Sumcham Jacket – Performance

The Suncham’s reassuring heft and solid feel augured well for an uncompromising mountain jacket, but the fit was universally panned. ‘It’s like going back to the days when women’s jackets were just shrink and pink versions of men’s’ said Caroline, who used to work in outdoors shop.

Specifically, although our test jacket was a nominal size 12, it felt more like a 14 in the upper body and shoulders, but still had a narrow hip-shape that rode up with movement along with a loose fit elsewhere. ‘Sack-like’ was one of the harsher verdicts…

To be fair, there was no problem adding warmer layers underneath, but this is one where you really do need to try before buying. It didn’t fit any of our four women.

‘I failed to satisfactorily adjust the hood to suit.  There was some wallowing of material and floppiness preventing the best long distance vision without the peak interfering.’

Also contentious was the helmet hood. Yes, it works well with a helmet and gives good facial protection, but the pay-off, particularly for those with smaller heads, is that with a lid, you’re simply swamped with the peak tending to fall forwards over the eyes and restrict vision. Caroline could pretty much set up camp inside…

All of which is shame because the solid-feeling fabric works fine for general mountain use, though it’s not as breathable as some. The build quality is good with decent features like a serious storm-flap behind the main-zip and those big venting pockets that also take a map quite happily and stealth hood-cord and hem adjusters tucked neatly away so they can’t flap around in serious wind.

Overall though, we kept coming back to the cut and the hood as fundamental issues.

Sumcham Jacket – Verdict

Somewhere inside the Sumcham, there’s a decent, robust, protective jacket struggling to get out, but all our testers had issues with the oddly shapeless fit and the voluminous helmet hood.

It’s a shame as otherwise the Sumcham feels like a well-designed mountaineering shell at a very competitive price. The own-brand Berghaus fabric works well and there are neat touches like those stealth adjusters, venting pockets and overall solidness, though it is a little weighty at 510g.

We’re not saying you should automatically dismiss the jacket as an option, but we’d try it carefully before buying and make a special point of ensuring that the hood works okay for you both with and without a helmet.

More Information

See berghaus.com