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Review: Montane Women’s Atomic Jacket

Woman wearing jacket in the rain

An excellent value, versatile and lightweight rain jacket for hiking, biking and everyday wear

It’s tough, it’s lightweight and it’s versatile. The improved Montane Women’s Atomic Jacket is an ideal multi-use rain jacket with a deceptively full-featured design. Boasting pit vents and a highly adjustable hood, this jacket provides waterproof, windproof and breathable protection for active adventures, and at a price that’s right.

Montane Women’s Atomic Jacket: The stats

Best for:Hiking and everyday wear
Weight:250g / 8.8oz
Waterproof:Yes, PERTEX SHIELD
Fabric:40 Denier nylon

Features of the Montane Women’s Atomic Jacket

Fabric

Jacket fabricThe 40 Denier unlined jacket is made from Pertex Shield fabric that behaves in a similar way to Gore-Tex: breathable, waterproof and windproof. The jacket has taped seams for improved waterproofness and the fabric is also Bluesign approved.

Hood

Jacket hood featuresThere’s plenty of room in the hood when you want it. But it’s also highly adjustable when you need to batten down the hatches! There is a toggle at the back as well as two toggles at the front. Additionally, the wired peak provides even more protection without making you look like Donald Duck. The whole hood rolls up and is fastened at the back.

Pit vents

Jacket pit ventThere are long pit vents underneath the arms that are zippered. They feature YKK zips and provide excellent ventilation during high energy activities or in warm weather.

Hem drawcord

Jacket drawcordThe bottom of the jacket can be cinched in for a better fit or to stop drafts from getting inside your jacket. An elasticated drawcord runs through the whole length of the hem and is adjustable on both sides with a simple toggle.

Cuffs

Cuff of jacketThe cuffs feature sturdy velcro tabs to create a good seal around bare wrists. But the cuffs are also wide enough to comfortably wear over the top of large gloves.

Hand pockets

Jacket pocketThere are two large hand pockets that are mesh lined and large enough to fit in an OS map. The pockets have YKK zips with zipper pulls that you can grasp easily with gloves on. All the zip pulls on this jacket are the same.

Pack size

Jacket packed next to bottleOne of the properties of Pertex Shield fabric is its packability. The Atomic jacket packs down to about the size of a Nalgene bottle without any compression. Pack it into a small stuff sack and it becomes even more compact.


Montane Women’s Atomic Jacket review

2019 saw the release of this new version of the classic Montane Atomic Jacket with improved breathability, thanks to the Pertex Shield membrane. The jacket is surprisingly full-featured compared with other options in this price range, providing excellent value.

Though it lacks the style of higher end options, I actually really love how much the Atomic looks like a good old fashioned rain jacket! It has a slightly shiny outer that immediately made me feel like this was destined to be a trusty waterproof. And so far, it has proved to be just that: straightforward and trusty.

Coupled with the Montane Ineo Pro Pants, the Atomic provides excellent protection in windy and drizzly conditions.

Woman in rain jacket with hood

Comfort and fit

The relaxed fit means that there’s lots of space beneath to layer up. And although the jacket isn’t a slim fit compared with other designs, it somehow manages not to look too bulky or baggy either. Because of that, I find the jacket highly comfortable with no tightness across the chest and certainly no restriction when lifting my arms or bending over etc.

The hood is very well designed, featuring a rear draw cord as well as draw cords at the collar. This combo provides limitless adjustability to ensure maximum protection when needed. I have no idea why all jacket hoods aren’t designed in the same way. To me, an ill-fitting hood is worse than no hood. At least with no hood you’ll come prepared with a hat and scarf. Or you just don’t choose to wear a hoodless jacket in certain conditions. But to have a hood that then blows off at the first breath of wind is pointless.

Rant over! Thankfully, the Atomic hood is neither ill-fitting or pointless. It has a wire peak to fend off the rain from dripping into your face. And the whole thing can be cinched down snuggly and securely around your hatted head to prevent even the gustiest of rain storms from sneaking their way down your neck.

The toggles are also easy to adjust if you just need a little protection from a light shower. Plus, to top it off, the whole hood can be folded away. I just love it!

People standing in the rain

Weatherproofness

The jacket beads exceptionally well initially. In heavy and prolonged rainfall, however, the fabric starts to take on water and becomes saturated. This doesn’t seep through to the inside until the end of a long day out, and even then it’s in very small amounts (slight dampness).

Living on the Cornish coast, windproofness is almost as important as waterproofness, if not more so! And the Atomic Jacket certainly provides plenty of protection from the gales, whether it’s raining or not. The hood design also helps with this.

Versatility

I really like the look of this jacket, but compared with other options it lacks the smartness that I’d prefer for me to feel great wearing it with jeans or casual wear. That comes down to personal preference though. And if it’s that rainy then I’d probably not be wearing jeans anyway!

The zippered pit vents really add to the variety of uses of this jacket. The ability to adjust airflow inside the jackets means that it’s ideal for running in cool and wet conditions. It also makes the Atomic a good option for hiking in warm, wet weather. Plus, the pit vents, combined with the ability to fold the hood away,make it my first choice of jacket for wet weather cycling.

Woman hiking in hills

What I love the most about the Montane Women’s Atomic Jacket

I like the relaxed feel and fit of the jacket. But the design of the hood is my favourite part.

What I don’t love so much about the Montane Women’s Atomic Jacket

Though there is extra length at the back, I would prefer even more! I like to cinch the drawcords in and when this is done it raises the length slightly. If the whole thing were a but longer then this wouldn’t be a problem. That said, if you don’t tend to cinch in the hem then the jacket is plenty long enough for most regular sized torsos!


Verdict

If you’re looking for a waterproof and windproof jacket that you can wear in a variety of situations then the Montane Women’s Atomic Jacket is not to be missed. With a full-featured design, which includes a thoughtfully created hood, the Atomic offers excellent value for hikers, bikers, runners and for everyday wear.

Find the latest price at:
Montane | Amazon

Disclaimer: Cool of the Wild received this product free in return for an honest review. We only recommend gear that we love from companies we trust and we are under no obligation to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are that of the reviewer and we are in no way influenced by the brand or company.

About the author

author-joey

Joey is based in Cornwall, UK, and runs Cool of the Wild. She can’t get enough of being outdoors – whether that’s lounging around the campfire cooking up a feast, hitting the trail in her running shoes, or attempting to conquer the waves on her surfboard – she lives for it. Camping is what she loves to do the most, but has also spent many hours clinging to the side of a rock face, cycling about the place, cruising the ski-slopes on her snowboard, and hiking small mountains and big hills.

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