Hacked Beanie & Mitts discussion restored

Any notion what the beanies might weigh?

The size large beanie I sent John weighed 31.3 grams. The current run of regular size large 950 filled down beanies is ~26 grams each. We used the exact same amount of fabric so the weight penalty is completely in the Climbashield Apex batting. We did a medium pair of Foldback Mitts in Apex weighing 47.3g whereas down filled mitts are jus a bitt over 41g. So just a little over 6g of weight penalty. They sewed up nice though and looked much better than I expected. I look forward to seeing what John thinks about them. The last time we talked he said he'd shed all down gear but his hat and mitts… So now I guess he is completely down free ;)

John/Evan, Is this with 2.5oz APEX? Evan, if you want to buy some at near wholesale but aren't ready for the massive minimum order for ~2oz feel free to hit me up. My supply is getting low and I will be getting more this winter. -Tim

@Tim. Yes, 2.5 oz

Evan, John I would certainly be interested in the synthetic fallback gloves. ALready have down but when they get wet (and they do) and it's 0F outside on the summit, it would be great to go synthetic. Please add me to the list. Thanks!

Thanks for letting me/us know Gary. ps, sorry for not being around BPL much this past year… been kind of a strange year for me… but I do miss yapping with you. Hope all has been going well for you. And yep, that is one of two reasons why I have switched away from animal based insulation. While the Redwoods have been crazy dry the last two seasons, I got a feeling this is going to be a wet winter. I am just so blessed to have the honour of being a sponsored hiker with a company like BRG that is willing to go outside their norm and try something new. In about eight hours we have had about fifty people come forward and say they would buy some BRG synth garments. How great is that! I have no idea how many orders Evan would need to do a production run of these beanies (and even the mitts, but most seem to want the beanie, understandably) but it would be really great if he could… I could see a lot of Christmas stockings being stuffed with BRG synthetic gear!

most of our cold weather is on the dry side, but not always :) I'd definitely be interested Mike

I won't touch Facebook with a stick, but I'd be up for a pair of the synthetic foldback mitts.

I'd consider the beanie and the mitts as well. Synthetic makes more sense to me for mitts; wouldn't anything you held compress the down, so that there would be limited insulation there? Synthetic wouldn't compress, and you could hold something without cold spots. I like my down booties, there has to be something between the down and the floor, or the bottoms of your feet are cold when you walk around.

John, Can you please post the info here as I do not use Facebook.

@ Diane, Yeah, understand. My pair of animal down foldback mitts have only seen the outside of my shelter once. I bought them specific for sleeping in. Found I liked them so much, the desire of synthetic ones to use around camp and on the trail were one of the reasons I asked Evan to consider working with me on making these. The other, obviously being the fact that an synthetic beanie just makes so much sense here in the Redwoods. My animal down BRG beanie was always suffering animal down moisture saturation problems. @Everybody 1) I have posted two additional photos on the facebook post that show the mitts in a non-compressed and compressed state, so you can get an idea of bulk pack volume. Almost inconsequential differences, but obviously the down compresses a smidgen more… but only a smidgen. Note that the photos are both mitts (one stuffs into the other) 2) My facebook post is a *public* post so anybody can see it/the pictures. Sorry but not going to repost all those photos here at BPL… bulk uploading photos here at BPL is just no fun. 3) Posting "I want one" here on this post at BPL is fine… both Evan and I are obviously watching it. No need to post here and on FB… but can if you want :-D

Hi John, When I click your link it asks me to logon. Also, just wondering why you use the term animal down?

I'd purchase both to add to my collection of Evan's excellent products!

John, Living in a sloppy-wet winter area, the mitts sound like a great idea. Count me in!Steven M.

Tim, Thanks for the offer! I hadn't logged back into BPL since John mentioned he posted up last week. We moved the workshop this past month and it's been too crazy to do much else but make and ship gear and keep up with my kids. I have a 3mo old right now so my hands have been full. I just don't follow the forums as close as I used to right now. I may hit you up but I have no idea how much yardage we'd need. Maybe 50yd or so? We could make up a quick run but I'd have to figure out how to get orders in first. Basically every piece of gear we make between now and Christmas will be sold and shipped. We always run out so there isn't much room to make gear that might sit on the shelf. We are currently back ordered on Clava's and nearly out of Foldback Mitts. I've also got to do another big cut of XL hats and we are almost out of red hats in large… It's never ending right now :) @Diane – The Synthetic mitts compressed just the same for cold spots just like the down. It's why I generally recommend layering the mitts with a non-compressible base glove, then insulation and then shell mitts as things get colder or you are holding a trekking pole. @ Everyone – If there is a demand for some pieces of synthetic BlackRock gear to add to your collection definitely work with John. My best guess would be the same pricing for the pieces. We could do Black hats and matching black Foldback Mitts. Beyond those two pieces in Synthetic and I think we'd be talking next year.