Deerhunter Avanti Smock

[The Lord Poncho]

Whilst I currently own a Ridgeline Monsoon smock, it is one of the originals, so about as breathable as a crisp packet. It is however a great design, I love the style and the practicality, it’s just for any even moderate activity, the condensation build up inside is extraordinary!

I recently stumbled upon the Deerhunter Avanti Smock online – it has the similar hunting smock style design, some promising looking pockets, a proper fixed good (rather than the detachable hood on the ridgeline which I much admit, I’m not keen on), and best of all, it promises breathability of ‘up to 10.000g/m2/24hr’.

The optimistic part of me wants to believe that this is a typo, as 10g of moisture vapour transmission is probably less breathable than spray coating ones self with liquid rubber. I want to believe that they actually meant 10,000g/m2/24hr – which (albeit noting the ‘up to’ caveat, would be really rather good.

There seem few real unbiased reviews of this smock online, so my question is – has anyone here got one, and if so, what are your thoughts?

Perhaps people have experience with other Deerhunter waterproof kit, and can comment of the breathability of the ‘deertex’ membrane used?

 

[LoneWalker]

I haven't personally got experience of Deerhunter kit but there is a video by McQ Bushcraft on waterproofs on youtube that may be worth checking out. I'm sure that in the video he was using Deerhunter kit. I will try and find it and post a link.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Many thanks, i'll try to track that down as well.

 

[Macaroon]

These look like good kit to me, especially as I've just found them at £90 delivered, and they seem to have good stock, too. Very tempted indeed.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deerhunte...oting-fishing-jacket-RRP-181-99-/112215171674

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Me too. Even better if i can make a little bit of that money back by offloading the ridgeline monsoon on ebay. If you are prepared to get one in a camo print, they are even cheaper at £72.50 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deerhunte...hash=item1a1d421e10:m:m29IX-cjK8UJw-FoG_FvNjg

 

[Johnnyboy1971]

Been using the Deerhunter Ram jacket and trousers for the last four years and can't fault them.

 

[Leshy]

Looks ok and the MVP values look good but ... I just can't see how that is advertised as a hunting/stalking jacket , it doesn't look very quiet to me ...
Am I missing something here, or would you be russling along like a walking crisp packet in the woods ???

Is that the trade off ? Waterproofness + breathability means you'll be noisy .

The Barbour Durham is still my favorite waterproof , do I need to move on with the times?

Apologies for the rookie question...

 

[Macaroon]

The only question you'll ever need to apologise for is the one you didn't ask.......

I wore Barbours for donky's years, and still have a drizabone on the hook by the door; nothing at all wrong with them until you try anything rash like moving:yikes:

I wouldn't countenance all that crispy stuff, but in my experience smocks like this one appears to be are cut in such a way, and the materials at such a stage of development, that the noise thing is not the issue it once was.
I certainly wouldn't wear a smock such as this where I'd be at a base camp and around a fire, but for exploring and mooching in the woods I'm prepared to give it a go. And the big one for me is the WEIGHT....... how do you pack and carry such as a Barbour in anything you could remotely call a daypack? The world has moved on, just a tad, and although I'm a traditionilist through and through I try to also explore what's new.

Just my tuppence worth

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Looks ok and the MVP values look good but ... I just can't see how that is advertised as a hunting/stalking jacket , it doesn't look very quiet to me ...
Am I missing something here, or would you be russling along like a walking crisp packet in the woods ???

Is that the trade off ? Waterproofness + breathability means you'll be noisy .

The Barbour Durham is still my favorite waterproof , do I need to move on with the times?

Apologies for the rookie question...

I might be wrong here, but similar to my old Ridgeline Monsoon, i believe that this has a 'brushed tricot' face fabric - this is basically like an extremely short pile fleece/suede type effect on the outer face, which, if it is like the ridgeline, is very quiet. The downside of course is that unless you are very on top of your re-roofing, the outer face is more susceptible to 'wetting out'. This wouldn't make it leak, but would increase its weight, and decrease its breathability.

the other option that I'm considering for a waterproof is a 'Pentagon Monsoon'. Available for about the same money, but a very different style being a little 'tacticool'. Lots of pockets though. http://www.military1st.co.uk/k07010-06g-pentagon-monsoon-rain-shell-jacket-grindle-green.html

To be honest, i think i'm straying towards the deerhunter - both for the styling, and the nice long length.

Anyone have experience as to whether the sizing is roughly standard?

 

[Leshy]

All good points Mac.
Thank you for clarifying that , it's apparent from Lord poncho that the short pile fleece like material is indeed the case .
Interesting ...
I still like the classic Durham as it's lightweight (for a Barbour) and very quiet but I'd really like to try one of these DNtex (http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147166)

or Deertex fabrics as it looks very promising.

Thank you all for the info

 

[The Lord Poncho]

I’ve been meaning to update this thread for a while – in the end I purchased an Avanti smock, and have had the chance to use it a reasonable amount now.

I’m generally very impressed with it. First impressions on opening the parcel was that it is very light, very thin, and quite stretchy. Not at all like I was expecting (I was perhaps imagining receiving something quite stiff and heavy like the fabric of the Ridgeline Monsoon), but that is certainly not a bad thing at all – it is very comfortable to wear, and in no way feels like wearing a traditional waterproof shell. It appears to be extremely breathable – never had any problems in that respect, and generally has a nice cut to it, and a decent sized hood. I’m relatively slim, and 6ft2 tall, and the size large fits well, with sufficient length in the arms. One of the downsides of the fabric – which has a silent and soft fleecy surface to it – it that the outer surface does absorb and hold the water. This is more an observation than anything else though, as I’ve not experienced condensation/breathability problems when it has been in this state. I would imagine that it will hole/tear reasonably easily, and only time will tell – but that is the only downside to a waterproof shell that is probably the most comfortable and unrestrictive to wear than any that I have owned previously (ventile included). I’d certainly recommend, and if you can still get them for £90 like I managed, it’s a bargain!

 

[Lithril]

Can't comment on the smock but I've got a Deer Hunter Nebraska jacket which is Deertex, I've had this jacket for around 15 years now, admitedly I only wear it in the winter as it's too damn hot but the build quality is excellent.

 

[Peter]

I just wanted to add that, thanks to this review, I bought an Avanti Smock for £40 on ebay. I like it so much that I just bought a second one £40 from Amazon. At these prices it's a ridiculously good bargain & an excellent garment. I did notice a some water ingress after a very windy wet walk but I think it may be due to me not closing the zips fully as I haven't noticed problems before.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Great - glad you like it! Very happy with mine. £40 is a bargain!

 

[Peter]

Great - glad you like it! Very happy with mine. £40 is a bargain!

At that price it's almost worth stockpiling them I think my "leak" was because the zips weren't closed & under the cover at the top of the zip. It's such a comfortable garment.