MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT Men's Touchstone Fleece Jacket

I kept trying this fleece under a thin waterproof jacket, then a heavy goretex - to see if the warmth improved. It didn't. Then at high intensity walking in cold and wind...I was freezing. It's c%%p.

Was looking for a warm fleece. Tried this on in the shop and soon became very warm so works as advertised in this respect. a very warm fleece. Lightweight and looks good too. However as soon as I wore it outside the wind cut straight through in mild winter conditions. I was for looking for something that would serve as an outer layer as well as a mid layer so took advantage of the Go Outdoors and returned it. No problems with the return and staff very helpful.

I think you need to use this for high activity levels to fully appreciate it. In my case this was cold weather cycling, when far too cold for normal cycle tops. I needed some wind blocking to keep wind chill off front and a previous fleece, which was a great all-rounder for walking and hanging around town, made me sweat unhealthy amounts. This coped with profuse sweating and kept the chill off, even after stopping for a break and cooling down a bit. I have not walked seriously in this jacket but my conclusion was that at high activity levels, when you are generating some heat of your own, as you will be when hill walking, this has the balance exactly right. Cold weather cycling means cold wind smacking into a body that is generating lots of heat. I can vouch for the breathability, definitely.

Considering the RRP and then the GoOutdoors and finally a price match, the warmth and look value is outstanding. Simply lovely piece of kit. Not as packable as others but wow, what a jacket. Excellent in every way.

I was disappointed in the fleece even at street level in a cold winters breeze but ME responded well to my questions when I contacted them. Hopefully I can feel the love from this fleece again...

I bought this early January 2018. I've worn it on three cold hill-walks, and one especially cold, and I'm disappointed with the fleece. It looks great and I assumed that with the price tag it would be something special - it isn't. No response from ME yet. It did not perform well at all even under a hardshell and on top of a base layer and a lightweight fleece thing. Also I have found that when the Touchstone fleece is zipped all the way to the top, the collar is pressed into the neck so that it becomes restrictive and unpleasant- this under two different makes of goretex jackets.

A superbly designed, well fitting midweight fleece. Provided the right level of warmth on a day trekking in North Wales and also acted as a superb mid layer in very cold snowy conditions on Snowdonia. The existence of a hood is a big plus. Typical ME quality.

Well they've been out about 10 years now and this is I think the 3rd generation . & i've had 8 of em from the very first ones. First ones loads of features which it didn't need. Then they dropped a few features. Now this one, yeah they've finally got it spot on. Better fit, got rid of bits it didn't need. Now it's simple & effective, looks superb, what's not to like? I'm 5'8" 34 waist 44" chest size large spot on.??

The idea and the materials are good but the design is poor. It has very narrow arms at the armpit which is made of stretch fleece. When you first try it on it feels close but over time the stretch fleece grips your armit and feels uncomfortable, I took it to a local seemstress and she said it was just a bad design (I am not the only person to comment on this.. I even sent it back to ME and they just said "well it fits some people" I have never had this issue before and have over 40 ME prchases so I know their stuff. I will be avoiding them in future as they do not seem to care about good design or good customer service anymore. What a shame.