We see a lot of jackets here at TGO, and every once in a while something comes along that one of our reviews instantly connects with, just ‘gets’, and then we all want one. The Mammut Foraker is one of those jackets.
As soon as I took it out of the bag I knew it was interesting. In short, the Foraker has a lightly insulated body with wind-resistant stretch sleeves. For the insulation, Mammut have used Polartec Alpha, a brilliantly breathable material I’ve used a lot of mountain biking and cold winter runs. It will insulate the core when wet too. The outer material is Pertex Microlight.
The sleeves have a really good stretch along the length of the arm, and a little bit laterally as well. The lycra cuffs are even stretchier. They move well when stretching up high, or on a bike, and are very comfortable.
The neck has a wind shield material, but remains light and flexible. There’s only one pocket on the right hand side of the chest that is fine for a phone, compass and the like. There’s also a drawcord hem and raglan sleeves.
But the best bit of all, it packs down into the chest pocket and my men’s large weighs only 300g. I may sound a bit gushing, but this really is a superb and versatile jacket. I have thrown it in the backpack on most outings year round. I’d probably take something heftier on really cold days, but simple jacket executed brilliantly.
