Being a keen outdoorsy type person, I was really excited to have the chance to review the Mountain Warehouse Henningvaer Womens down padded jacket. Henningvaer is a village on an island in Norway and its cold there so that’s a good start!
Looking Good
Of course it’s obvious that my first thoughts were would this look good and would I like the colour and the fit. It could be as warm as it wants to be but if I feel horrible wearing it then I won’t wear it.
I ripped into the packaging and my first impressions were that I love the colour “dark grey” (a greyish purple).
I held it up then tried it on and thought it was too big. I always order a bigger size in a coat than I would regular clothes as you need to fit jumpers under etc. I was delighted to find that it has some toggles at the waist so you can tighten it and make it a snugger warmer fit. So if you normally buy size 10 clothes then a 12 is fine.
The coat looks great, a girlier colour than my last black North Face jacket but not bright pink. Usually that’s your choice; black or really bright. The Mountain Warehouse logo is nice and subtle as well.
Hot Stuff
I won’t lie and that I would’ve probably steered towards another North Face jacket as I loved my last one I just wanted a new style, so, could Mountain Warehouse live up to North Face? It certainly looked as good but would it be as warm?
There are a lot of these new breed down jackets on the market, slimmer and the puffy bits are thinner so how can that really be as warm? I tested it when I volunteered for a homeless charity on Boxing Day and I was out in the cold from 7am until 2pm in the North East.
The info tags that come with the jacket claim it has been laboratory tested to -10C but still can it really keep you warm when it weighs so little? The info does say that you need to dress appropriately though for the conditions. So on that note I ignored the traditional dress for the Newcastle Quayside of a mini skirt, bare legs and a bra top for my good old running thermals. I wore walking type trousers, tights, thermal base layer and a long sleeved running top, gloves and a hat. There had been a very hard frost and everywhere looked like a winter wonderland so perfect conditions to test the jacket.
After several hours in the cold I was delighted to say I was still really warm and the only cold I felt was in my hands and feet unlike one of my fellow volunteers who couldn’t understand how the soft southerner wasn’t frozen. It did help that I had worn adequate layers but this is the same amount of layering I wore last year with my North Face coat so it compares favourably with that.
Another real plus point is that this new breed of down jacket will easily fit into a rucksack which is handy for our rapidly changing weather. The hood is a really great size as well, not too big but enough to stop my hair getting ruined.
At full price it isn’t much cheaper than the North Face or Rab equivalents so it would come down to comparing colours and fit but at the sale price it really can’t be beaten and free UK shipping on orders of over £50.
Jacket Downsides
I would make a suggestion that a useful addition would be if the jacket had a collar type insert as my neck got a bit cold with the hood down but that’s really just a minor thing.
The only real disappointment is that the lining was torn in the pocket. Now I’m pretty sure I’ve only used this pocket once and I didn’t have anything sharp in it so perhaps it was like that when I got it and I didn’t notice, maybe something to check if you purchase one. There are other pockets though although it’s a pity the inner pocket isn’t zipped.
*Disclaimer: This was a collaborative post with Mountain Warehouse and I was given the jacket in order to give an honest review. All words and opinions are my own.
About Juliet Robinson
I’ve now been running over 12 years. The first 7 years or so I stuck to around 6 miles, never trying to be any faster and as soon as the nights got dark I would jack it in until the spring. I’m not massively competitive and while getting a new PB is a major buzz I really love the thrill of running in a new place, on holiday for example, where pace isn’t an issue and you see some great scenery. Long term I’d like to get into trail running.
