The length for me came down to around upper hips and the only thing I noticed was that the sleeves, in relation to the rest, were quite long. I actually quite like them to be like this because it allows good freedom of movement when reaching up and it also allows you to pull your hands up inside (which I often do when walking in the rain).

There was a time when that meant second-best performance, but developments in fabric technology mean that’s no longer the case. One fully vented pit zip sits underneath the arm, on each side, sealed with a YKK® AquaGuard zip. AquaGuard zips are taped to help prevent water seeping through the seams, offering maximum water repellency in more vulnerable sections of the piece. The pit zips are lengthy to provide maximum ventilation during intense activity - perfect for when you're working up a sweat in the mountains. Another factor that can be a great indication of product quality is the brand. Brands like Rab are of course extremely well known, especially for Waterproof. When buying Waterproof, the quality of the product is going to be one of the factors that you really scrutinise before you commit to buying. A lightweight, versatile 3-layer Pertex® Shield hardshell. Waterproof and with a slight stretch, it has a helmet compatible, stowable hood, refined sleeve articulation and deep underarm vents, great for winter hillwalking and mountaineering.

Material Facts

The Firewall is described as a regular fit (sized to allow layering underneath) and I found this to be a generous fit for my 40 inch chest at size medium. I could comfortably layer a base layer and a couple of mid weight synthetic layers underneath. Classic Velcro-tabbed cuffs work over or under bulky winter gloves and characteristic longish sleeves don't ride up either - Photo: Lukasz Warzecha (lwimages.co.uk) Sleeves are articulated, providing extra fabric where you need it most to improve freedom of movement and arm lift. Sleeve articulation helps to stop the sleeves from riding up when they are fully stretched, helping you to stay fully covered on steep ascents. The cuffs are adjustable, they have a hook and loop system to adapt the fit around the wrists or gloves. The hood works well with interconnected front and rear adjuster cords giving and excellent fit on a bare head - Photo: Lukasz Warzecha (lwimages.co.uk)

Specifically, PU layers can now be micro-engineered to maximise breathability. And our experience of Shield+ is that it’s appreciably more breathable than the original Pertex Shield (no ‘+’) fabric and on a par with all but the very best rival materials. I preferred my Berghaus Changste, with its tight, athletic fit, for lighter and faster hikes, but when the heavens really opened I often reached for the Rab Kangri. It was the durable, hard-wearing and high-performing waterproof I needed for such tough conditions. Our experience of Shield+ is that it’s appreciably more breathable than the original Pertex Shield (no ‘+’) fabric and on a par with all but the very best rival materials’ Rear adjuster cord grips the top of the head so the hood moves with your direction of gaze - Photo: Lukasz Warzecha (lwimages.co.uk) Outdoors Magic: Demon pit-zips, nice, quiet fabric with stretch, decent breathability, good cut and at a super-competitive price too.

Performance Comparison

An updated classic, a hard-wearing, hard-working rain shell, you know you can rely on regardless of what the weather has in store for you. Rab says: When it came to mobility, we loved how much the stretchy fabric did stretch, and the larger fit meant that we experienced no constrictions of any sort as we moved about. We also appreciated how quiet the fabric was as we moved, a nice contrast with the noisier Patagonia Pluma and Arc'teryx Alpha FL, which were both made using a Gore-Tex Pro membrane. Venting and Breathability To give that price some context we then looked at all of the products available from Go Outdoors in the Waterproof category. We found 111 items in total. What’s the price of Waterproof? That got us thinking though, that we’re looking at every possible item from Rab so it would be good to narrow our search down even further and only look at Rab branded products within the Waterproof category. The cost of Rab Waterproof

The Firewall comes up in a regular fit, leaving plenty of room underneath for layering without being too baggy and oversized. There are however some methods that you can use to determine a product’s quality without needing to physically have it. The hood, which can be cinched right down to a very tailored fit, has a large wired peak that does an excellent job of keeping the rain out of your eyes,as a glasses wearer this is a huge win for me.The material the product is made from is often a sign of the quality for Waterproof. Take a look at the product details over at Go Outdoors to get a feel for this. The fabric feels lovely and is pleasantly quiet in use too. No more sounding like a plastic bottle being blown down the street every time the wind gets up’ The downside to buying online is that you can’t actually get hold of the product to try it out first. Testing the hood with a helmet on in the shower, we found the collar to be perhaps a bit too wide open, while the wire brim of the hood wasn't quite wide enough. More disconcerting was how little effect the DWR coating on the Firewall had. On top of that, the fabric feels lovely and is pleasantly quiet in use too, which makes a nice change.

Plus the conventional PU-coated water-resistant YKK main-zip isn’t as smooth flowing as the swankier molded-tooth YKK Vislon type, but we can live with that. It’s a completely waterproof material, unlike the brand’s classic windproof fabrics, and uses a PU membrane. In our controlled stationary bike breathability testing, we did not find the Pertex Shield+ membrane to be noticeably more breathable than the Gore-Tex Pro membranes found in the Patagonia Pluma. It was hot and sweaty in there until we opened up the vents. We loved the combination of the full-length arm vents, which Rab calls "Escape Artist" vents because having the sleeves fully unzipped makes them very easy to simply slip your arms out of for optimal ventilation and heat buildup relief. The hood will also accommodate a climbing helmet for mountaineering missions with coverage up to nose level (model's own) - Photo: Lukasz Warzecha (lwimages.co.uk) The stretch material combined with a spacious and non-constricting fit means the Firewall was an optimal choice for activities like ice climbing that require a lot of mobility in an upper-body garment.Pertex® Shield 3-Layer construction waterproof technology with fluorocarbon free DWR (120gsm) HH: 20,000mm/MVTR: 20,000 g/m2/24hrs