E-Vent & Down Parkas

I purchased my first Feathered Friends (www.featheredfriends.com) Sleeping bag (a Lark) in 1999 in eVENT (2 layer and still 2 layer)fabric. I was so pleased and impressed by product, materials and workmanship that I recently purchased a Feathered Friends Hyperion Jacket, Volant Hood, and Vireo Sleeping Bag all in eVENT Fabric. With all these products, you have a totally windproof product that breathes well. However, they are only water resitant due to the fact that all the sewing needle holes are not seam sealed. I have not yet used the Hyperion Jacket, Volant Hood and Vireo Sleeping bag, but based on the performance of my Lark Sleeping Bag they should be great. Backpacking Magazine some years past evaluated a Lark very favorably in what was listed as either PTFE or eVENT(they had it sitting partly in rain that pooled on the sleeping bag without any leakage). Back in 1999 the product still did not have a trademark name.

With either/both the jacket and/or sleeping bag be careful about perspiration and “imperseptible perspiration” which will wet out the down and lessen loft as Ryan Jordan has said many times. You may wish to use Vapor Barrier Clothing when sleeping and/or not carrying a heavy pack and exerting a lot of energy and overheating. I just purchased Stephenson’s Warmlite Vapor Barrier clothing for just this purpose (www.warmlite.com). The Vapor Barrier shirt weighs about 5.4 oz in large (I think its large- it is marked as medium but ordered in large). The Vapor Barrier Pants in medium (used less often by people) came in at 4.4 oz.

For my summer backpacking, of which most of it occurs in the relatively dry Northern Rockies, I prefer my down jackets shells to be as breathable as possible, especially if they are part of my sleep system, because they dry out better at night.

For winter backpacking, if I have a decent weather forecast, I’ll take a Quantum-shelled Rab Neutrino Down Jacket. Conditions have to be consistently cold ie daytime highs less than 20 °F (to prevent falling snow from melting on the shell of the jacket), and I only take it when I do have decent shelter with me (tent or tarp).

For winter climbing, when I’m using a bivy sack, I either take my vintage 1980s PTFE (Goretex) FF shelled down parka, or, for multi-day trips, a Patagonia DAS Parka.

The PTFE shelled down parkas are also useful for winter tent camping when you are spending a lot of time in the tent waiting out a storm, as the shell goes a loooooong way at keeping the down lofty when frost is falling off the inside walls of your tent, and you have spindrift blowing in, and you have to wear it out in a storm to pee/poop/get snow for melting etc.

The limitation to a waterproof shell on a down parka is of course it inhibits its ability to breathe and unless you have the opportunity to turn it inside out and dry it in a warm sunshine, it is a time bomb that accumulates condensation and slowly loses loft day by day. Thus, for me, it’s an important part of my winter kit, but primarily only for short trips with expected foul conditions.

Have a look also at the Endurance shelled Rab Neutrino Jacket (23 oz size M). For the weight, it’s one of the warmest ones out there, and plenty of insulation for just about anywhere in the lower 48 in the winter barring the summit of Mt. Rainier or the White Mts. in a wicked storm.

Just read your thoughts on insulted clothing. What about the Arc’teryx Fission AR jacket, which uses 2 layer Gore-tex XCR waterproof and breathable fabric laminated to a non-quilted Primaloft Sport insulated fabric. This jacket would still retain a lot of warmth when it gets wet, if it ever would! Is this jacket any good, obviously expensive!. Anybody out there ever use one in the winter for active sports, or is it just a urban winter jacket? I’d appreciate some decent views on this jacket as I am considering getting one. Is there a pro and con like in above posts of having a waterproof, therefore less breathable fabric as an outer. Would it be possible to take this jacket as a replacement for two others, a shell and a fleece?
Best Regards from the UK!