Ski Touring with the Alpha Flash in the Cairngorms (© Martin Crawford)
Rating: **** (4 stars)
The Rab Alpha
Flash jacket is an extremely lightweight and simple mid-layer fleece made
entirely from Polartec® Alpha™ Direct 120 insulation. This fabric was
originally developed for the U.S. Special Forces in order to provide them with
an ‘advanced’ insulation piece in their uniforms, which all sounds very
impressive. The aim behind the fabric is to provide a highly breathable
material that will readily wick moisture through when you’re on the move but
then when you stop, keep that moisture transfer going so that you don’t end up
with a wet and cold layer; essentially meaning the fabric dries out really fast
without you needing to shed a layer and expose your skin to the elements in the
process. Polartec have labelled this as so-called ‘Active Insulation’ – this
sounds particularly useful for the highly changeable Scottish weather. Indeed,
Rab have used this fabric before on their Alpha
Direct and Alpha
Flux Jackets to great effect (see
the SGR review for the Alpha Flux jacket here). The Alpha
Flash is essentially these jackets with all the outer and inner layers removed,
leaving only the Polartec® Alpha™ Direct 120 insulation. Rab claim this is a
radical reinvention of the traditional mid-layer, so we were very interested to
see how it performed.
An ideal winter layer when on the move (© Martin Crawford)
Simply put, the
Alpha Flash is an excellent mid layer fleece. Over the past 4 months we've used
the Alpha Flash winter climbing, ski touring and a week’s skiing in the French
Alps, and even as a general fleece to keep warm down at the climbing wall.
The Polartec fabric is wonderfully soft; it feels great on top of a baselayer
and even directly next to the skin it is a delight to wear! We had a somewhat
unintended test of this back in November when a rather smart reviewer forgot their baselayer for a
winter route in the Cairngorms and had to wear the Alpha Flash as a baselayer. It performed brilliantly and kept us warm and sweat-free all
day which was very impressive.
Layering up for a winter climb in the Cairngorms (© Brian Pollock)
The fit is great – slim fitting which means there is little to no excess
fabric when worn over a baselayer. The fleece features stretch panels on the
underside of the arms and side of the fleece meaning that there is no
restrictive movement whatsoever. Being so thin and light it barely feels like
you’re wearing anything extra, which is great seeing as it is so warm when on
the move.
At the end of the
day it is just a fleece, so £100 seems quite steep, but for such an effective
mid layer the clear benefits over a traditional fleece are probably worth the
extra cost.
The only thing we didn’t like was the chest pocket which doesn’t quite fit a larger phone (5.3 “
screen) but this is very minor – it will fit most phones quite easily.
We look forward to
using this fleece throughout the rest of the winter and in to the rock season –
we expect it’d make an ideal layer climbing in the mountains where warmth and
breathability are most needed.
Things we like: Excellent
breathability, lightweight, very versatile mid layer.
Things we don’t like: Chest pocket a
little too small, expensive for a fleece.