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Jöttnar have built an enviable reputation with their down jackets over the years with a variety of offerings that balance weight, warmth, compressibility and durability. The Asta gilet is Jöttnar’s latest incarnation of one of my favourite garments, a lightweight down gilet.
With shoulder season well underway the humble gilet really comes into its own for adding a meaningful level of insulation without being bulky or inhibiting mobility. Additionally a gilet is incredibly easy to slip on or off – great for those chilly bouldering sessions. Truth be told a gilet is a fantastic piece of kit at any time of year and with quality down gilets like the Asta taking up such a small amount of space in your pack there is rarely an excuse for leaving them behind. Once you get past the ‘Couldn’t you afford the arms?’ jokes from your mates the Asta is likely to take up pretty much permanent residence in your pack. Bonus fashion marks if you’ve been hitting the preacher curls in the gym just wear your Asta over a T shirt to show off your guns whilst sipping espresso outside your Euro café of choice.
The big news in many ways with Jöttnar’s new Asta is the face fabric which features ‘expedition-grade Pertex® Quantum Pro outer fabric crafted from NetPlus®’. In partnership with Bureo who produce the raw yarn from recycled fishing nets Pertex has developed Quantum Pro. Jöttnar state this is an ‘expedition-grade’ fabric implying that it is a robust high performance fabric and I’d certainly agree with that. The NetPlus® Quantum Pro outer is an excellent grade in terms of weight vs durability being light enough that you can still cram this gilet into a tiny space and yet it has the resilience to shrug off rough rock, vegetation and other enemies of ultralight fabrics that can spell disaster. A top flight shell on your gilet is great but without a quality fill you’ve got nothing but a windproof! Jöttnar do not disappoint in this respect. Over the years we’ve reviewed several of their down garments and the down filling and construction is first rate. With the Asta as with other down garments in their range Jöttnar use some synthetic fill either in areas vulnerable to damp or compression. In the case of the Asta this is just in the shoulders. The down itself is hydrophobic, rated at 850 fill power and is certified RDS. Construction is a straightforward stitch through which is entirely appropriate for this mid layer level of insulation and helps keep the garment less bulky. Talking of bulk and fit the Asta is very much of the modern Jöttnar more tailored fit as opposed to their boxier fit of old (going back maybe ten years) which means it not only layers easily it looks smart down the pub at the end of the day. Pocket wise you get two hand warmer pockets and and internal valuables pocket at the chest. This chest pocket contains a detachable stuff sac which is sensibly sized to allow easy stuffing. I always prefer a stuff sac over an ‘inverted’ stuff-able pocket as if you clip a stuff sac to your harness and end up thrutching up some chimney you’ll only abrade the stuff sac and not the lining of your jacket/gilet!
The Asta is great for when you nip out to get some water from the hut’s pump… no I didn’t drink it even though it is apparently ‘safe’. Snow melting it was!
As mentioned above one of the great strengths of this type of gilet is it will (generally) fit into any sac even when you think there is no space left and at only 258g for the medium there is little excuse to leave it behind. As such it is a little piece of comfort insurance that you can always bring along. Anytime you need a little extra warmth it’ll be there. The durable shell fabric actually helps here as you can stuff it down the front of that alpine/trad sac with your cams and wires and not fear that it will come out shredded – alright maybe not down with your frayed winter wires but you get my point. Over the past few months it has accompanied me climbing on the high mountain crags of the Lakes and Scotland, bouldering on grit, sport climbing on limestone and Nordic ski touring in Norway. Imagine a fairly typical mountain cragging day, the sun is shinning and you hike to the base of the crag in your shorts and a base layer soaking up the rays. Your partner wins the toss for first pitch and obviously you’ve chosen something north-ish facing to avoid sweating in the sun. However while they’re staying warm moving on up you’re starting to chill off as you’ve got to stand close in to the foot of the route in the shade so as to not lift out those wires. It was such a sunny day you thought a warm jacket would be overkill so you’ve only got your thin fleece and a light windproof. And now that breeze has started to pick up… The Asta gilet is ideal here, you can slip it on easily whilst still keeping a hand on the rope and when you follow it can be clipped to your harness ready for the end of your lead pitch (if you’re swining leads. Equally it is great for wearing around the hut while you get the wood burner going and fetch water/snow for a brew in Norway, sitting around between attempts on a problem or sport route, keeping off a summer chill when stopping for lunch. These are all uses that I’ve put the Asta gilet to over the review period. The Asta is for me a ‘Goldilocks’ piece, light enough and compressible enough to always bring along but durable enough to put up with the normal rough and tumble of a day on the hill.
Pros
- Tough
- Compact
- Quality hydrophobic down
- Versatile
Cons
- Not a lot – you can get lighter more compressible gilets but the trade is durability.
SRP £269
Disclaimer – CGR reviewers are never paid to provide a review and the website does not take advertising. We are a bunch of keen climbers and outdoor enthusiasts that accept sample products and offer an honest and independent review of the item. The reviewer will often keep the sample after reviewing it for both hygiene reasons and more often they’re in no fit state to return!
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