I'm talking about technical wear all day shells made for alpinism why would you ever need a 2 way zipper on the main zip it's not going to be thrown on and snapped round a belay device it's going to be tucked under the harness all the time so why would they ever have a two way zip???

Also can somebody tell me the difference between mountain equipment's tupilak and the tupilak ultra apart from no the zips and the pit zips.

Supposedly two way zippers on jackets are so you can unzip the bottom to make it more comfortable for sitting positions. Otherwise, a jacket bunches up at the bottom when you sit down.

If you have slings or mountaineer's loop around your chest, a bottom zip can be handy for accessing inside pockets. Off the top of my head, that's all I can think of for times I've used it... although I'll probably remember more once I'm lying in bed.

It's probably not a crucial feature... might be one of those things you'll never know you needed until you do.

And thinking about the three shells I have in my closet right now, I don't think any of them even have a bottom zip.

From what i can tell it seems like a complete wast of space weight and complexity, oh well i guess i will just have to grin and bare it.

seb wrote:I'm talking about technical wear all day shells made for alpinism why would you ever need a 2 way zipper on the main zip it's not going to be thrown on and snapped round a belay device it's going to be tucked under the harness all the time so why would they ever have a two way zip???

Weather changes.

You may start your day off in your softshell, and get into an area where you're in your harness for a long time.. Sudden weather now requires you to don your hardshell, but you're hanging on pitch 2 of 5, and you can't take off your harness.

Or you climb in your shell, like most do.

seb wrote:Or you climb in your shell, like most do.

Maybe most do in your area, but most don't in my area.