day walkable, needs reproofing.

7.8/10 Buy with caveats £128
Specifications
Membrane2.5-layer, 20k/15k
Weight290 g
PackedInto its own chest pocket
SeamsFully taped
ReproofingWash-in, about every 20 wears

What we found

Good for shoulder-season city travel, which is what we bought it for. Not a hillwalking shell, and it does not claim to be.

Wash it with a technical detergent when water stops beading. A shell that looks wet on the surface has stopped breathing.

Good

  • Genuinely packable and light enough to carry on a maybe-rain day
  • Pit zips, which most shells this light omit
  • Taped seams held through two days of continuous rain

Less good

  • 2.5-layer backing gets clammy above about 15°C
  • DWR needs renewing far sooner than the marketing implies
  • Hood has no wire brim, so it collapses in wind

Written about in

Bought at retail. No sample, no affiliate placement, no changes after publication except corrections.

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