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What is the Microlight Alpine?
So, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the Microlight Alpine, where have you been? This thing is more than ten years old! Over the past decade, it’s been tried, tested and loved and has become firmly established as the iconic lightweight down jacket for climbers, hikers and mountaineers. It’s a micro-baffled, lightweight, hydrophobic down-filled jacket that is perfect for just about any outdoor activity. It’s hugely versatile and reliable and works superbly as an insulating layer as part of your overall layering system.
What is it made of?
Insulation: Providing the warmth inside the Microlight is a fully recycled 700 fill power down with a Nikwax hydrophobic treatment. Only the highest quality down is collected, washed, sterilised and reused for Rab's jackets, providing exactly the same performance as new down but with far better environmental credentials. One of the main negatives to using down is that if it gets wet, it stops insulating you. Rab has combatted this by coating each and every cluster in a Nikwax product, meaning it dries faster, absorbs less water and lofts better than an untreated alternative.
Fabrics: Surrounding all this luxurious down is a recycled 30D Pertex Quantum fabric. This fabric weighs very little and features a durable water repellent coating, providing a little weather resistance if you happen to get caught out. Inside, a similar recycled 20D nylon is used but in a lighter, softer variant.
What are its features?
Up top there’s a fully insulated and well-fitting hood that will, at a push, fit a helmet underneath. The hood also features little stretchy stitch lines to keep it snug at the back if you’ve not got a helmet on. A laminated brim with a flexible polymer peak stops it all flopping down over your eyes. For storage options, you get two nicely sized handwarmer pockets and a chest pocket. Updated cuffs for this year ensure maximum insulation around the wrists yet allow you to fit bulky gloves comfortably underneath, a soft stretchy fabric cuff effectively seals in the warmth and keeps out the weather. Right down at the bottom, you get a drawcord on the hem to maximise the warmth and to help seal out the cold drafts.
How does the Microlight Alpine fit?
As an insulating layer, it is designed to be a close, snug fit, yet features enough room to layer up underneath on particularly chilly days. The rear of the jacket features a slightly dropped hem.
Where does it fit in the layering system?
The Microlight works well as a standalone jacket on those crisp, dry, freezing days, as a midlayer with a shell over the top in wet, windy conditions or as a cosy casual jacket. Layering is not a precise science and there is no one perfect system that will suit every person, situation or weather condition. Some of us feel the cold, others, like me, get hot very quickly, but for more advice on using layers please check out this video.
- Recycled inner and outer fabrics
- Recycled down insulation
- Hydrophobic Nikwax treatment
- Two hand pockets
- One chest pocket
- Adjustable hem drawcord
- Internally elasticated cuffs
How to wash your down products
Having spent years talking to people about down products, whether that’s a jacket, sleeping bag or even a pair of slippers, very few have had the confidence to go ahead and wash the product on their own, especially when they have just spent an arm and a leg on it. This small guide is here to explain that it’s not as daunting and utterly terrifying as it first appears.
Step one: Before you even get near that washing machine, wipe off any excess mud or dirt that may be lingering on the surface of the jacket, as this will clog up the washing machine, eventually rendering it useless.
We recommend the use of Nikwax Down Wash Direct for down products as it’s one hundred percent environmentally friendly and will wash and re-proof the garment without the use of bleach or any other nasty chemicals. What household washing agents can (and often do) is remove the water repellent coating on the fabric of the jacket, whilst also damaging the delicate array of feathers inside.
Step two: We’ll assume in this instance that you’ve been washing other products prior to your down jacket and have used a bleach based detergent. Therefore it’s a good idea to run the washing machine for half an hour or so without anything inside to rinse it clean before adding the Nikwax or putting the jacket in. Also, don’t forget to remove the detergent drawer to give it a wash inside, outside and behind, as detergent can clog up and still enter the washing machine if not cleaned out thoroughly. This ensures that any remnants of detergent are removed and that the Nikwax products will work effectively.
Step three: Set the washing machine to a cold wash (check the garments care label, most tend to be around 30°C) and as delicate as possible. Most washing machines have a “wool” cycle which is ideal.
Step four: If using Nikwax Down Wash Direct, place 100ml in either the tray or directly into the washing machine inside a small pot/ball. If you choose to use another washing product, place the appropriate amount in the machine in the same way.
Step five: Set the washing machine to run on a slow cycle, allowing plenty of time for the jacket to soak up the cleaning/re-proofing product. Most washing machines will have a pre-set time for different washing cycles.
When the cycle has finished be prepared for a shock, your precious bit of kit will come out looking like a soggy ball of material. But don’t worry, you haven’t ruined it, it’s just that all that fluffy down insulation has become water logged and has clumped together. The trick is to now get all that down nice and dry to reinstate its superb insulating properties. Simply hanging it up in a warm place will not work that well. It will take days to properly dry and you will have to constantly break up the clumps to get it thoroughly dry. The best way is to use a tumble dryer; either a domestic one for smaller items or a commercial drier for sleeping bags.
Step six: Pop the garment into the dryer and make sure to select a low heat; a high heat runs the risk of melting seams and fabrics within the garment. It sounds weird, but shove a few tennis balls into the drier with the garment; the tennis balls will bounce around and help to break up the clumps of down. Every 20 minutes, pull the jacket out of the dryer and lie the jacket down on a table. Run your hands over the jacket until you find a 'clump' or ball of down; tease apart this down clump and spread it evenly into the baffle. Once you're confident you've pulled apart every clump to the best of your ability, stick it back in for another 20 minutes. Keep repeating this until there are no more clumps left.
Step seven: When the cycle has finished and you are sure that you have got the garment as dry as possible, hang it up in a warm dry place, an airing cupboard is ideal, for 24 hours. This drives out the last of any dampness and allows the down to loft fully. Take it out and give it a good shake and, hey presto, it’ll be as good as new.