I have had my Swazi Tahr XP for a few weeks now so here is a quick review.
The Tahr XP is a close relative of the very popular Ray-Mears-favourite Swazi Tahr, a heavy-duty Gore Tex (as-was) smock that Uncle Ray has made very popular and many people on here wear. They have been available for some time now in the UK only on Woodlore's site, who do a special edition with an extra chest pocket. The old model is very highly regarded, but has a couple of issues which have put some people off. Firstly, the cuffs are absorbent and exposed (especially on older models with neoprene cuffs), so after a good drenching they soak up water and stay wet for a long time, chilling the wrists. Secondly, the old model has no hand-warmer pockets, which has been a real turn-off for those who get cold hands.
Swazi have now decided to fix these two issues with the XP. It has no bino pocket on the chest but instead two huge hand-warmer pockets, well placed to be usable even when wearing a rucksack hip belt - unlike the Ridegline Monsoon where the handwarmer pockets are in the "skirt". It also has concealed cuffs under an outer velcro-tightened cuff, so no more cold wrists. They have added a new shaped scalloped tail, and also captive hood drawcords, both also welcome additions.
The new design works for me very well indeed, having previously had a standard Tahr.
Swazi have switched materials for this Tahr XP, the standard Tahr and the full-zipped Wapiti. They have dropped Gore Tex, and have gone for their own proprietary laminate, AEGIS, which I believe they source from a manufacturer in Australia. I was very sceptical at first, but got hold of some breathability data from Swazi, which puts AEGIS, a PTFE membrane, at about 20,000g CO2/m2/24 hrs, which is about the same as Gore Tex and eVent. It certainly does breathe very well for a laminate. The AEGIS fabric itself is a slight disappointment after the last generation Gore Tex material, being a different, slightly less subtle, colour (more tan than tussock green), stiffer and slightly noisier. It has a more "synthetic" feel than the last Gore Tex Tahr - you always feel you are about to snag your fingernail on it somehow, and it is also "furrier", which I think will mean it beads water better, although I haven't had it long enough to know. It is certainly a very tough fabric and very waterproof.
Overall I am very very happy with the design and have found my perfect serious wet weather smock. I imported it direct from Swazi, which means you get out of paying NZ GST, but do get stung for UK customs. The jacket is very expensive in anybody's book, at £350 all in delivered and customs-cleared from NZ, and even the customs charge you pay would get you into a bargain waterproof or smock on its own. However, if you want one, then direct importation is very easy and a saving over the Woodlore price of £425 for their own twin-chest-pocket/no-handwarmer-pocket version of the standard AEGIS Tahr (I believe Woodlore do not as yet sell the new Tahr XP here in the UK).
In my experience, direct importation from NZ has worked very well on several Swazi items including their superb Windriver jacket, and takes a reliable 12-15 days.
The Tahr XP is a close relative of the very popular Ray-Mears-favourite Swazi Tahr, a heavy-duty Gore Tex (as-was) smock that Uncle Ray has made very popular and many people on here wear. They have been available for some time now in the UK only on Woodlore's site, who do a special edition with an extra chest pocket. The old model is very highly regarded, but has a couple of issues which have put some people off. Firstly, the cuffs are absorbent and exposed (especially on older models with neoprene cuffs), so after a good drenching they soak up water and stay wet for a long time, chilling the wrists. Secondly, the old model has no hand-warmer pockets, which has been a real turn-off for those who get cold hands.
Swazi have now decided to fix these two issues with the XP. It has no bino pocket on the chest but instead two huge hand-warmer pockets, well placed to be usable even when wearing a rucksack hip belt - unlike the Ridegline Monsoon where the handwarmer pockets are in the "skirt". It also has concealed cuffs under an outer velcro-tightened cuff, so no more cold wrists. They have added a new shaped scalloped tail, and also captive hood drawcords, both also welcome additions.
The new design works for me very well indeed, having previously had a standard Tahr.
Swazi have switched materials for this Tahr XP, the standard Tahr and the full-zipped Wapiti. They have dropped Gore Tex, and have gone for their own proprietary laminate, AEGIS, which I believe they source from a manufacturer in Australia. I was very sceptical at first, but got hold of some breathability data from Swazi, which puts AEGIS, a PTFE membrane, at about 20,000g CO2/m2/24 hrs, which is about the same as Gore Tex and eVent. It certainly does breathe very well for a laminate. The AEGIS fabric itself is a slight disappointment after the last generation Gore Tex material, being a different, slightly less subtle, colour (more tan than tussock green), stiffer and slightly noisier. It has a more "synthetic" feel than the last Gore Tex Tahr - you always feel you are about to snag your fingernail on it somehow, and it is also "furrier", which I think will mean it beads water better, although I haven't had it long enough to know. It is certainly a very tough fabric and very waterproof.
Overall I am very very happy with the design and have found my perfect serious wet weather smock. I imported it direct from Swazi, which means you get out of paying NZ GST, but do get stung for UK customs. The jacket is very expensive in anybody's book, at £350 all in delivered and customs-cleared from NZ, and even the customs charge you pay would get you into a bargain waterproof or smock on its own. However, if you want one, then direct importation is very easy and a saving over the Woodlore price of £425 for their own twin-chest-pocket/no-handwarmer-pocket version of the standard AEGIS Tahr (I believe Woodlore do not as yet sell the new Tahr XP here in the UK).
In my experience, direct importation from NZ has worked very well on several Swazi items including their superb Windriver jacket, and takes a reliable 12-15 days.
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