Mountain Equipment Stoneware Range Review: Trousers, Burren Tee and Lava Tee

Introduction

Mountain Equipment has revived the Stoneware name, and it is worth being clear about what that means. The original Stoneware collection appeared in the early 1990s. The current range is not a retro reissue: it takes the memory of those archive pieces as a starting point and builds something modern from them, using the old workbooks and catalogues as reference rather than as a template.

What has come out of that process is a compact set of organic cotton staples. There is a pair of canvas trousers, two short-sleeve tees, and knitwear alongside them. The brief is clothing that performs on the hill and still feels reasonable when you walk into a pub afterwards.

This review looks at the three pieces that carry most of the range’s identity: the Stoneware trousers, the Burren tee and the Lava tee.

What the Stoneware Range Gets Right

Materials do most of the talking here. The Burren and Lava tees are made from 85% cotton and 15% hemp, and that cotton is certified organic, traceable through the whole production line. The hemp contributes a hardier hand feel and a measure of durability, while the cotton keeps the fabric comfortable and wearable. The trousers take a different route, using a heavier 100% organic cotton canvas that was chosen for its burly, hard-wearing character.

There is also a small design detail that ties the range together. A lizard motif runs across the collection, hidden in different places on different pieces, and it appears on everything made from certified organic cotton. On the two tees it is worked into the back graphic, drawn in a climbing pose.

Construction follows the same logic Mountain Equipment applies to its technical clothing, aimed at a more everyday brief. The trousers use an inner leg gusset to make high steps and bouldering reaches easier, and the knitwear in the range uses an underarm gusset to reduce seaming directly under the arm where friction builds up. It is a considered approach to a simple set of clothes.

Mountain Equipment Stoneware Trousers

The trousers are the burliest piece in the range. The fabric is a 100% organic cotton canvas selected for a heavier weight and a hard-wearing feel, the sort of cloth that settles into shape with use.

Pockets were clearly a priority. There are zip pockets on the thigh, positioned so a phone stays secure while you are bouldering and out and about. That placement also matters under a harness, because the zip sits below the harness waistbelt, where conventional hip pockets become difficult to reach. Mountain Equipment also made a point of matching the pocket layout between the men’s and women’s versions, which is a detail that is easy to overlook until you need it.

The cut aims at mobility without tipping into something that only makes sense at the crag. The inner leg gusset helps with reach on bouldering moves, while the overall shape stays wearable enough for everyday use.

Mountain Equipment Burren Tee

The Burren tee uses the 85% cotton and 15% hemp blend, with certified organic cotton traceable through production. In practice that combination gives a fabric with a slightly hardier hand feel than a standard cotton tee, backed by the softness that makes it comfortable to wear all day.

The cut is where the mountaineering background shows. The tee is shaped to give good arm lift, so the lower back stays covered when you are reaching high on a route. It is a small detail that matters most on exactly the moves where a standard tee rides up.

Mountain Equipment Lava Tee

The Lava tee uses the same organic cotton and hemp blend as the Burren, with the same attention to arm lift and coverage on high reaches. The difference between the two comes down to the graphic treatment on the back, where the range’s lizard motif appears in a climbing pose.

Both tees are cut to work as everyday shirts as much as climbing shirts, which is the point of the collection. They are comfortable enough for a full day out and plain enough to wear afterwards without looking like you have come straight off a route.

Buying Advice: Matching the Range to How You Climb

If you want one piece that covers the widest range of use, the trousers are the strongest candidate. The heavyweight canvas, the thigh zip pockets and the inner leg gusset make them the most purpose-built item in the collection, while the cut keeps them wearable away from the crag.

The two tees are the easier, lower-commitment entry point. Choose between the Burren and the Lava on the graphic rather than the fabric, because the material and the fit approach are shared. Either works as a climbing shirt that doubles as an everyday shirt.

For anyone who spends time on rough rock and wants clothing that handles it without feeling like technical kit, this range makes a coherent case. The organic cotton story is consistent across the pieces, and the construction details are the same ones Mountain Equipment applies elsewhere in its line, translated into an everyday register. The range is available through Mountain Equipment shops and the brand’s website.

Conclusion

The revived Stoneware range is at its best when it is judged as clothing rather than equipment. The trousers bring the heaviest fabric and the most useful pocket layout. The Burren and Lava tees bring a hemp-blend fabric and a cut that keeps your back covered on the moves that matter. If the fit and the fabric suit how you climb, there is very little here to argue with.