Arcteryx Beta SL

A few weeks ago coming down Ben Ledi, soaked to the bone for what felt like the hundredth time that year, I decided it was time to invest in a solid waterproof jacket. As soon as I was home I did a bunch of online reading (notably Outdoor Gear Lab and The Wirecutter) and over the next few weeks I took every opportunity to run into an outdoors shop in order to try out brands and sizes. Eventually I settled on the Arcteryx. Had I not gone for this jacket, the Mountain Equipment Rupal was next on my list. Both were highly waterproof, not crazily expensive and, in my opinion, looked pretty good.

In my looking I couldn’t find many great photos of the jackets online and any good quality ones I found did not do the fits of the jackets justice. I thought I’d share some pictures of mine for anyone else who isn’t sold by the styling you see online.

In each of these photos I’m wearing the Arcteryx with a Rab Microlight Alpine down jacket underneath - both in size UK medium.

The hood on the jacket is great, it fits large so that it can fit over a helmet, but it can also be cinched down for normal wearing just fine. I’ll often wear over-ear headphones to work and it’s nice that they fit easily under this hood, something I couldn’t say about my previous North Face Triclimate.