opinion on wild things primaloft jacket vs. more ultralight ones ?

[rajesh kumar]

I have a Marmot primaloft/ pertex trango jacket that I have been using since 1996. It weighs 20 ounces and has pit zips + neck cord but no hood. It has served me well including a ~1000 mile backpack in 2002 but getting pretty worn out and time to replace it.

This time I want something a bit lighter (10-15 ounce) so that I can also use it as my insulation for snowboarding in the cascades wintertime. In Oregon/ Washington,it doesn’t get cold enough to bother with heavy ones like Patagonia DAS. I liked the Marmot Flash (15 ounce) when I tried it on this summer but can’t find it anymore. I also tried the Patagonia micropuff which seems VERY good atleast in the store except I like full zipper on this piece.

The wild things primaloft sweater, both non hoodeed and hooded, seem to be reasonably lightweight and not too expensive but I can only get to them online.
If anyone has used them, any opinions ?
Thaks
Rajesh

[John Scott Lyons]

Hey, good question. The wild things sweater/jacket (no hood, 17 oz.) I’ve used (100+ days) the last two years @ the Cascades. This fall I got the Montbell Thermawrap (Exceloft, no hood, no pockets, wt.8oz.) and have used it already 30+ days. I love it. Plenty warm under a shell. With the wild things primaloft sweater it was too warm untill it got down to 15-20 F or so. Promountain sports.com carries both, even has a bunch of the wild things’ sweaters on sale. The thermawrap has the inside of the collar lined with micro fleece.

[Ken Helwig]

i have thermawrap now for a year and love it. it is my go to insulating layer for most of my backcountry stuff. funny though, i just bought ny wife the wild things jacket because the price was so darn good on their site. $80!!!!

[Richard Nisley]

I purchased the WT Primaloft sweater and vest for a backpacking and fishing trip to the high country of the Bob Marshall Wilderness area that I did in October. The WT sweater and vest are each constructed of two layers of 1.8 oz Primaloft 1 yielding a loft of about 1” for each garment. I have an athletic shape and normally purchase XL jackets to get the shoulder and chest room. I then have to take in the waist about 6 inches to get the jacket to fit well. After talking to WT about the proper size to layer under my hard shell, they suggested a size L sweater and a size M vest to go over the sweater. The fit of each garment was perfect for me.

My main purchase criterion when I bought the WT combo was: a synthetic jacket that approached the warmth of my existing down jacket (1.5” loft), was a similar weight, would not loose loft if it got wet, and was reasonably priced. I purchased the jacket and vest combo for $140 in the gold/grey reversible color. The WT sweater and vest combo combination provided2” of torso loft and satisfied all of my other requirements. An added benefit of this combo is the incremental addition of warmth.

I am so pleased with these products that I just ordered another set to keep as a spare. After the current inventory is depleted they are stopping production on these models.

[Jeff Vince]

I recieved my new updated-version Wild Things Belay jacket and it is astonishingly warm and well put together.
It is in the new Coyote color and looks extremely sharp. I also love my Wild Things Primaloft sweater. I think they are closing out the quilted models and are going to go with a new style non-quilted Primoloft version. I think the only sweater/pullover better that the WTG sweater is the Patagonia Micro Puff pullover, but the shell is not as tough and is not as durable in general.

[k lee]

How does the water resistance of Primaloft Sweater compared with the Belay Jacket. I note the later comes with Nextec EPIG.

[Andrew Toyota]

Great question, I’ve been pondering this one too. I snowboard and climb in the PNW backcountry. For the past 3 years, I’ve owned both the WT primaloft and belay jackets. Given the temps of the PNW, I generally don’t put them on when traveling but apply them at rest stops and when sleeping in lightweight bags. So for me, I wanted a lighter option than the Primaloft sweater but still something just as warm. The UL Thermawrap didn’t seem to maintain my body heat as well so for 1 oz more, the Western Mountaineering Flight jacket was my choice. My rationale was if conditions were forecasted to be extremely wet, I’d bring the Primaloft sweater but otherwise, I’d go w/ the WM Flight jacket and just keep it under a shell. It’s priced ~$100 more than the UL Thermawrap, however so that’s a definite drawback but for shaving 40% weight, the WM Flight was my choice.

P.S.
And re: water resistance comparison between the Belay jacket and Primaloft sweater, I think the Belay jacket is substantially more resistant b/c of the EPIC coating. I’ve worn the Belay in overnight, wet conditions and didn’t notice as much of a depreciation as the Primaloft sweater.

[Author]

Posts