 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi All,
5 years ago I bought a pair of Arcteryx Theta SK bib Pants.
These high waist pants are made from gortex XCR.
Im not going to detail all the features, just the ones I think are relevant to review along with the pro's and con's.
First off these were not cheap, even 5yrs ago, retail was around the £300 mark, although I paid contract account price which reduced that to £180.00, so a very happy bunny I was.
So, the fit, like most Arc' kit is very well tailored, the ease and freedom of movement is superb with no problems taking high steps and no worries about catching crampons on the slim leg and ankle.
Climbing in them is totally unrestricted and the slim line integral belt does not hinder a harness at all, you don't even realise its there.
The ankle has an integral snow gater which fastens with a popper at the bottom and velcro to close the edges. This gaiter is bonded to the inside of the shell. (weak point, as over time it needed constantly glueing back)
The bib area is not too high like some other bibs and not so low that if your jacket rides up you get cold or spin drift, in short its the pefect heigh for a bib. The front of the bib area is XCR and the back is a thin stretch material that does give a little warm but doesn't make you sweat in the back when you are moving fast.
So, moving fast and standing still. I found these very breathable, far more so than I have found with other manufactures efforts with XCR membranes, I guess this is down to a couple of possible things, very high quality construction and more than likely proper XCR off the roll from Gore ( I would never suggest that counterfeit gortex has entered the asian machine shops;) )
but all in all this does make a difference to breathability which was excellent with only the slightest moisture in the lower leg area on a warm day when your in the rain but working hard.
Standing around I found them to be very warm regardless of how cold it was, -15c in a good old Scottish howler or fridgid and still Canadian -30c I always felt comfortable and bombproof.
So, superb fit, comfort, warmth and breathability.
Are they water tight? Yes they are. This is the only pair of Gortex membrane waterproofs that I have purchased that have actually been totally waterproof even in the very worst conditions. The full length side zips and the fly zip never broke a sweat, they just stayed water tight to the last.
To give you a picture of what they have been through over 5 years:
5 years of MRT going out in some truly nasty Welsh weather, scrambling up gullies that are waterfalls, bum sliding down steep grass and rock steps, kneeling, scuffing, scrapping, you get the picture. If I had treated my friends, pets or girlfriend in the same way I treated these pants; utter dissregard, abuse and negligence; they would have splurted the worst language, bitten and then left me for good.
They were subjected to many slicings with ski edges, punctures from all maner of sharp things, glissades down sugar snow slopes and rock hard neve slopes. The usual winter seasons in Scotland and Wales, climbing, skiing and general mountaineering.
They have had dirt rubbed and ground in to them, greasy hands wiped on them, unzipped and laid out flat as a changing matt to keep my socks/feet clean, screwed up and packed in to the smallest stuff sacks I could get them in, poor poor theta pants!
The conclusions
They have always been washed with Grangers Tecwash, then re-proofed with Nikwax, with the associated spell in the tumble dryer, probably set far too hot and for far too long, and they have always returned back to good beading of rain etc. They have never metled and the seam tape has never come off.
They have had a few patches to the odd pin hole and small tear.
The leg zips remain water tight.
The fly zip area has steadily got leakier over the past 8 months, as has the seat area, from all that sliding probably. The knee and front thigh area's also now leak.
No amount of proofing stops then from leaking now.
The Gortex membrane has now been stretched and pulled in so many directions that the pores are bigger than water drops!
The bonded seams that attach the ankle snow gater to the shell started to come undone about a year ago, I just kept gluing them back on.
The above failures are general wear and tear, there have been no problems with the zips, press-studs, braces, pockets, welded seams or even the velcro.
These are with out a doubt the most bomproof piece of kit I have ever owned.
With them now leaking at the knees, seat and fly area and me just getting fed up of soggy underwear its time to retire these bibs to an easier life hanging on a coat hook ready for occassional use for something, sometime, somewhere (im not putting them in the bin).
With 5 years costing me £36 a year has been a superb investment, I know people who have paid less for a pair of waterproof pants but have had 3 or more pairs over the same time frame.
In their place I have bought the new replacement version called the Theta SV Bib, basically the same style bib pant but made from the supposed , even harder wearing Gortex Pro Shell.
I cant wait to see how they stand up to the same abuse.
Cheers
Mark
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