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AN UPDATE FROM BERNADETTE BENSON

I picked up the Montane Lite Speed H2O jacket before a mid-May ultra-marathon (TNF100) in the Blue Mountains. A waterproof jacket with a hood was mandatory gear and I was going to have to carry it 100km. I wanted something useful if I needed it, but also wanted something incredibly light. A bit of weight adds up over hours, especially when trying to race hard. This jacket is known as the world's lightest waterproof. Sounded like it was hard to go wrong and fully taped seams, reflective bits, and draw cords, as well.

About 11 hours into my race, as the sun set and I left the last checkpoint, I slipped it on. It did the job keeping me warm as I weaved through the rainforest terrain into the finish line. I had no complaints, but it had only had a 90 minute test.

Then came the Western Australian 24hr winter rogaine. Night time temperatures dropped to about 5 degrees. The jacket went on over my 200 weight Icebreaker thermal as the sun set at 6pm. I spent the next 12 hours bush bashing through the forests, scraping trees and parrot bush, as the leaves became increasingly wet with dew. I was not only warm enough, but whenever we got a road running section of 10 minutes or more, I got hot enough that I could undo my jacket. I got home the next day and checked it out. Not a scratch to any of the material!

I'm looking forward now to taking it to the Rocky Mountains of Canada for some more rigorous testing and then to the eight day Transalpine Run!