Rab Mens Electron Pro Jacket Beluga £130 + £2.50 Delivery

The Rab Electron jacket is a mid-weight, technical down jacket with a highly water-resistant fabric making it perfect as an outer jacket for cold, wet and generally miserable winter conditions. Because of its excellent pack size, it also works superbly as an over-layering jacket to keep in your pack. Simply whip it out when you need to chuck it over the top of all your layers to provide warmth on those exposed belays, or when stopping for lunch on winter outings. As well as all that technical stuff The Electron is also pretty much the perfect winter coat for everyday use.

What is the Electron Pro jacket made from?

Outer fabric: The outer fabric used is the ever reliable Pertex Quantum Pro fabric to give this brilliant jacket superb weather resistance and durability. This lightweight rip-stop fabric is made from a tightly woven nylon and has an ultra-thin Polyurethane water-resistant coating on the back to provide increased weather resistance. This doesn’t make the jacket completely waterproof, but it does make it able to shrug off snow and light rain longer than an untreated down jacket. Although we’d always advise that you carry a 100% waterproof shell with you if you are using the Electron in the mountains.

Insulation: The important stuff that’s going to keep you warm is 190g of 800FP Hydrophobic ethically sourced European Goose down. All Rab’s down is Responsible Down Certified (RDS) and comes from European geese and ducks. The RDS ensures that the down in a product does not come from birds that have been live-plucked or force-fed and that their welfare has been protected from the time they were hatchlings to when they are slaughtered.

What’s fill power? It’s an internationally recognised measurement of how well down will “loft”. Loft describes how “fluffy” the insulation is, the “fluffier” down is the more space it can occupy and the more warm air it can trap in all those fine filaments. Down simply doesn’t work when compressed. The number used in Fill Power describes the amount of space one ounce of down will occupy in cubic inches when allowed to reach its maximum loft. So, in the case of the Rab Electron jacket, one ounce of down will loft up to fill 800 cubic inches, or to put that in perspective, it’s equivalent to about 13 litres, or the same as a Large Exped Fold Dry-Bag.

To further improve the Electron’s weather resistance every individual cluster of down has been treated with special Nikwax Hydrophobic stuff to ensure they resist moisture, retain more heat, loft better, and dry much quicker than untreated down. Again…this does not in any way make this a waterproof jacket. To keep that Hydrophobic treatment working for the life of the jacket use Nikwax Down Wash Direct to wash the jacket and then re-proof with Nikwax Down Proof. Alternatively, if you can’t be bothered to do this yourself Rab offer a cleaning service direct from their website.

To cleverly optimise the performance of all that lovely down, Rab have cleverly used a mix of midi and mini stitch-through baffles. Midi baffles are used on the torso, back and hood whilst mini baffles are used on the sides and arms.

What are the main features?

Starting up at the top, the hood on the Electron is a key feature for us at Trekitt, Rab hoods are always excellent. This particular one features a proper wired peak and is truly helmet compatible so you can get the hood over a climbing helmet if you fancy some vertical adventures. Adjustability is taken care of by a Velcro tab at the back and drawcords at both sides. This means that it still fits well over a beanie or a bare head. Rab have also included another Velcro tab inside that allows you to roll the hood down and secure it if it’s not required.

The main zip is a reliable YKK VISLON moulded version to reduce ice build-up and it is backed up by an internal baffle to keep out the drafts. Storage wise, you get two YKK VISLON moulded zipped hand pockets, the stuff sack can be found in one of these, and a zipped internal security pocket to keep valuables safe and warm. The sleeves are finished off with some extremely soft and comfortable stretch woven cuffs that make the Electron an absolute pleasure to wear. They fit snug to your wrist but will stretch to tightly seal over gloves. At the hem you get a dual sided, one-pull hem drawcord for quick adjustment, even with gloves on.

How does the Electron jacket fit?

The Electron features a relatively slim, long cut with long arms. For reference, Paul (staring in the video below) is 6ft 3", has a 42" chest, a 34" waist and is wearing a size large.

Where does the Electron Pro jacket fit in the layering system?

The Electron Jacket works best as an extremely weather resistant outer jacket when you’re out in the mountains in typical UK damp and freezing conditions. However, because it packs up so well, it can be carried in your pack for use as an insulating over-layer on belays or food stops. Layering is not a precise science and there is no one perfect system that will suit every person, situation or the weather conditions. Some of us feel the cold, others, like me, get hot very quickly, but for more advice on using layers please check our YouTube video

Pertex Quantum Pro outer fabric

Pertex Quantum inner fabric

190g of 800 fill power Hydrophobic European Goose Down

Stitch-through midi baffles on torso hood and back

Stitch-through mini baffles on the sides and arms

Helmet compatible hood with wired peak and Velcro roll down feature

YKK flat Vislon front zip with insulated baffle

YKK flat Vislon zipped handwarmer pockets

YKK zipped internal security pocket

Elasticated stretch woven cuffs

Hem drawcord