I needed a belay parka that packed the most punch for the pound that could handle a week of ice climbing in Alaska. Enter the Rab Mythic Ultra.
The goal of most winter jackets made for the backcountry is having the highest warmth-to-weight ratio while still being durable enough for the task. At a verified one pound, one ounce in a men’s size M, the Rab Mythic Ultra jacket was exceptionally light — but was it warm, breathable, and durable enough to act as a belay jacket on big ice routes in the mountains?
The Rab Lab combined 900-fill power hydrophobic down with a new TILT technology to produce its lightest, yet warmest, down jacket to date. And Rab is known for making light down jackets.
In short, the Rab Mythic Ultra jacket made for an impressively warm, breathable, and packable down belay parka during late-season ice climbing in Alaska. For alpinists looking for the most with the least weight, this demands serious consideration when it releases this fall.
Introducing Rab TILT
Rab Lab underwent extensive field and lab testing to create a reflective layer within the Mythic Ultra that maintains breathability and comfort. Dubbed TILT for Thermo Ionic Lining Technology, the British brand used an aluminum treatment in a scrim liner just behind the inner face fabric. Rab claims this technology reduces radiant heat loss better than the six other methods it constructed and tested.
Rab combined the TILT reflective scrim inner location with offset baffle construction to produce the best performance. Placing TILT as close to the body as possible resulted in 200% greater heat retention than placing the scrim liner on the outside of the baffles, and it bettered the next nearest construction method by 44%. This TILT technology helped the Rab Mythic Ultra jacket win a Best in Show award at the 2022 Outdoor Retailer Snow Show.