Reviews

Rab Cirrus Ultra Hoody | Review

Light, warm, packable, weather resistant and made using recycled materials. We can see why this jacket has picked up outdoor industry awards

The Rab Cirrus Ultra Hoody is a synthetic insulated jacket that brings an excellent warmth-to-weight ratio to the table. I’ve been using it throughout this autumn, including on hikes in the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands, and it’s been a perfect barrier against not only the cold but also a bit of rain too.

Who Is The Rab Cirrus Ultra Best Suited To

This is a jacket that’s designed with alpine climbing in mind, bringing a low weight, loads of warmth (even when wet), packability and functionality to the table. That’s not to say it’s unsuited to hillwalking or even just day-to-day wear. In fact, this has served me well both as an insulator for Highlands hiking and, more recently, for simply standing in the terraces of the Cardiff Arms Park on a Saturday evening.

From what I’ve seen, it’s warm enough for hillwalking in the UK right through the winter, pairing comfortably with a fleece underneath on the coldest of days.

Will Renwick using the Rab Cirrus Ultra in the Highlands. Photos: Dave Macfarlane

Performance

The uses PrimaLoft’s new Thermoplume+ insulation which basically involves thousands of tiny clumps of fibres that join together to loft and trap warm air in the same way that down feathers do. PrimaLoft say that they’ve developed the shape of their clusters to make the fill 20% lighter overall, without losing any warmth.

Over the years, lots of companies have been trying to create a synthetic insulation that has the same feel and warmth-to-weight as down. This, in my opinion, is the best I’ve come across so far. It’s super comfortable and very light and packable but it’s also got wet weather performance too, because, unlike down, the fill clusters don’t collapse and lose their insulating properties when they get wet. This therefore is really handy for those days where you need both wet weather protection and insulation. OK it’s not a substitute for a rain jacket, but I found it can see off light rain well and it pairs nicely with a shell layer too.

Will is 5 foot 10 and wearing a UK size M.

Then there’s the TILT lining too. TILT stands for Thermoionic lining technology. It’s a reflective lining that enhances warmth by reflecting body heat back toward the user, improving thermal efficiency without adding extra weight or bulk. It works in the same way as one of those space blankets that people use at the end of marathons – only it’s much higher spec! Interestingly, you can actually just about see the TILT’s shiny dots through the translucent liner material.

Fit

I’m 5 foot 10, I have an average build and I tried this in a size medium, which is my usual size. For me, the fit was perfect and I wouldn’t want to size up or down. The hem comes down low enough to cover your backside while I found it didn’t ride up and over a climbing harness or my backpack hipbelt. Likewise, the arms are well articulated and don’t lift the hem up when you’re reaching up for a handhold. I liked the cut too. It’s really comfortable to wear just with a t-shirt and I found there’s enough volume that it can be worn over a thick fleece on those extra cold days.

Details

You can expect plenty of nice mountain-focused details here. The cuffs, for instance, fit comfortably but have enough stretch so you can pull thick gloves through them. The handwarmer pockets can be accessed when you’re wearing a harness or a backpack with a hipbelt. The two-way zip is another harness friendly detail, while you can also clip the jacket onto a harness when it’s all stuffed away into its own pocket.

The external pocket on the chest is perfect for a hat or GPS device and it’ll accommodate an OS map that’s been folded in half. The internal dump pocket is more map friendly and it’s ideal for stashing your gloves.

The hood is well insulated and has a long and broad, moldable peak. It’s large enough that it can be worn over a helmet while there’s plenty of adjustment for when you want it fixed closely and comfortably around your head.

Verdict

With its impressive warmth-to-weight, wet weather performance, and a surprising level of durability too, it’s hard to fault this on the performance front. It’s certainly been a solid performer for me. I’ve also been impressed by just how lofty this thing has remained since I first started using it, and the fill doesn’t seem to be migrating too leave any cold spots either.

Credit to Rab (and PrimaLoft) on using a high amount of recycled content here too – and for avoiding PFAS chemicals. Rab are actually leading the way on transparency in the outdoor industry at the moment, with all of their product listings now containing a Material Facts column that details all of the ingredients in their products and gives info on the manufacturing origin and presence of any potentially hazardous chemicals.

For another similarly impressive jacket from Rab, this time using down fill, go check out the Rab Mythic Ultra.