Mtn. Hardwear quality?

[North_by_Northwest]

I'm looking at getting a Mtn. Hardwear shell. It's called the Second Ascent Parka. As far as features it is what I need in a jacket. I am curious about the quality of Mtn. Hardwear products though? Are there horror stories or tales of hardship related to Mtn. Hardwear products? Are they champions of quality? Or are they middle of the road?

 

Here's a link to the specific parka:

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=10885282&parent_category_rn=4501456

[gapertimmy]

fwiw, all gear purchased for mt bachelor uniforms is all mountain hardware, pants, shells etc.

 

i bought a pair of hardware pants about 3 years ago and have been pleased with them. i'm currently using my fancy bachy parka which is very similar to the one you are looking at. It uses the conduit fabric, not goretex, but has kept me very dry and cozy on all the shitty rainy days we have had this year.

 

so far i've been pleased with the hardware gear i have bought/used, but i can't help but see some eerie similarities between mh and tnf.

 

perhaps the reason bachelor is purchasing all mtn hardware gear is that the ceo of our parent company is a majority holder of mountain hardware, hmmmmmmm.

 

but honestly, if you can find a good deal (i bought my wife the parka you are looking at on rei-outlet) i think you will be pleased.

[Montana_Climber]

I have used several Mtn. Hardwear products. I first became familiar with them while using the Exposure Parka while on Denali. This is a 2-ply Gore-Tex construction which makes it very heavy, especially for a mountaineering parka, but it took good care of me in 100+ mph winds and temps of -40 degrees F. It even held up to a climbing partner landing on me with his crampons after a rappel. I only needed to perform minor surgery on the parka to repair it. It also did very well in the South American Andes. Again, my biggest complaint with it was that it was very heavy and the outer fabric soaked up a lot of rain if not recently treated with one of those Gore-Tex renewer sprays. This made it almost impracticle in the Cascades as you normally approach with a high liklihood of rain.

 

From there, I went onto the Ethereal FTX parka. This is a 3-ply Gore-Tex parka. I found the features to be perfect for my needs and I really like the double "Napolean" pockets. I did find, however, that the hood does not fit as well around a helmet as the Exposure. The weight problems and amount of soakage were greatly alleviated with the new addition.

 

Overall, I would highly recommend Mtn. Hardwear as a great company to buy from. I've had mixed experiences with their customer service department. On one hand, I walked into their place in Berkeley and they gave me a tent fly that someone had returned for a warranty issue. I was only interested in the material so I didn't care about the condition. On the otherhand, I sent in a fleece jacket to have the elastic cuff resewn and it took 3 months to get it back. I'm just glad I had a back-up.

 

I have used their tents as well and have found them to be on par with the best of the other companies, in relationship to double-walled tents. I am still partial to a Bibler single wall for mountaineering in respect to weight, durability, and performance.

 

 

 

 

[Jens]

I could be way wrong on this, but this company got publicity by sponsoring a few Everest south Col expeditions?

 

Climbing gear and clothing is kind of weird. The ads make me think one way, but what we really see a lot of in the field can sometimes be way different. I have noticed something really weird about Mt. Hardware stuff. You see a lot of it, but is not that often seen being used by good climbers who spend a lot of days out. Just my opinion. Kind of like Volkl skiis. In the 90's they didn't hardly advertise but a good majority of the kings of the ski hills rode on them. Mt. hardware seems to be just the opposite. Lots of ads and used by mediocre climbers.

 

I proablaby am in no postion to make these commenst as all I have is a pair of their gloves, but man do they suck! Worse than even columbia.

[Duchess]

I have had some recurrent problems with MH zippers on their jackets, tents, etc. This may be just some bad luck on my part, maybe more?

[jordop]

In Vertical Limit, the producers approached MtnH and asked for $$ for product placement. MtnH laughed and the producers used the logo liberally anyway, just caused it looked so damn hard

 

I haven't found the detail workmanship any better than most companies. My Epic jacket had a couple stitching fubars; the only comany that seems spot on for this sort of stuff is ArcTeryx; you'll pay for it too.

[obsydian]

I've been pleased with my Mt Hdw parka and bibs, they've gotten a lot of use. Problem was I could only afford the parka one year and the bibs the next. I haven't bought anything else of their brand. I do see a lot of their other stuff showing up on Sierra Trading Post, maybe they overplayed their brand and made too much of a bunch of stuff nobody wanted? But I still like my parka!

[Billygoat]

I have one of their tents, a 15* bag and a fleece shirt. The tent and the bag are good but average. The shirt had crappy stitching and is quickly in the process of unraveling. I expected something tougher, but should have known by the price. Overall, their stuff is ok but not tuff. Arc Teryx, Bibler, Ibex that stuff is tuff!

[North_by_Northwest]

"Lots of ads and used by mediocre climbers."

 

You hit the nail on the head. That's why I had to ask about quality before buying.

 

Thanks for the replies, all the info was useful and will be taken into consideration when I come to the register.

(I wish you guys would have responded as nicely to my shoulder shox query )

[Toast]

The only experience I've had with MH has been with a bivvy bag constructed out of Conduit SL I found myself drenched every time I went out with it... actually it was only 3 times but the same story every time

 

I switched to an OR Basic Bivvy constructed out of plain vanilla GoreTex. I haven't had a problem since (and this has included going to bed with damp clothing.)

 

Prob doesn't have anything to do with your original question, but my conclusion is Mountain Hardware's Conduit SL branded fabric does not breathe nearly as well as GoreTex.