This spring I was the lucky winner of a Berghaus Hyper Jacket. I had planned two big races this spring; the Berghaus Dragon’s Back race in Wales (a 5-day, 315 km foot race) and the Raid In France in the French Ardѐche region (a 5-day, 417km, non-stop adventure race) and for both races, the weather forecast looked great.

So instead of my normal 3-layer Gore-Tex jacket, I could now bring this super lightweight jacket that weighs around 100 grams and packs away the size of your fist (saving weight and space in my pack!). That’s all great and fine as long as the weather is good, but I wasn’t too sure how the jacket would behave in bad weather as the material is really thin. Fortunately for me, the weather stayed great during both races, unfortunately, I couldn’t test the jacket.

Fabric

Some weeks later I had another race in Germany, this time the weather didn’t look so good. Once again I decided to bring the Hyper Jacket and this time, I didn’t bring it just for its lightweight. During 24 fours of biking, running, and kayaking I have put the jacket to the test. While putting it on and off several times the thing I was afraid of didn’t happen, it didn’t rip. The material is surprisingly strong and durable for how thin it is. The jacket is made of Hydroshell Hyper fabric that is very thin and it comes with taped seams, which is often the most important criteria to be able to bring it on a race.

Fit & Comfort

The wrists are made of elastic material, so the jacket stays nicely in place, and no water runs in while biking. The same elastic material is used for the hood so that when zipped up in doesn’t blow off, while still having a full range of motion.

Breathability

During my race, the jacket kept me perfectly dry and when it didn’t rain I often used it as wind blocker on the downhills. I carried a pack for hours and, although the material is really thin, I couldn’t find any wear marks after the race. Of course, when carrying a pack the material will breathe less, but I didn’t find it uncomfortable.

Conclusion

Overall I found the Berghaus Hyper Jacket a great lightweight jacket. It’s a piece of kit which I will bring on many of my future adventures, and even on other days when I am just not sure of the weather. So it doesn’t matter what your outdoor sport is, but this super lightweight jacket is worth bringing along. *Unfortunately no pictures were made during the race when I was wearing the jacket (mostly at night or no camera was present). These pictures are of some of my latest training sessions.