Mithril Kevlar Jacket

I’m going to share my thoughts on the Klättermusen Mithril Kevlar.

This is the link to the product.

Klättermusen claims that this jacket is the “tank of soft shells” with superior stretch.

The jacket has the same design as the regular Mithril jacket but with the material      
Schoeller keprotec stretch.

This material is very durable and VERY stretchy! The fit of the jacket is great! I always wear size medium and my Mithril fits great in size medium. Because of the stretchy fabric and fit you can easily fit a warmer sweater, a Arc’teryx Atom LT or similar jacket under the Mithril.

You can easily adjust the waist of the jacket. You can not adjust the cuffs of the jacket but they are just perfect for me. You can check you watch easy and because of the stretchy fabric you are able to wear the cuffs over some quite large gloves.

The jacket has only one pocket high on the left side of the chest (next to your heart…). The pocket is not that shallow so things will stay in there if you forget to close it. It is a perfect pocket for your navigational equipment like a folded map and a compass. The stretchy fabric allows some quite big items to be fitted in the pocket if you want. The inside of the pocket is made of Klättermusens stretch net material so the things you have in your pocket will be wet if you are sweating a lot.

The fabric is NOT windproof. I have used this jacket as an outer layer in general outdoor activities mostly during spring and summer. It is a perfect jacket when you are hiking at high altitudes where the sun is warm but the wind is a bit cold. Because the material is not windproof you can work really hard before this jacket becomes to warm and you start to get that claustrophobic feeling in your jacket. The material let winds pass through the jacket pretty easy so it can be a bit cold (compared to a 100 % windproof jacket) if you encounter stronger cold winds.

The inside of the jacket has a fleece-like surface but not nearly as comfy as a real fleece lining. I was a bit afraid that the material would hurt my shoulders and collarbone when carrying a heavy pack with just a merino t-shirt closest to the body but I was wrong and it worked just fine.

I have not used this jacket so much during autumn and winter because of the lack of hood and length. The jacket surely works as a mid layer under you TexMex-shell during wintertime but I am not really sure why you should use “the tank of softshells” as a mid layer…

I have tried to write what I think is important about this jacket but if you have any questions just send me a PM!

OK! Time for some photos!

Klättermusen Einride 2.0

Here are some words about the Klättermusen Einride 2.0 jacket! And some photos of course!

Here is the link to the manufacturers website.

Klättermusen describes this jacket as a fairly short, close fitting, all season jacket made of 100 % organic cotton.

The jacket is made of the Etaproof cotton fabric.

The fabric is very tightly woven, plain, soft and quiet. If you compare it to other cheaper cotton fabrics in outdoor clothing, the first thing you will notice is that it is more tightly woven. There is no stretch in the material and for me, as a medium sized guy, medium fits great! I can use a primaloft jacket as a mid layer but because of the tight fit of the jacket it gets a little bit uncomfy sometimes. A warmer sweater like a fleece hoody works fine.

The fabric is not completely windproof but is NEARLY windproof. The wind will not get to you if it is windy outside. I think that this lack of 100 % windproof is whats making this jacket so comfy to wear. You have always this nice perfect climate inside your jacket when it is cold, windy or moisty outside. So what happens when the rain hits you? This is no rain jacket. When the DWR-treatment is new the jacket can protect you from some serious rain FOR A WHILE. For smaller rains and for every day use in the city it is just fine. Do not believe that you can be protected from heavy rains in this jacket. Water will start to come in through the seems, after that the material will be soaked and then you will get very wet. Overall the material is a great material for the outdoors! I have a pair of old Gleipner trousers that has seen eight years of wear and tear and the Etaproof is still holding up very well!

It is possible to adjust the waist, cuffs and hood on the jacket. I think most people does not have to adjust the waist but sometimes it can be nice to do that if cold winds are blowing in to the jacket. I rarely adjust the cuffs because they are fairly tight from the start. The adjustment on the cuffs are very simple and works perfectly with bigger gloves. The cuffs are to tight for use over bigger gloves. The hood is adjusted by using the three adjustment points on the hood.

The jacket has two pockets in the front. Because of the diagonal front zipper one pocket is smaller than the other. I think this is a bad thing! The larger pocket has a normal size for this kind of jacket but the left pocket I think is too small. I would like to have a straight down normal zipper and two equally sized pockets. For every day wear you can fit your wallets, flashlights and phones without any problem. The smaller pocket is almost filled up by my Garmin GPS62. The bigger pocket can hold a pair of all-round gloves.

To be honest I don’t use this jacket so much in the great outdoors. It is mostly used as a everyday jacket when I am running around in urban terrain. The reason for this is that the jacket, I think, is a little bit short and a little bit tight for layering. It is a great jacket for my day trips in the forest or at the mountain but for longer journeys I would use a Klättermusen Rimfaxe or other similar cotton jacket.

Another reason why I don’t use it on longer journeys is because I can’t motivate the weight in my pack. I always bring a baselayer, a midlayer and a shell. This jacket is not waterproof and I must carry a waterproof shell so my TexMex-shell goes down in my backpack before the Einride. I don’t have the muscles to carry a TexMex-shell AND a Etaproof shell.

So… It is a good jacket but it is too expensive. 421 euros! That is crazy for a cotton jacket. I don’t know if the Etaproof fabric is expensive but I can’t really see the performance advantage compared to the classic Fjällräven G-1000 fabric. Fjällräven takes 180 to 200 euros for similar jackets.

I paid 300 euros for my jacket and I felt bad afterwards… 🙂

Thats that. Send me a PM if you have any questions!

Now some photos!

I have a normal body size and notice how short the jacket is.

Backside of the jacket.

The hood is a normal jacket hood. No Klättermusen storm hood here.

Hood adjustment on left and right side in “eye-hight”.Hood adjustment on the back of the hood.

Comfy microfleece flap inside hood. Makes the fit of the hood really good.Microfleece chin protector. YKK “waterproof” front zipper.Discrete logo and name on the left side of the chest.Big wide flap behind the zipper. This offers good water and wind protection. Some jackets have very small or no flaps behind the zipper and because of that you can feel the wind in hard weather.Reflective Klättermusen logo together with right side pocket zipper garage. Zipper garage never works. It is made of too soft material. The zipper pull always gets stuck in the zipper garage material. Klättermusen should have used some semi-hard fabric here.Left side pocket zipper garage.Arc’teryx Tactician AR Glove fits in the left side pocket.Right side pocket emergency compass and whistle. The jacket can be folded in to this pocket and be carried around the waist.Jacket packed in the right side pocket.Size comparison with 1 L Nalgene.Cuff adjustment.Cuffs with non-cotton reinforcements.Waist adjustments.Reinforced waist.This is the inside of the jacket. Photo shows the pockets mesh material.
The jacket is rated MFR 8. MFR information.

Klättermusen Arvaker backpack

This is a review of the Klättermusen Arvaker backpack…

“Arvaker´s frame can cope with really big backpacks and the ergonomic harness system is comfortable even when carrying great weights. The cord loops on the front make it easy to attach extra equipment and accessories, such as side pockets, to the backpack. The clever roll opening means that the backpack can actually hold slightly more than its size implies. Arvaker can be easily adjusted to your back length and your hip circumference. The Butterfly Bridge™ construction guarantees that the weight is placed in the right position on your shoulders. Arvaker is made from 100% recycled nylon. “

That is what Klättermusen is saying about this backpack.

I have the 50 liter version of the pack and for me that’s a great size because the pack can be used during multi-day hiking trips and can also work as a bigger pack for everyday use. At the moment the 50 liter version is not offered for sale by Klättermusen. Only 40 and 60 liter versions are available.

The first time I saw the Arvaker backpack my reaction was: “What is that?!” The crazy design and the weird-looking shoulder straps made me think that this was nothing for me. After some time I started to getting used to the design when surfing the web so one day I bought it, when I found the pack for a good price in my hometown.

One of the first tests I did in my apartment was to pack the Arvaker full of stuff to test the Butterfly Bridge™ construction to see if it really worked. I have to admit that I was not expecting any miracles. Surprisingly though the pack could handle the 20+ kg very well! I could immediately feel that the waist belt was something for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can, with very good comfort, easily carry 15-20 kg in this pack! Great! During a one week hiking trip in the mountains with 17 kg on my back I could really feel the Butterfly-system working. I had absolutely no pain in the shoulders or hips. Instead I could feel that the pressure from the shoulder straps had been mostly on my collarbone. So the design of the straps and the belt seems to work very good, at least on me.

Many of Klättermusens backpacks uses roll-opening of the main compartment. In my world that is a fail safe, durable and quick way of opening a backpack. Only one move to get a full opening of the pack! On the downside you don’t have any top lid to quickly put stuff under. I think it’s important to point out that it’s possible to open the roll-opening fully even if you have a tent attached on the top of the backpack (Hilleberg Nammatj 3GT in the photos). The opening is secured with two small hooks on either side of the backpack. When I am using the sidepockets I use the top hooks so the opening of the side pockets is available without having to unhook the strap for the main opening. When using the lower hooks you can compress the backpack very good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the inside you can find the small pocket for you special valuables

 

 

 

 

 

The tent is placed on what Klättermusen calls the “tent shelf” on top of the backpack. It works great with bigger tents such as the Hilleberg Nammatj 3GT but of course also for smaller tents, jackets, sleeping mats or whatever you want to put there. The strings on the “tent shelf” and the other attachment strings are inelastic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought four extra pockets from Klättermusen to my Arvaker. One pair of the 6 liter side pockets, the 12 liter roll-top side pocket and the small hipbelt pocket. The 6 liter side pockets can easily hold a lightweight Gore-Tex jacket and pant or a big water bottle/thermos. The side pockets have very robust zippers going from the top and 2/3 down to the bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 12 liter roll-top side pocket is perfect for storing a smaller sleeping mat or something else you want to have quick access to. It’s a great place for my Exped Multimat! The pocket can quickly be removed from the pack by unsnapping four clasps. You can choose if you want to have the pockets straps behind the pocket or over it. I prefer to have the straps over the pocket to be able to compress and tighten up the pack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My hipbelt pocket is fastened on my hipbelt. Of course you can place somewhere else using the attachment points. The pocket is perfect for my Nikon Coolpix P7000! If you have a larger camera, I think there will be difficulties. The pocket is a little bit padded which is nice if you carry a camera or maybe trying to stop the heat getting to your chocolate bars…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the pockets are made to fit all the Klättermusen backpacks it is not super simple to get pockets to fit perfectly. But I think that Klättermusen has found a pretty good system without having attachment points all over the pack (which would have increased the weight a lot). On the 6 liter side pocket I hade to put “one up, one down” (see photo below) because the attactment point was at an angle and the side pocket was straight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My backpack is an early version of the Arvaker so I had some problems with the locking mechanism for the top straps. I contacted Klättermusen about this issue and they sent me new shoulder straps with new top straps directly! Great service! That’s the only problem I have had with the pack so far. Now some more photos of the Butterfly carrying system…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Butterfly photos… Check out the locking block for the top straps and the hipbelts  clever quick release buckle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the back there is a pocket for a small water bladder and there is a top pocket which is very hard to use if the pack is fully packed. The buttom of the pack is reinforced with some kind of kevlar material. Feels super-durable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to Klättermusen the backpack is made of recyclable material. The material is made by a Korean company named Hyosung and it feels very durable! The material is waterproof but you will have some small drops of water penetrating the pack in heavy rain. Probably through the seams. If you pack in waterproof bags there is absolutely no need for a rain cover with this backpack.

 

 

 

 

 

So… Klättermusen Arvaker is a great pack for 15-20 kg on multi-day hikes! Klättermusen needs to send a manual for the Butterfly system so you don’t have to experiment for two days before you get it right. A manual for attaching the pockets would be nice too!

Overall a great pack that, I think, has the material to last a lifetime!

If you want the specs… Click here

Let me know what you think about my first review! Please leave a comment!