I bought a Mont Lightspeed jacket before running the Overland track a few months ago. I was scared of the rain forecast and worried about my old jackets watertight integrity. My girlfriend works at Paddy Pallin and had been raving about the new Mont Lightspeed jacket. Based on her testimonial I bought it and have been using it for a few months now. In this post I will share my thoughts on the jacket and some insights into how it performs in horrid weather.

🖼️ Background

Mont are a well known outdoor gear brand in Australia. They are especially known for their rain jackets. The jackets are popular amongst bushwalkers in Tasmania because of their durability in our scrubby conditions. As far as I am aware the Lightspeed jacket is their first foray into making a super lightweight jacket targeted towards runners, cyclists and ultralight bushwalkers. Given their excellent track record in the field I was willing to give this new running jacket producer a chance.

⚙️ Features

The Lightspeed jacket has a simple design. There is an adjustable hood, a single waterproof breast pocket and waterproof zips. Minimal bells and whistles allow for a super lightweight waterproof jacket. I have seen this jacket discussed amongst the ultralight hikers due to it’s weight and features. The main selling point is the proclaimed performance of the waterproof material.

My partner Lauren, says the breathability rating is one of the highest she had ever seen for a jacket with such a high waterproof rating. I am confused because the inner label of the jacket says 30, 000g/m²/24h but the website states 48, 000 g/m_²/24h. I am yet to find a decent clarification for this discrepancy. I was told that Mont often understate and over deliver when it comes to the specifications of their textiles. So they may have released the jacket with the understated breathability but since tested it and found it was higher. This is just me speculating about the discrepancy, either way it is a high breathability.

Waterproof rating denotes the amount of water pressure that the fabric can withstand before leaking. That means that this jacket can handle 20m of water head on top of it before it leaks.

Moisture Vapour Transmission Rate (MVTR) is the amount of moisture that can pass through a 1m² piece of the material in a 24 hour period. This is how breathability is typically measured. This number is baffling. It is hard to believe that 48kg of water vapour can get out past this material whilst is still being waterproof from the outside in.

Note On Breathability

I am a heavy sweater. I have never truly believed that fabrics can have enough breathability to deal with my rate of perspiration. Especially given I sweat like crazy even without a rain jacket on. I recently watched a youtube video (link) that explained why breathable fabrics are not all they’re cracked up to be.

Most breathable waterproof fabrics are 3 layer with the middle layer being the special breathable material, traditionally Goretex. This mid layer only allows vapours to escape if it isn’t soaked through. This is why the outer layer is typically coated in a durable water repellent (DWR). It may be called durable but it is far from it and as soon as it deteriorates the fabric cannot breathe. These fabrics are waterproof and breathable but not always at the same time.

Regardless of this fact, a rain jacket is still a necessary item since there aren’t many other options for staying warm and dry in wet conditions. When I run I sometimes get a wetsuit like effect where I am wet on the inside but retain body warmth.

At the end of the day no fabric is breathable enough for running except in freezing conditions. A rain jacket still remains an important piece of gear to have in the inventory for safety on back country missions and to meet mandatory gear requirements races. A more functional jacket for most runners is a wind breaker like the popular Patagonia Houdini but this isn’t fully waterproof and you will end up soaked through eventually.

🏳️‍🌈Colour Options

The jacket comes in two colours; orange or green. I was keen to get the orange for the safety of additional visibility but Lauren didn’t like that colour. After trying both on multiple times and much deliberation I opted for the green. Lauren actually came around to the orange in the end but I decided to stick with the green. I have no regrets but I think the orange would be a better option if you plan on using it cycling for better visibility.

🧥 Fit and Feel

I spent a long time at the shop trying on different sizes before finally deciding which to get. The medium fits me best but I ended up going with the baggier large. I like the extra protection of a jacket that comes down slightly over my waist. The larger size also means that I have extra sleeve length which allows me to pull my hands into the sleeve and keep them dry without needing to wear gloves.

Another added benefit of the large jacket is that it can fit over my running pack if the pack isn’t too full. This allows me to quickly get the jacket out and put it on without having to take my running vest off. I stow it in the upper pocket of my Salomon pack and whip it out and put it over the top of the pack without missing a beat.

⚖️ Weight and Portability

The jacket packs up into a nice small bundle by rolling it into the hood. Many other jackets have the ability to stow the jacket into a pocket by turning it inside out. This feature is missing from this jacket but isn’t a dealbreaker for me. Often I will just stuff the jacket into the back tube pocket of the Salomon ADV Skin 12 pack without bothering to roll it up.

My large sized jacked weighs 177g. This is far lighter than my old Salomon Bonatti and competes with the other running jackets on the market.

🧐 Jacket Comparison

I was hoping to make a comprehensive jacket comparison table to see how this jacket stood up to the competition but finding the specifications proved difficult. So I have compared the new jacket to my old jacket and the top of the line Salomon jacket. On paper it beats them both on performance and weight.

Jacket	Wateproof Rating	Breathability	Weight
Mont Lightspeed	20 000 mm	48 000 g/m2/24h	165g (M)
Salomon Bonatti Trail	20 000 mm	20 000 g/m2/24h	180g (M)
Salomon Bonatti (my old jacket)	10 000 mm	10 000 g/m2/24h	212g (M)

🌍 Real World Testing

I bought the jacket the day before running the Overland track. The forecast was for heaps of rain. There ended up being more rain (40mm) than forecast and I spent much of the day feeling grateful for my new jacket. Later in the day the temperatures were so low that I was not sweating under the jacket at all and it was keeping me warm and dry. I have done a whole blog post about that mission if you want to learn more.

I have since been using the jacket whenever required, either up the mountain to stay warm or running around the streets in drizzly conditions. I am happy that I went with a larger sizing. The extra air movement under the jacket allows for greater breathability. While pit zips would be a nice addition I don’t really mind. I generally unzip the front to allow some air flow through the jacket.

It packs down nice and small so I can stow and carry it in my Naked running band. This way I can bring it on shorter runs without having to bring a back pack. I have only had the jacket for about 4 months so I cannot comment on the durability of the product, but it is holding up well so far.

🤔My Opinions

I am impressed with this jacket. It significantly outperforms my old jacket in every way. While I haven’t tested many other jackets on the market I think that Mont have done well with this design. I have no regrets about my purchase. It has kept me warm and dry in some horrendous conditions. Being warm and dry is crucial for safety but also enjoyment of big days out in the mountains.

I hope you found this review helpful. This is my first ever gear review. There may be a few more to come.

I am still working on my next sauna blog posts, hopefully I will release the next one soon. Next week I head to the Grampians for the GPT100 Stage race so I am going to be a bit preoccupied for a while.

Thanks for reading!!