Marmot has released the very light Venus jacket for Fall 2007. The Venus is a 7 ounce, 800 fill power down jacket designed for women. The Venus jacket has a full zip, two zippered handwarmer pockets, two open-top internal stash pockets and an elastic drawcord hem. The sewn-through construction uses a modified grid pattern. The shell material is gridlock P120 (nylon) and is DWR treated. The lining is micro poplin P180 and is also DWR treated. It looks to have a fairly short torso, although we did not have any women available to try it on. The specified weight for the Venus puts it close to the lightest down jackets on the market; the MontBell UL Down Inner jacket is still a bit lighter, 6.3 ounces in a women’s medium. The Venus jacket will have an MSRP of $160. We asked about a possible men’s version – but we were not able to get a definitive answer on whether an ultralight men’s version will be forthcoming.
