Two napoleon-style pockets are situated on the front of the jacket. These are fairly modest in size and will only be suitable for things like your sunglasses, snacks and small essentials. Then you’ve got two handwarmer pockets which are slightly larger than the chest pockets, so you can realistically keep a fairly thick pair of gloves in these, or perhaps a radio or folded up OS map. These are placed so that you can access them while wearing a climbing harness or backpack with a hipbelt. Last but not least, there’s one zipped internal pocket against the chest which I’ve found is just big enough for my Samsung Galaxy S21 (71.2×151.7×7.9 mm) in its case. All of the external zips, by the way, are made by YKK and feature water resistant seals and large zip docks.

Fit

I’m 5 foot 10, 11 stone and my build is fairly slim and I had this in my usual size which is a men’s Medium. For me, it was the perfect fit.

From what I can tell, 66°North recommends going for the size that normally works for you. If you often find yourself between sizes, you’d probably be best going up rather than down. I say that because this thing’s cut quite short on the front of the hem and I think I’d find a size S would be almost above my trouser belt.

The hem does drop down nicely at the back though, meaning the jacket won’t pop out at the back of your climbing harness when you’re reaching up. The articulation of the jacket overall helps there too, with the long arms and stretchy fabric at the armpits all working together to allow you to reach up for the highest hold without the jacket lifting up at the hem.

In terms of volume, I found I could comfortably wear this over a bulky insulated layer on days out in the hills. When required, I can see it catering for my full winter layering system too. That being said, I’ve also found that it doesn’t feel or look baggy or flappy when worn simply over a baselayer. In other words, this jacket hits that goldilocks spot for me; the kind of spot that, from my experience, high-spec jackets do generally tend to hit.

Performance

This weighs 508g which would generally be around-and-about the weight I’d expect from a Gore-tex Pro jacket. It’s marginally heavier than I’d like a jacket to be if I was going to be using it mainly for multi-day hiking in summer, but it’s still not heavy enough to be totally ruled out for that kind of thing either. If I was going to be expecting heavy rain throughout that hike, I can see myself being glad to have its reliable protection.

Work really hard and you’re always going to end up getting a bit sweaty in a membrane-lined jacket, but still, this one does seem to be in the top bracket in terms of breathability. OK, there are no pit zips and personally I think it would’ve benefitted from them – even if they can sometimes increase the risk of water ingress – but as you’ll see in the video on this page, I wore this jacket throughout a whole hike on a sunny, strenuous day in Snowdonia and I didn’t ever feel uncomfortable in it.

If you’re already familiar with the performance of Gore-tex Pro fabrics then the reality will be no different to your expectations. This does also mean that, like any other Gore-tex jacket, you’d be wise to wash this and reproof it every now and then using Nikwax’s aftercare solutions. Doing that will maintain the outer fabric’s ability to bead away moisture, thus allowing moisture vapor to escape through the membrane.

Conclusion

£500 is a pretty hefty sum of money, there’s no denying that. But, I’d say that if you did choose to purchase this, you can be safe in the knowledge that you’re getting a premium product here. Perhaps more importantly, with the overall durability and then the free repair service on top of that, you’re also getting a product that, technically, is going to stay with you for life.

You’ll find the Hornstrandir in men’s and women’s versions and in three different colourways: red, blue and black.