Micro Puff Hood v Cocoon Pro 60 Parka

I'm interested in this as well. In fact, I would love to see some sort of ranking/rating system for:

Micro puff pullover
vs
Cocoon Hoody
vs
Cocoon Pro 60 Parka
vs
Montbell UL down inner parka
vs
Shah Plus

Criteria would be warmth, durability, features, weight of course, price, etc

I don't think the Micropuff Pullover is made anymore. It has disappeared from the Patagonia website. Only the vest and the hooded jacket are left.

It, like the hooded jacket, are seasonal. Watch for it later.

I made a simple chart comparing my short list of synthetic hooded jackets. Since my post above I found a lot of forum posts and BPL articles. Unfortunately, the last big synthetic test was 2005. It would be nice to have an updated article. I would also like to see BPL use the cocoon hoody in it's comparison. I know there might be a conflict, but I would trust the writers to be objective.

Search for polaguard, synthetic, exceloft, kinsman for some interesting threads.

If I were to pick today, I would go with the Cocoon Hoody. I would consider the Patagonia because of the great return policy, but double the weight is against the SUL mentality

Thanks for the comments on the other insulation garments but I would say that only the micro puff and pro 60 parka fit the remit – i.e. an over-layering belay type jacket (full zip) that could be used to layer over the top of an already wet outer shell for insulation, whilst taking rest stops, summiting etc in cold wet conditions with high wind chill. Typical UK winter conditions.

I have warm down pieces for other conditions but want something where I don't have to take off my (likely already wet) shell and lose warmth in the process to add the insulation layer.

If I was certain the pro-parka offered comparable warmth I would definitely go for that for the weight saving. However my other attempts to find a lighter weight garment have led to insufficient warmth.

I've been able to try the micro puff hood here in the UK and can tell instantly – and from a walk around the block in the cold, that it is much warmer than the rab photon hoodie.

Unfortunately to try the pro parka I would need to order it over the web, pay tax and import duty on arrival, then if wanting to send it back it would be very difficult to reclaim the tax and import duty as well as the additional costs of return postage.

Just wondered if anyone there had experience of both and could say 'yep, the micro puff is quite a lot warmer' or 'there's really very little in it in terms of insulation value – so go for the lesser weight of the pro parka"

I'll have a cruise around and see if I can find reference to any previous thread that has made the comparison.

PS

Also to say that – though I can't swear to their precise accuracy, my Fox's digital fishing scales weighed the micro puff hood, size medium, at 24 oz or 680 gms.

As the shell material seems very thin and the only real additional weight must be from zip, toggles and the stitching through the lining that supports the insulation in place, I'm tempted to conclude the the pro-parka insulation must be thinner – though again it is difficult to make an apples with apples comparison from the details provided on the respective websites.

I have, however, heard excellent reports about the accuracy of advertised weights of BPL products.

I completely agree that a heavier product offering equal performance goes against SUL, though I'm no more than a light weighter myself. The question really is – does the extra weight of the micro puff bring extra performance in terms of warmth? In which case that could be my preference.

I have the Cocoon Pro Parka. It's a great piece of gear. Very warm, feels good on the skin and the hood is roomy but comfy when zipped all the way up. There are a few things you should know before buying though:

Weight
My size L parka weighs 354g vs the 312g weight listed on this website. That's 13% over weight. From what I've read in the forums this is pretty common for the Cocoon stuff. Shame on BMW for exxagerating and shame on BPL for not reporting a true weight (or range if necessary) in the store.

Compression
Recommendation is to compress to max 350 cubic inches, that's about 1.5 gallons. It's probably similar for all synthetic jackets but in my mind I thought a jacket should be able to compress further.

Drop tail
There is no drop tail, the jacket barely comes to my waist when I pull on it. I'm a tall guy (6'2") but the cut of this parka isn't what I would expect when I read "drop tail". I do find the sleeves are just long enough to pull in my hands though.

Zipper
The zipper on mine is opposite of what men's clothing usually is in the U.S. Not really a big thing, but kind of annoying.