Western Mountaineering Flight Jacket

I can’t comment about the Western Mountaineering Flight Jacket or the PHD Minimus Jacket, but you should also consider the Feathered Friends Hyperion and Helios jackets in this grouping as well with any of their color, fabric, and down options.

The Hyperion Jacket is a fairly snug fit like a fleece jacket and has a windproof zipper. It has room for at least 2 to 3 light to medium layers underneath. It extends 3 or 4 inches lower than my hips(5′ 6″ and 29″ inseam), with over 5 oz of down (750+ or 800+) should be warm, and with choice of materials (such as eVENT) should be not only wind proof, but very water resistent. A Medium with an outer fabric of Pertex Quantuum? and a lining of Pertex Quantuum is supposed to weigh about 11 oz. My large was upgraded to 800+ down and came in at 16.5 oz in eVENT outer fabric and inner nylon taffeta lining (Pertex Quantuum was out of stock at the time).

When discussing this jacket and the Helios with one of the reps at Feathered Friends, he indicated that the Hyperion was the jacket that he wore when climbing to the top of Rainier. He felt for light weight 3 season backpacking, backcountry skiing and snowshoeing, and as the jacket in my sleeping system that it would be all that I would normally need. In most instances, the rep felt that the jacket would be too warm for hiking with a backpack.

Also as mentioned in my comments to you about a sleeping bag, jacket, and balaclava, it would be available with a 15% discount if purchased with a Feathered Friends Vireo Sleeping Bag. I ordered my jacket and sleeping bag (all in eVENT outer, nylon taffeta lining, and 800+ down) with a Volant Hood (same materials) that appears to have come in at 3.2 oz, though the site indicates 4.0 oz average. The Vireo Sleeping Bag (62″ long with 2 oz of overfill) came in at 22.4 oz with the base of the footbox measuring about 9″ of loft (not the 5″ as listed on the website).

I have the Western Mountaineering piece. It is superb – ultralight fabric in and out, incredible loft, and WM’s legendary attention to detail. I haven’t seen the corresponding product from Feathered Friends, but have a couple of other pieces from them – a Rock Wren bag and a vest – and find their quality just a small bit below WM. Better than more commercial, offshore products, and certainly more than adequate, but I’d probably choose WM over FF for identical spec’d products. Of course FF makes some products, like the Rock Wren, that nobody else seems to make, so I am certainly not knocking FF. If you Google the two jackets, there is someone out there who tested and wrote up both ultralight jackets and gives you the differences and pluses and minuses.

Personally, after getting the Flight Jacket, it generally stays at home due to my continuing concern about using down in the wet. The MicroPuff jacket and hooded jacket from Patagonia aren’t as warm, but come close, and will dry out quickly (and absorb less water to begin with) than any down product out there. Ditto, I presume, on Ryan’s upcoming Cocoon pullover.

Thank you for your well thought out feedback. The Hyperion looks like a really nice jacket. I like that it has an ounce more fill weight than the Flight Jacket but still weights just 11 ounces.

I used the PhD Minimus in 2001-2002 and switched to a Flight in 2003-2004 for summer backpacking.

The Flight has more loft than the Minimus, and the down was better quality. My Minimus, which I purchased in 2001, had poor quality down in it (claim was 800 fill) that was clumped in spots, and had a high feather count (you could really feel the feather stems when massaging the baffles). Down was underfilled for the most part throughout the sleeves of the jacket, and in the back and shoulders. The cuffs had so little down in it that it was almost pointless. My size M Minimus weighed 12.2 oz.

In contrast, the WM Flight was nicely filled. My size M weighs 9.95 oz.

I did like the fleece lined collar on the Minimus – that was a really nice touch that helped seal in warmth.

Alan Dixon wrote a great down jacket review that includes the PhD Minimus, Feathered Friends Helios, Western Mountaineering Down Jacket, and the Nunatak Kobuk. Of course, these are different weight jackets and can’t be directly compared, but it highlights important considerations for comparing down jackets, and may help educate you in selecting a new jacket among the new crop of ultralights out there.

Here’s a link to that review:

(M) Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends, Nunatak, and PhD Lightweight Down Jackets (Comparison Review), by Alan Dixon

I was warm a toast while hiking in the Andes Mountains on the Sacred Trail and while in gale force winds in Antarctica. Packs down into a small stuff sack well. Wouldn't leave home without them. Expensive but worth more than their weight in warmth.

I have a couple questions for Flight owners:

1. Is there a zipper guard at the neck to keep the zipper from irritating your throat?
2. Does it come with a stuff sack?

1. No, but the collar is lofted (stands up well on its own) and there's a thick flap behind the zipper coils, so I've never once had irritation problems. Don't notice it's there.

2. No, but I'd have wanted to buy my own or get a bigger one to stuff multiple pieces in, anyway. I most frequently do the latter.

I've had a few starts and stops with not feeling like I bought the perfect item of clothing, but the Flight jacket has left me with zero regret. Absolutely nothing keeps me warmer!