Berghaus Men's RG 3-in-1 Jacket Review

4 out of 5 stars.

Berghaus have created a classic walking jacket with the RG 3-in-1 combining the tough, and well liked RG1 jacket, with the removable Berghaus Integral light weight fleece.

 I bought this jacket just over a year ago, and it has served me well. I liked the tough feeling AQ™2 outer shell, which is very waterproof and surprisingly highly breathable, and the jacket looks smart and mature.

 The RG 3-in-1 is seemingly becoming more and more popular, great for popping on to take the dog for a walk, going shopping in town, for work, or when out in the hills. I have noticed the jacket being worn by quite a few hikers when out, and who can blame them, retailing at about the £70 mark – this is a tough jacket to beat in performance for that price range.

The RG 3-in-1 has the detachable Integral fleece, which will hold off cold breezes when you don’t want to wear the jacket with it. The fleece itself connects into the jacket via a series of toggles. But you don’t have to connect these all up if you want to put the jacket on quickly. I bought my jacket in a medium, and I'm glad I did, the jacket is fine but if I had bought it in a small size I'm sure the fleece wouldn't  fit!

My first test for the jacket was in my home county of Shropshire for a trip up the Wrekin – a well known hill in the area. It was coming up to Christmas time and the week leading up to my trip it had been snowing every day on and off. When my friend and I got to the base of the hill it was bitterly cold, and climbing it was made hard by the ski-slope style slippery path way. By the time I had got to about half way up I was sweating, but the jacket let the sweat out – rather than it collecting on the inside of the jacket. When we finally made it to the top, a snow storm had enveloped the summit along with high winds and hail mixed in, the jacket held up against everything. It was actually quite cosy wearing it in such harsh conditions. 

 The only real let down, of which has sadly for me let the whole jacket down, and the reason why I have awarded this great looking, and popular jacket only four stars, is simply because of the hood. To me if you’re going to make a good quality jacket, then why not make the hood great too? I can only guess that due to the price range it’s in, then you won’t get a good hood for using in the great outdoors. The hood is fairly basic, just two bog-standard volume adjusters either side of it, and unlike most of the Berghaus range doesn't have a stiffened or wired peak. To me any outdoor jacket should have a volume adjuster at the rear of the hood so you can get the required tightness to your head that prevents the hood from blowing down - and crucially unlike with just two either side of the hood - stops your vision becoming impaired by the hood itself.

  However, here is the jacket, and me taking a pounding from the weather on the summit of the Wrekin last year...

The jacket has an overall smart appearance, completed with a waist drawcord to adjust to your liking...

 Another plus for the jacket, the cuffs. Berghaus have kept to Velcro cuffs for the RG3-in1…

 The AQ™2 outer shell is tough, and rough to touch. This does mean that it can become slightly bitty. Mine seems to pick up cat fur, fluff, and anything that has fallen onto the material, and it’s hard to brush off too. Here you can see the outer shell's appearance up close...

 The impressive Integral Fleece is a great fleece that can be worn under any jacket…

 So sadly it’s the hood in my view that lets this great jacket down, hard to get right so it’s in a good position to use when walking without it either falling in front of your face, or you having to pull the volume adjusters tight to your forehead! It is however a good size, and shape, but is let down by the lack of a rear drawcord…

So overall after well over a year of use, 4 stars – but to be fair a good jacket for the price. If you do decide to buy a Berghaus RG 3-in-1 I'm sure you would be satisfied with it, come whatever weather, knowing you have bought a quality jacket from a quality manufacturer.