Berghaus Extrem Hagshu – Performance

We were super impressed with the Berghaus Extrem 8000 Pro expedition hardshell jacket, but the Hagshu is more of an all-round mountain workhorse. First impressions are that it feels solid and super tough. It’s not as light as some at just under 600g for a medium, but that’s the pay-off for the rugged Hydroshell Elite Pro fabric.

It’s neatly cut with medium-long in body and sleeves for maxed-out protection and – for us at least – still has enough space inside for a warmer winter insulation layer like a micro-baffled down jacket for example.

‘Suit Of Armour’

And like the big daddy 8000, it has a great ‘suit of armour’, protective feel to it when everything’s battened down against the weather. That’s helped by a mahoosive helmet hood that’ll happily accommodate a climbing lid, while still giving you pretty much full facial protection up to just below eye-level.

It also manages a decent job without a helmet despite the extra volume. A wired and stiffened cantilever of a peak shrugs off air-strikes, seagulls, sleet, rain and snow with aplomb with just a little looseness around the lower face/chin interface.

The one thing we don’t like about the hood are the stealth front adjuster cords. They give clean lines and avoid any flappage in high winds, but they make micro-adjustment of the hood on the move a fiddly process particularly with gloved-hands. Not a deal-breaker, but worth knowing.

We do like the hidden hem adjusters lodged in the hand-pockets. Again they’re slightly fiddly with gloves, but hems generally only need tweaking once or twice rather than regularly.

‘Pocketage’…

We’re fans of the 3D venting pockets though. The mesh lining means no double-layers of waterproof fabric to reduce breathability plus when things get hot and sticky you can use them to cool off. And as advertised, they sit slightly open for maximum effect.

‘The jacket’s one weak point if you’re that way inclined, is the relative paucity of pockets – or maybe ‘pocketage’.

We found we needed them when going hard, along with rollable sleeves, as the HydroShell fabric isn’t as breathable as, say, Gore-Tex Pro or particularly, Polartec Neoshell. It’s not an issue with steady use, but open the taps and things can get quite hot and humid inside.

The jacket’s one weak point if you’re that way inclined, is the relative paucity of pockets – or ‘pocketage’. There are just those two venting hand-pockets and a long, inside mesh one. If you’re using them for venting as well, finding somewhere to cram spare gloves and so on.

That’ll be an issue for some users and an irrelevance for others. It depends on how you view and use pockets. But be advised…