Montane Minimus Lite Waterproof Jacket Review 2024

An ultralight, waterproof jacket that packs down small and is perfect for light and fast adventures.

PROS

• Ultralight
• Soft, rustle free fabric
• Good articulation 

CONS

• No chest pocket
• Could do with fully elasticated sleeve hems.

You know, some companies just do everything right – they know what works, know their customer base and produce first class products that perform. No lifestyle clothing, no fancy vintage packs, just technical kit that performs on the hill, on the trail and on the crag. Montane is one of them, there are a few more if you hunt around.

The Minimus range has been a staple of the Montane product range for a while and we have featured several products. We’ve always found them excellent and the Minimus Lite Waterproof Jacket is no different. It does exactly what it says on the tin – it’s lightweight (weighing in at 224g on the trusty CGR scales), packs up small (it has fitted easily into a waist pack) and offers water and windproof protection just when you need it. This jacket isn’t a full on, gnarly piece of winter armour, it’s designed for trail running and speed hiking. It also acts as an emergency shell for those summer days where you feel you may not need a shell jacket but you want to take one just in case. That ‘just in case’ happens more often than you think! So the Minimus Lite Waterproof will serve you well.

The jacket easily squeezed in to a small pocket on my trail running waistpack. There was room for some thin, lightweight gloves too.

For running, I have been taking it out with my 5L waist pack which has left plenty of room for other items as it takes up so little room. It has acted mostly as a windshell on runs and this has worked well. On rainy days I have been able to put it on and run perfectly fine with it, as I said it’s been mostly waist packs, but it’s a good trim fit so will work fine under a vest or running pack. 

The jacket is made with Pertex Shield, a 2L waterproof fabric that is well established as a reasonable performer against Gore-Tex. I find Pertex Sheild to be softer and quieter than Gore-Tex Active, the Minimus Lite is reasonably quiet and feels soft on. It’s definitely more of a beefed up Windshell – so a Windshell+. Waterproof when you need it but you can put it one and be comfortable all day in it. All the seams are fully taped so there is no leakage through those. It’s good to note (although I’m probably talking to mountain runners) that you will overheat and sweat in this jacket if you put it on and keep it on all day – but with good base and/or mid layer choices you can stay comfortable.

It worked really well as a windproof on those dry breezy days, why buy two items when one will do perfectly well.

There are some great features on the Minimus Lite, there is good arm articulation, a great hood that it fully adjustable with internal rim adjusters which means that the adjusters won’t whip you in the face when the wind gets up. There is also a rear adjuster and a small wired peak which works well with a running cap. The full length front zip is a YKK Aquaguard as well as Aquaguard hand warmer pockets, all with glove friendly tabs.. I would have preferred a larger chest pocket rather than hand warmers as I feel a chest pocket works better for storage and it’s difficult to site hand warmer pockets so that they are accessible when wearing a pack. But, that said with more modern, running style packs and vests that sit higher on the back then hand warmer pockets make more sense. Maybe it’s because I’ve been using a waistbelt and I can see that if I wore a running vest then a chest pocket would be more limited.

The hood is fully adjustable, I have spent some time adjusting it to wear with a cap so hopefully it should work quickly when needed – which was just as well as it totally threw it down getting back to the car!

Finally, there is a fully adjustable hem, which adjust on both sides so you lock the warmth in and half elasticated sleeve hems. I think fully elasticated sleeve hems would work better to block all wind and trap more warmth. There is a well sized, reflective Montane logo on the front and an external hanging loop on the back with a small reflective logo on that too.

On the whole though, I’ve used the Montane Minimus Lite Waterproof Jacket throughout the spring season. It’s sat in the pack on dry days and been deployed when the wind gets up on the summit. I’ve worn it for rainy running days (of which there have been plenty this year!) and and found it super versatile and comfortable to wear both on its own and wearing a pack. A good jacket that will stay in the pack and has become my shell of choice this season. This jacket plus my Fireball Nano Hooded Jacket has become an unbeatable combo for lightweight winter and spring adventures.

The Montane Minimus Lite Waterproof Jacket comes in sizes XS – XXL and 4 colour choices. 

There is female specific version that comes in sizes UK6 – UK16 and 3 colour choices.

The SRP is £185 and it can be purchased directly from Montane UK and specialist retailers.