Haglöfs original Spitz Jacket launched back in 2007 was something of a ground-breaker. A great-looking, short-cut, Gore-Tex mountaineering jacket complete with snazzy colour-contrasting zips, a helmet hood and quiet good looks, it became something of an instant classic and object of outdoor clothing desire.
Spitz The Same…
And now it’s back for winter 2016, true to the original winning design, but updated with modern fabrics and technologies. That means ‘new’ Spitz aces ‘old’ Spitz with new, lighter, tougher and more breathable Gore-Tex Pro fabric for example, but in an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ sort of way, most of the rest of the jacket remains pretty much the same.
That means the medium short, harness-friendly cut, helmet hood with stiffened peak, Napoleon chest-pockets, pit-zips, reinforced wear points and water-resistant zips are all present and correct. And so are the classically smooth good looks.
But Different.
One major change from the first coming, is that the new Spitz is now also available in a women’s-specific version – all these same features as the men’s jacket, but shaped to fit female physiology.
There are four men’s colour options ranging from brash red through to a discrete sort of beige/grey ‘beluga’ ensemble, while girls get a choice of plain black or vibrant red and ‘berry’. Weights are a reasonable 435g for the women’s model and 490g for the men’s – not bad for a tough mountain jacket.
Finally, the bottom line is a cool £380 suggested retail price. Not cheap, but then neither was the original. We loved the original Spitz and we’re looking forward to seeing how the new version measures up to the classic. Watch this space.
More Information
See www.haglofs.com/gb/en/search/spitz
Watch The Video
We’re not entirely sure the new Spitz was really made on a Scandinavian wind farm, but if it gets you in the mood…
Warning: this Scandinavian video does not contain dark scenes of murder, enigmatic, brooding detective work, bridges, tunnels or girls with any sort of tattoo whatsoever.