Assistant Manager at our Taunton Store has been putting the Montane Fireball Lite through its pages, from hiking the length of Dartmoor to long runs in cold conditions!
Montane is a brand I’ve always been drawn towards. With their focus on innovative, lightweight, breathable clothing to help you move fast and efficiently through mountains and wild areas. As a keen trail runner with some respectable distances under my belt. I use Montane for most of my running apparel.
Founded over thirty years ago when Chris Roff and Jake Doxat met on a three-month expedition to southern Chile. They have always leaned towards the lighter-weight end of clothing and kit. With their famous tag line Further Faster.
So when last winter I was given the Montane Fire Ball Lite to test. I was really excited to see how it would perform.
The Fire Ball Lite hooded jacket is designed to provide lightweight, core body warmth. Made with recycled insulation, stretch thermo grid side and under arm panels and permeable outer shell. It has an insulated under-helmet hood, YKK VISLON front zip, two hand pockets with YKK zips, elasticated cuffs and an adjustable hem drawcord.
The Fireball Lite hood is probably the most versatile jacket I’ve ever had. Throughout the colder months, there weren’t many days that I would leave the house without it (as well as many days in the summer when the weather wasn’t what it should have been). As I mentioned before I do like to get out on to the hills for a run. When running in winter it’s hard to find clothing that will keep you warm but not let you overheat when exerting energy. The Fire Ball Lite seemed to fit this criteria perfectly. I couldn’t wait to get up on the hills on a cold morning with a hard frost.
Unfortunately living in the west country we don’t actually get that many cold days and getting them to line up with a day off work is not always that easy. Although I did manage to get to the Quantocks hills a couple times during a cold snap.
I found the jacket performed just as I wanted it to. Running at a steady pace across the hill tops with a biting wind the outer shell and insulation kept at just the right temperature. Plus the fit and the cut meant it never felt bulky or loose to run in.
By mid-morning the temperatures were around 5°c and a bit too warm to be running in the Fireball lite. Not a problem, as the name suggests it’s very light and packs down to be easily stowed away in my running pack. And because it packs down small, there have been many times when I’ve been out running in more remote areas and just had it in my pack. Knowing if I were to injure myself I’ve got a really warm emergency layer to put on.
Although this isn’t a waterproof jacket it does have DWR coating (and is worth keeping treaded) so the rain will bead up and run off. I wouldn’t use it on its own in heavy rain, but it’s useful to have in light rain and showers.
During the spring and Summer, I used the Fireball Lite more as a hiking jacket. In May a group of us from Taunton Leisure did a three-day hike across Dartmoor. The jacket was great to wear in the evenings when we wild camped up on the moors.
Also at the end of May, I spent a few days in Snowdonia with some rather inclement weather. The jacket works amazingly as a mid-layer under my waterproof shell. Due to the lightweight design and stretch panels, it’s not at all bulky under another coat.
In September I was back in North Wales and the weather hadn’t really changed since the last trip. So again it became a fantastic mid-layer. Climbing Snowdon with my eight-year-old daughter there was a lot of waiting around and resting. I was certainly glad to have my fireball on.
It’s not only running and hiking I’ve used this jacket for. It has a simple and clean design so I will put it on when I’m heading into town or on the school run. It never looks overkill for day-to-day use. As I said in the beginning this is probably the most versatile jacket I’ve owned.
