Recon Family | Ski gear built for the backcountry

Recon Family | Ski gear built for the backcountry

Jim Young puts his gear through its paces. Here are his thoughts on Black Diamond apparel generally, and Recon LT in particular.   Photo Credits: @gabbydegagne

Overall, I’m very impressed with how far Black Diamond’s apparel program has come. The focus on technical fabrics and targeted design for the backcountry user is great.
The Recon LT is a great offering from BD for weight-conscious ski tourers who want high performance clothing with just the right features. I think this style of clothing will go well in NZ conditions.

Recon LT Outerwear

Testing conditions – Cold calm powder day at Mt Cheeseman. Morning of T bar laps then a quick tour into the Harper River drainage.

I absolutely love the weight of the Recon LT, the pants especially feel barely there. My new obsession with mountain clothing is using lots of light layers. I aim for the minimal amount of extra spare layers to get it just right.

I felt the Recon LT fitted this brief perfectly. The jacket can be worn running cold when used as thin shell over a base layer when skinning uphill without overheating. And then it runs warm when layered with some insulation.

Jim Young wearing Black Diamond Recon LT Outerwear in snowy conditions
Jim Young wearing Black Diamond Recon LT Outerwear

Comfort

Overall, it is very comfortable and easy to wear. I can’t stress enough how much nicer it is to wear the BD.Dry 3L compared to Goretex. The cut for skinning was perfect and never felt restricting when making kick turns or boot packing around.

 Fabric BD.dry/4-way stretch shell fabric

In cold windy conditions it felt really protective and waterproof walking around in need deep snow. While I haven’t tested in rain / snow yet, I feel it will perform well. Although its early days I feel like the fabric will last well in NZ conditions and it feels more ‘hearty’ than 3L Goretex. The 4-way stretch is so good!

Features

I was testing a sample and while I found some small niggles with pockets size and placement, I did love these features:

  • Vents on pants and jacket: Good size, not too small
  • Beacon pocket: I use it as a phone pocket as I don’t personally buy into wearing my beacon in my pocket. This is an awesome option to ensure your phone is separated from your beacon and well protected.
  • Glove friendly zippers: No need to take gloves off to play with zippers!
  • Ski boot collars: Nice and soft, stops having stove pipes around your boots when trying to adjust buckles / walk mode
  • Helmet Friendly Hood: Finally a hood that fits over a ski helmet without restricting head movement. And it has a handy breathing mask in the zipper liner for when it’s cold!

After a full day of lift and self-powered skiing I found the overall performance to exceed my expectations. Normally on a day like this I would opt for traditional Goretex for cutting wind and water resistance. But I felt totally at home in the new 4-way BD.Dry. I think the BD.Dry fabric felt warmer and had a more natural feel especially when skinning up hill, a bit less ‘plastic bag’ and a bit more ‘comfy, breathable’ vibe.

Recon Outerwear is stocked at:

  • Further Faster, Christchurch
  • Small Planet Sports, Queenstown
  • MT Outdoors, Wanaka
  • Bivouac Outdoor, Christchurch & Queenstown
    *Styles and colours vary from store to store

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