Montane Panther Jacket Tested

As summer arrives, so too does the season when you don't need to wear your oilskins all the time you're on board.

Oilskins have evolved in recent years to make them lighter, more breathable, and generally less cumbersome, but some people still find them slightly constricting when moving around the boat.

In the winter, that small reduction in comfort is a price you have to pay to stay warm and dry - unless you have a circulatory system like a furnace. But when the sun shines and even UK waters start to look blue, it's not really necessary to dress up ready to face plummeting temperatures and waves breaking overboard. That's when wind-resistant jackets come into their own.

We tried Montane's Panther jacket for our early summer sailing, because it combines wind resistance with a higher than usual level of insulation.

It's made of Polartec Wind Pro fabric, which keeps the breeze off, and it's also water repellent, to deal with the odd splash of spray. That's different from being fully waterproof - too many helmsman's waves will overwhelm it pretty fast - but if all we're talking about is a light film of spray then the Panther will repel the water and remain dry.

The wind proofing and water-resistance helps you stay warm as there's nothing like exposure to the wind to cool your body temperature fast. The down side of windproof jackets, on the other hand, is that they often contain less outright insulation than straightforward fleeces, because the fabric is busy acting as a windbreak, rather than serving out large helpings of warmth and fluffiness.

Montane have got round that problem - as far as possible without compromising the windproof properties of the jacket - by placing the long fleecey fibres of the Polartec Wind Pro fabric next to the skin, beneath the windproof layer. Most companies place them on the outside of the jacket, where they waft around like grass in the breeze. Placing them on the inside means that they're stationary and so they can trap a warm layer of air instead. This enhances insulation significantly - enough for summer, and perhaps spring or autumn, sailing, although you'd need a full layering system backing it up out of season.

The other advantage of having the fluffy part of the jacket - see picture - on the inside is that it's super-soft and very welcoming to your skin.

Another clever feature of the Panther is the addition of DryActiv Stretch Panels down the sides and around the wrists. These allow the jacket to really hug your figure, rather than being more of an oblong shape. That sounds like a cosmetic feature but actually it's another key to keeping you warm - a snugger fit means there's less excess air wafting around between the jacket and your body, which in turn means less heat loss.

The stretch panels at the wrist similarly prevent cold air from wafting up your arms. The only down side is that they wick moisture less efficiently than the Polartec Wind Pro fabric in the rest of the jacket, so your wrists sometimes feel clammy for a while if you get them wet - not very comfortable.

Other features include a handwarmer pocket with zips on each side, which doubles as an extra source of ventilation if the sun's strengthening but you don't want to go as far as unzipping your jacket completely. The inner lining of the pocket is made out of mesh, and the openings are very wide, so plenty of air gets in that way which can then be blocked off if the weather cools down. The zips are extremely small though, which is nice in that you don't have two clunky pieces of metal rattling around between your upper arms and your chest, but potentially a little fiddly, especially if you're wearing gloves. The main zip's tagged and easy to operate with gloved hands though.

Price is £80. More information on Montane's website.