I agree and wear Paramo garments myself. I have since purchased jackets for my wife and my father.
I think the major factor for me is the fact you can wash them practically every week and they dry well over night in normal room temperatures.
I have eczema and often get grease marks on the collar from my moisturisers hence the washing.

Best waterproof I have ever used. Owned an Alta 2 for 12 years and it still works as well as the day I bought it!

Hard shells are noisy and damp in comparison, (and I have owned a £350 pro-shell, which I sold soon after buying, I was very disappointed with the performance).

Event simply leaks and requires a lot of effort to maintain.

Gore is good, (but overpriced on jackets & trousers IMO, but not footwear). Also it can be found with very poor face fabrics, which undermine its performance greatly, (which is often forgotten by the reviews in mags etc, so buyer beware of cheep gore, there is a reason as a rule).

The ethics behind its production are second to none- go on the Paramo You tube channel and watch the vid, its very good.

However, it’s generally too warm for summer use, (which is fine, as it’s not a season to worry too much about getting damp in and the lighter weight waterproofs come in here).

Also it has very little fire redundancy, so beware around camp fires etc.

I don’t rate the lighter weight stuff either, not as hard wearing or seemingly as bomb proof at keeping the wet out.

If you’re after a hi-end jacket that will serve for years, it’s Paramo all the way. Worth every penny!

I own both a paramo pajero jacket and the cascada trousers. Whilst they are probably the comfiest waterproofs I've ever owned, they do have their limits. In persistent heavy rain driven by strong winds, they will leak and mine have done on a couple of occasions now and yes they're regularly washed and proofed.

In most weather they are waterproof and as they dry quickly, Ive never got back to my car still being wet, so they do have their benefits but they also have their limits !!

We've had Paramo for a number of years for hill walking and supervising DofE Groups in the Lake District. The material isn't infallible, we have got partly wet on several occasions (in very bad weather) as per a previous comment and the garments do dry out quickl - but more importantly they still keep you warm!

If we know we're heading out for the day in what could be potentially heavy rain we will take a second lightweight Paramo jacket to put on prior to the weather hitting us. Alternatively, we have on rare occasions put the 2nd jacket on during the heavy downpour as we've found the 'wicking' ability of the fabric to be excellent and again both garments dry quickly.

The only negative I have with Paramo is I wish I could buy a jacket for my Grandson but they don't do children's sizes.

We've previously had high end Gore-text garments and we wouldn't go back to them. Paramo provide a great after sales and repairs service which we used a couple of times and our garments have always come back looking brand new. We strongly recommend Paramo to our DofE Groups

I used to be a member of a Mountain Rescue team and we were kitted out with Paramo smocks- they were rubbish!! After an hour standing in the rain, they leaked. We soon went back to our old Sprawway jackets! No more Paramo for me in future.....

Paramo is not perfect, but I have not found perfect in many years of searching, but it comes close for UK hill walking.

In very poor weather, driven by strong rain, all jackets, regardless of construction material suffer from having 4 sizable holes, which tend to let water in somewhere ;D

Phil, the local MRT had Montane Event issued and within 6 months it was classed as next to worthless by the team by repeated leaking and wetting out, as well as poor durability. They went onto Paramo and have never looked back.

It needs very regular aftercare, which is easy. But I would argue all hard shells do too!

I used Paramo for a number of years (15). A lightweight Jacket & an Alta 2 (a Cascade before that). I recently went back to a three layer system using a Rohan Hardshell and have been amazed at how much more comfortable, warm and dry I have been. Paramo seem to work work best when one is working hard - but in certain circumstances they leak and leak badly. The 'pump liner' system they advocate does not always work (again depending on climatic circumstances and how much you sweat). Recently I took off my Quito Jacket and replaced it with a wind-shell - the Quito was absolutely sodden (it wasn't raining) especially the arms and back and I was shivering! I walk every week (9 to 16 miles day walks Moors & Coast and the Northern Hills when I have holidays) I simply don't trust Paramo - been let down too many times.

I paid what was a lot of money for me on a pension to get a jacket that was waterproof, lightweight and breathable. I bought it specifically to wear in Vietnam where I knew I might experience heavy rain. What a waste of money. The first time I wore the jacket the rain went straight through. Tried to contact Paramo direct but they refuse to communicate and refer you back to where you bought the item. I bought the jacket from Paramo in Covent Garden and their response was absolutely infuriating; they suggested that the fabric had degraded by simply hanging in my hallway prior to the holiday.
This product is absolute rubbish and I will never buy a Paramo product again.
In contract the Sprayway jacket I bought maybe as many as 25 years ago is still giving great service.

I have used Paramo garments for many years in some truly horrendous weather (e.g. blizzards in Scandanavia and downpours in the dales) and have found them excellent.

The only problem with the waterproofs is that they are a little warm in summer, so I use a cheapish shell jacket for 'just in case'.

My original waterproofs are approx. 25 years old now and have been back to Paramo once for repairs due to being used and abused for ski touring and winter mountaineering. the service was excellent and the jacket and trousers came back fully cleaned and reproofed.

Their warm weather clothing is excellent as well.

I have owned several Paramo products in the past and currently have a velez adventure light smock that I use in most conditions, most of the time.
I agree with most of the other reviews on this site good and bad.
I know from experience that if you stand still in persistent rain for any length of time the garment will let water through and if you are moving and genrating body heat then you stay dry. Not ideal as standing around is unavoidable sometimes as the other Mountain Rescue guys that have commented know only too well.
Despite the shortcomings of Paramo, my velez smock has become my go to piece of kit for the outdoors.It has excellent ventilation options and a great hood and chest pocket. It's comfortable and weighs very little in the rucksack when not being worn. It's easily repaired if it gets a nick in it (self adhesive goretex repair patches do the trick).
I guess in summary it's horses for courses. Think carefully before parting with your cash for the first time though as they are expensive compared to some other brands and fabrics.
Anyone know where I can get an Aspira smock? Sadly they don'tseem to make them any more.

I first discovered Paramo over seventeen years ago. Two years working/ living in the rain lashed Pennines meant that I needed reliable and comfortable clothing.
It's warm, excellent for high mountain winters, but the venting system and pump liner system is outstanding. Never has any water or dampness bothered me or made me uncomfortable.
In summers. I generally use just a Paramo wind shirt and base layer.
Outstanding gear but worth every penny you invest in it!

At a tender 55 years, I've been a hill and fell walker since my early teens.
Paramo, is my current clothing system, all systems have drawbacks, I used to use Buffalo or montane pile and pertex.
Goretex or similar is too sweaty, and inflexible. Yes I've been a couple of full circles with paramo going off grid with event, and Columbia outdry.
I'm back to paramo, I'm not sure about the latest light weight, ripstop outers, on the Quito and Velez jacket.
Water ingress, I've got wet in myvold Quito, but I've over layered a Fuera windshirt on it and remained a lot drier in real stair rod rain.

But horses for courses the Paramo selection of jackets is now my go to year round. Even used a two layer windshirt combo in summer downpours proofed with TX10 certainly kept me dry and top breathability, like synthetic Ventile.
So thumbs up from me I shall keep flying Nick Brown's flag, clothing I can bike, hike, commute and live in. Thank you, for keeping me outdoors.
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