The Haglofs Gram Q jacket is my New Best Friend!
When the chips were down during five hours of torrential Lakeland storms and downpours this jacket saw me home and (virtually) dry. The only sogginess when I took the jacket off was around the cuffs and forearms, and they were not wringing wet, more properly damp. I tested the coat in the Lakeland 50 – a 50 mile ultramarathon from Ullswater to Coniston. We began in bright warm sun but spent the final hours battling quite horrendous weather.
I honestly don’t believe there’s many jackets out there that would perform that well in those conditions – this is an impressive garment.
Part of the Haglofs Intense collection, the Gram Q is aimed at multisport athletes taking part in high pulse outdoor activities. The manufacturer claims an extremely lightweight product with freedom of movement, excellent temperature regulation and protection from the elements. This coat delivers.
A three-layer shell jacket, it uses Gore-tex Active technology which basically means a fabric which allows sweat out without letting rain and snow in. A big selling point for me – particularly when testing the jacket in Soft White – is it is easy care, machine washable at 40C and tumble dry. Gore-tex even claims laundering the jacket may improve its performance.
It’s comfy to wear. The sleeves are longer than the average running/biking jacket with handy thumb holes so you can pull them down further over your knuckles. It also has a nice long cut on the back which suits cycling. It fit nicely without being tight and there is adjustability in the hem with a drawstring. Another bungee allows you to alter the hood to fit which was useful.
It is light and packs down fairly small – although there are smaller packers out there. It will be my jacket of choice for virtually all running and cycling activities - providing it’s not in the wash!
Julia
