synthetic material of choice for jacket with frequent stuffing/unstuffing

ohhhh- that looks pretty sweet :)

A hoody with 60 gram Alpha: the ME Kinesis.

nice looking jacket; micorgrid lined too

For a synthetic filled shell jacket (as opposed to fleece) the US Army has tested Climashield to be the most resilient synthetic insulating fiber.

My early experience (mid ’90s) with Primaloft left me VERY disappointed when after two summer’s use the loft almost entirely disappeared. I had the “Prima” but not the loft. As a result I’ll never buy anything agin with Primaloft fill, even if it has become much better, just because the company likely knew about theBeta Primaloft’s lack of durability and sold it to an unsuspecting public anyhow. Shame.

Is Polartec Alpha supposed to have the same CLO resilience as polartec fleeces in general? Or does the fact that it has a very loose/different weave mean that it will be subject to loss of loft?

As Alpha is based Thermal Pro, I think you may assume it’s pretty resilient although I have no idea if it is as resilient as the fleece.fabrics.

Likely not as resilient as fleece (fleece “lives” forever), but clearly more resilient than many of the current syns on the market

Mike, any updates on the Climashield jacket you picked up?

^ I haven’t worn it a ton, BUT :)  it appears to be as warm as my Rab Strata Hoodie and about 5 oz lighter (just a smidge over 11 oz); it has an adjustable hood (Strata doesn’t), doesn’t have an adjustable hem (Strata does), but the elastic seems just about right- not too loose, not too tight.  Two zippered hand pockets, inner zipped napolean pocket, and two inner stash pockets- also comes with a stuff sack and packs nice and small.

The Pertex Qunatum is very wind resistant, but still decently breathable- not sure how it will do in precip (no opportunity yet).

The fit is nice- “athletic” cut- the Large fits my 5’11” 180-ish frame perfectly.

Barring some disaster with it, it will replace the Strata in my light insulated hoodie quiver.

The Pertex Qunatum is very wind resistant, but still decently breathable- not sure how it will do in precip (no opportunity yet).

I own a Cumulus down jacket, also made with the same outer fabric. I haven’t had great results in wet and humid weather. Off course, I don’t use it in the rain, but in weather with high humidity (tons and tons of fog) the Pertex seems to ‘soak up’ the moisture. This is less of a problem with Climashield, but it’s still worrying. To me. Europe tends to be quite wet.

But I have read a lot of other, more positive, reports as well.

Nowadays I prefer a Ghost Whisperer. It doesn’t seem to have that problem.

Speaking of outer fabric, if I were to try my hand at the Kinsman Pullover from Thru-Hiker, would the included Momentum shell be the best bet or should I source something else?