Ultralight Three-Season Down Jackets State of the Market Report 2010 Part 2

[Addie Bedford]

Companion forum thread to:

Ultralight Three-Season Down Jackets State of the Market Report 2010 Part 2

[Tony Fleming]

I do not see the Patagonia Down Sweater in the "state of the market report". Did it not meet the fill weight:jacket weight ratio of 35 or more, OR a loft:weight ratio of 0.1 or higher?

Great report!

Thanks,

Tony

[James Schipper]

As Bradley stated heat loss through the head is variable depending on temperature and a persons state of hypothermia/compensatory mechanisms. Here's a link to the rest of the discussion at Wilderness Medicine.

http://wildernessmedicinenewsletter.wordpress.com/2007/02/14/heat-loss-through-the-head-and-hypothermia/

A hypothermic person and loss about 50% of their heat through their head. Also in cold conditions if you dress appropriately and neglect to cover you head you will lose a high percentage of heat through your head relative to the rest of you body (which is covered). This is were the 80% statistic from old military experiment came from.

Since most people cover their head in some way, subtracting the weight of the hood from hooded garments or adding the weight of the alternative to the other garments would probably be the easist method of comparison.

[nanook ofthenorth]

Is the MEC Down Sweater going to be in the next report?
http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442623467&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302699049&bmUID=1277615628683
I was just looking at it in stores and @170CDN and supper puffy, it looks like it hits a nice price/weight/warmth point

[Fred eric]

I own an epic size M Skaha + with 1oz overfill, and my wife an S with 2 oz overfill.

Even if the down is a bit compressed when doing this i found that wearing it under my MP+ vest ( MP+ breathability is the same as event , its less waterproof but also lighter ) was warmer than without.
And my wife had the same conclusion under a rab virga vest ( event ).

So even with already a semi heavy shell ( epic ) and with some down compression, adding a windprotection helped.
As for breathability no idea, even at -10°C i wouldnt be able to hike or move much in a skaha + with 1 oz overfill it would be soon too hot. We only use them when we are static.

[Stephen M]

Hi folks,

From reading on this report the Montbell EX Light loft measurement is 2.0" for double layer but Wills review below from 2008 gives it as only 1.5" for double, anyone have one they could measure.

Cheers,
Stephen

http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Clothing/Jackets/MontBell%20EX%20Lite%20Down%20Jacket/Test%20Report%20by%20Will%20Rietveld/

[Nick Truax]

My men's med is looking to be right about 1.5" double layer loft.

[Stephen M]

Hi Nicholas,
Thanks for the measuring the jacket.
Cheers,
Stephen

[Jerry Adams]

Sorry I didn't read this earlier

When I plotted warmth vs loft, there was some correlation

It seems inutuitive that loft would be the main determination of warmth and the data seems to verify this

[David Stapleton]

Will's reviews are what initially drew me to BPL and what convinced me to purchase a lifetime membership. His, and the other informative articles on this site are absolutely the best source of lightweight backpacking information on the web. Thank you!

Now to figure out how I'm going to afford a new down jacket… blast!

-Dave

[Mark Primack]

The Feathered Friends jacket tested is with the heavier weight Epic fabric, putting this great jacket at an unfair disadvantage in the ratings, particularly in the Light weight ranks as well as in both ratios and possibly in the lightweight features ranks. Since all of the other jackets were compared using light fabrics, why not the FF?

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