Why We Chose The Haglöfs Grym Evo: Durable, very protective, eco-friendly
Haglöfs have struck a balance here that isn’t an easy one to achieve: they’ve made a properly technical and highly functional jacket that won’t look over the top or deliberately ironic when worn in a casual setting. What’s more there are some brilliant eco efforts here.
The men’s and women’s Grym is a tough, hardwearing three-layer waterproof with a cut that will really help you through some stormy weather. Take the hem, for instance, it’s quite long, dropping down to completely cover your trouser pockets, thus going against the trend of recent years where alpine jackets are pretty much cut right on the waist. We like this, it means you don’t get any water run-off into your pockets and it just provides that extra bit of protection.
Then there’s the hood. It’s three-way adjustable and moves well with your head, and the stiffened peak provides a good amount of cover. You’ll feel like you can really hunker down in this when things get rough. Speaking of difficult conditions, there’s also a built in RECCO reflector in the jacket’s brim which allows swifter tracking in search and rescue situations.
The three-layer polyamide fabric has a hydrostatic head of 15,000mm and a moisture vapour transmission rate of >15,000 g/m²/24h. If you’re not completely au fait with what those numbers mean, in essence, it’s all good. To put it in perspective, Gore-Tex Pro measures 28,000mm and >25,000 g/m²/24h respectively. So the Grym Evo might not be as impenetrable (it’s still fully waterproof mind) but it’s breathability rating is more impressive. If you want extra ventilation you can just open up the sizeable pit zips – always a useful touch in our books.
“Haglöfs say that all of the Grym’s seams are ‘ultrasonically bonded’”
Interestingly, Haglöfs say that all of the Grym Evo’s seams are ‘ultrasonically bonded’ meaning that they’re joined by a machine that applies vibrations of such a high frequency that heat is generated and sets of polymers join to form a bond. The idea behind this is to get a super tight, protective and reliable closure that keeps the fabric completely smooth and flat against the skin – no niggles that’ll dig in. Nice touch.
Other features include two handwarmer pockets which have storm flaps that are sealed by poppers and internal pulls for cinching in the hem (bear in mind these pockets can’t be used while wearing a harness or hipbelt), Velcro cuffs tabs, and a pocket on the chest that’s not quite big enough for a map but fine for a phone and wallet.
