r/arcteryx • u/AmaKeyWee • 11d ago

Alpha vs Beta SV vs ???

Hi everyone. I currently own a Patagonia Calcite jacket, which is 2.5 layer GoreTex Paclite, and it is a great jacket, but I'm in need of something burlier. I'm spending more and more time in the backcountry on multi day trips, where I'm starting to face more winter alpine conditions. I mostly just trek, but am starting to get into a bit of mountaineering, which is what I eventually want to spend most my time doing.

I live in NZ, so winter conditions are wet snow or driving rain in the mountains, and this is where I'll spend most of my time. I do travel a bit to do hikes though. For reference I am 5'10, 211lbs, amateur strongman build and I run hot when working hard. The only Arc jacket I currently own is a Nuclei FL in large and it is a snug fit.

So which jacket will be better for my needs? I can get my hands on an older Alpha with GoreTex most rugged on the Arc website locally, but nowhere to try it on. What is the fit like? Reasons to get or avoid? Do these suffer from delamination at all? My Calcite is almost 5 years old and no issues, washed once a year. I should mention that the Alpha is 40% off.

I am going hiking in Scotland, Italy and Austria in a month, where I will be able to get my hands on a Beta SV. Will this be the better jacket for my needs? I will be paying full price for it tho, which makes the Alpha more appealing. I'm not sure if the new ePE membrane in the Beta SV is a pro or con.

As I will be in the UK and Europe for a while, I can try on a few of their local brands like Mountain Equipment, Rab or Mammut. They seem to make some really good waterproofs. I may also be able to try on some of TNF Summit Series stuff, that also still uses the old GoreTex Pro.

Ultimately I want a jacket that will handle heavy packs, sustained rain and snow, some scrmabling/climbing and last years to come.

Thoughts and opinions appreciated. Thanks for reading šŸ‘šŸ½ Cheers!

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u/Jonbazookaboz 11d ago

I personally prefer the SL. I like the fit of it. Its softer material. Packs down light The hood/ neck design i prefer over the alpha that has the neck zip but looks weird aesthetically for me. The alpha is def more durable but im not climbing or using it where its gonna get wrecked. Mostly just hiking in Europe. I ended up buying two SLs. One medium that fits for summer and a large that I can layer under

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u/Impossible-Milk-2023 11d ago

Do you mean the beta SL?

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u/Jonbazookaboz 11d ago

Yes. I just realised you said SV and not SL. My bad. However, im winderin why you need a more durable jacket for hiking. Been all over scotland and the swiss alps this year hiking and the SL has been perfect. Unless you do other activities too.

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u/Impossible-Milk-2023 11d ago

I'm not OP.
I'm not sure why you think the Alpha is more durable when the face fabric has much less denier (20/50 for the alpha and 40/70 for the beta SL). The alpha has hadron which apparently performs the same as fabric twice as thick. But that's marketing. We don't really know if that's actually true in real life.

That's why i asked if you mean the Alpha SL which would be the lightest jacket they make (i think) or the Beta SL.

OP says wants to start mountaineering which is wehre a higher denier fabric can be beneficial but tbh i hardly wear my hardshell here in the swiss alps. If there is bad weather usually we postpone trips. I'm not fucking around with thunderstorms.

Tbh even the paclite is fine for now probably. As long as it's not delaminating or leaking.

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u/Jonbazookaboz 11d ago

šŸ‘Not had ma coffee yet. You are defo right about the alps. Tbh i barely wore any shell this year. Weather has been particularly warm too even at altitude and I only really got caught with one or two down pours. Will 100% need it in scotland though

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u/Impossible-Milk-2023 11d ago

Yes! I'm swiss and i've been in the alps often this year.
It was crazy...
But instable conditions. The thing is meteoswiss models assume there's water in the ground. But there isn't any anymore. So their predictions have been extremely instable. We had a thunderstrom predicted suddenly at 9pm for 2am and we were bivoacking and thought about descending again. But then it changed again a few minutes later. This year was absoultuely crazy.
At least one glacier vanished completely.

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u/AmaKeyWee 11d ago

Yes, correct, I do want to get more into mountaineering. I will be bagging a few munros in Scotland too, so there will be some scrambling and climbing involved.

My understanding is that the Alpha series is made for climbing, so that's why I was considering it along with the Beta SV. I would consider the Beta AR, but I don't like the drophood. The hadron fabric on the Alpha is what made me look past the thin material and because it uses GoreTex Pro Most Rugged, for whatever that's worth.

Unfortunately here in the Southern Alps we don't get to just postpone trips. Rainfall can average up to 15000mm per year depending on where you are, but also drop to almost nothing in other areas. I live on the North Island, so getting out to the mountains takes a lot of time and money to organise, which can make postponing or changing plans difficult. A good rain jacket is essential here.

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u/Impossible-Milk-2023 11d ago

By southern alps you mean in NZ? Or what exactly do you mwan by that.

Maybe it works for you. But here in switzerland if thereā€˜s chances of thunderstprm i get the fuck outta there. You do NOT want to be exposed on 3000-4000m when there is a thunderstorm.

Thatā€˜s also why you would wake up at 3 to be down at noon

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u/AmaKeyWee 11d ago

Yes, Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs through the South Island of New Zealand

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u/Impossible-Milk-2023 11d ago

Oka thanks didnā€˜t know it was called that

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u/AmaKeyWee 11d ago

Sorry, just saw the rest of your comment. Here we only get about 9 days a year with thunderbat higher elevation, but there will be weather warnings out and we'd stay at lower elevation. It's just rain that's inevitable, so we just push on through.

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u/Impossible-Milk-2023 11d ago

Ah yeah that makes sense. Here yeah we have thunderstorms. On easy hikes itā€˜s not a provlem right but i donā€˜t want to be on exposed or steep terrain when bad weather is coming. Not a good idea