I preferred my Berghaus Changste, with its tight, athletic fit, for lighter and faster hikes, but when the heavens really opened I often reached for the Rab Kangri. It was the durable, hard-wearing and high-performing waterproof I needed for such tough conditions. The Firewall comes up in a regular fit, leaving plenty of room underneath for layering without being too baggy and oversized. There are however some methods that you can use to determine a product’s quality without needing to physically have it.

On top of that, the fabric feels lovely and is pleasantly quiet in use too, which makes a nice change. When it came to mobility, we loved how much the stretchy fabric did stretch, and the larger fit meant that we experienced no constrictions of any sort as we moved about. We also appreciated how quiet the fabric was as we moved, a nice contrast with the noisier Patagonia Pluma and Arc'teryx Alpha FL, which were both made using a Gore-Tex Pro membrane. Venting and Breathability The hood, which can be cinched right down to a very tailored fit, has a large wired peak that does an excellent job of keeping the rain out of your eyes,as a glasses wearer this is a huge win for me. Testing the hood with a helmet on in the shower, we found the collar to be perhaps a bit too wide open, while the wire brim of the hood wasn't quite wide enough. More disconcerting was how little effect the DWR coating on the Firewall had.A lightweight, versatile 3-layer Pertex® Shield hardshell. Waterproof and with a slight stretch, it has a helmet compatible, stowable hood, refined sleeve articulation and deep underarm vents, great for winter hillwalking and mountaineering. To give that price some context we then looked at all of the products available from Go Outdoors in the Waterproof category. We found 111 items in total. What’s the price of Waterproof?

There was a time when that meant second-best performance, but developments in fabric technology mean that’s no longer the case. Another factor that can be a great indication of product quality is the brand. Brands like Rab are of course extremely well known, especially for Waterproof.

Product Up Close

Rear adjuster cord grips the top of the head so the hood moves with your direction of gaze - Photo: Lukasz Warzecha (lwimages.co.uk) The length for me came down to around upper hips and the only thing I noticed was that the sleeves, in relation to the rest, were quite long. I actually quite like them to be like this because it allows good freedom of movement when reaching up and it also allows you to pull your hands up inside (which I often do when walking in the rain).