Paul J Montbell anorak review

[D G]

Hi Paul,
I read your review with interest.

Could you comment on sizing? Montbell is selling these on their website under “web specials” but they are Japanese sizing.

Would you say a L is more like a US M?

Thanks
Dan

[EndoftheTrail]

Hi Daniel:

I am not Paul, but have purchased MontBell jackets — both American and Japanese size. You are correct above. I wear “M” (American), and “L” (Japanese).

[Ryan Faulkner]

Dan,

if the jacket is in web specials this probably means they are soon to be discontinued. If you want one, I would order quick to be on the safe side.

Ryan

[J R]

Its the old colors in the web specials page.

Its on sale for like $36. The new colors are on the regular sales pages for $50.

[Ryan Faulkner]

never mind what I said then, thanks Joe

[paul johnson]

Daniel,

Ben is right,…sort of…

this garment is sized differently from other Japanese sized garments on the Montbell website. read on…

i bought mine on sale in the OnLine Montbell OUTLET store.

i really don’t like to make things complicated, but…

before i order anything from Montbell (as well as American merchants for that matter), i always check the “sizing charts/info”. please make sure to do so yourself, so you can see the following info first hand. [Note: the sizing chart i’m speaking of is the chart linked to from the individual garment’s webpage, NOT the Japanese Sizing link on the “summary”/category webpage – that one is an abbreviated bit of info, w/o any sizing dimensions.]

in this case, the Montbell Wind Blast Anorak sold in the OUTLET store will display a different sizing chart from the Montbell Wind Blast Anorak sold at full price in the non-OUTLET section of the Montbell OnLineStore. the full price non-OUTLET model uses the same sizing chart as many other Montbell garments.which is a diff. chart than this OUTLET anorak. both OUTLET and non-OUTLET anoraks seem identical in appearance, etc. i skimmed the details, perhaps i missed something as i skimmed and read quickly. the colors might be different, or maybe the OUTLET is last years model? i don’t know.

the sizing for the OUTLET anorak is totally different than what you might expect. i ordered a size M (my usual American size for a 40″ chest; the Montbell OUTLET sizing guide say that’s 48.2″). it is roomy for layering over a high-loft insulating garment without compressing it. i think that it is a very good fit for a 40″ chest. it certainly won’t be too tight. for its intended purpose, i’d rather have it a little too loose, than too tight.

i also used the Torso Length on the OUTLET Anorak sizing chart to help determine which size to get. I knew that i wanted ~28″ of torso length for proper coverage in this type of garment.

in the case of this Anorak, when i noticed that ALL of the chest dimensions for any listed Letter size were significantly larger than expected (e.g. XS was 45.1″), i chose to use the desired Torso Length as the driving factor in what size to order. i also checked to make sure that the sleeves weren’t too, too long for the size that i ordered. in an Anorak, a larger chest dimension is desired in order to make donning and doffing of the garment easier – the zipper can only do so much to ease this issue.

now get this,…

the sizing label on the garment says Japanese M, USA S. there is no way i could ever fit into a standard USA S with a 40″ chest. if i did there wouldn’t be any room left over for layering anything. this garment is plenty roomy for me in the Japanese M size.

for the other Japanese sized Montbell garments i have, the labels say Japanese L, USA/European M. Ben is probably familiar with one of these garments and has based his info on these properly sized garments and NOT the weird sizing used in the OUTLET anorak sizing chart.

just an aside, one further note on Japanese “sizing” (it doesn’t apply to the Anorak zipper, for obvious reasons) has to do with the zipper on full-zip garments. Japanese “sizing” garments have the zipper slider on the left side (the typical female side in USA), and not the right side. it takes just a bit of getting used to and then it’s no problem. however, if i switch back to an American garment, then i find myself “programmed” to the Japanese zipper config. & have to get readjusted to the American male right-side zipper slider. IME (in my experience) ONLY items listed as Japanese “sized” Montbell garments have the zipper slider on the left side. other Montbell garments i’m familiar with that do NOT say that they are Japanesed “sized” have the zipper slider on the normal USA right side.

BOTTOM LINE: always order Montbell garments based upon the dimensions given in the sizing chart, NOT based upon the Size Letter (e.g. S, M, L). i have several Montbell jackets, vests, and shells and have had no problem going by the dimensions (inches) instead of the Letter Sizing. i usually primarily go by the chest size and secondarily, the torso length. in my case, i’m forced to live with long sleeves since i’ve got “dwarf”-like arms; someone of more normal proportions might want to consider sleeve length also. all of this info is in the sizing charts.

hope this info helped. if i have further confused you, please check out the various sizing charts on the Montbell website & then post back with specific questions and i will try to answer them.

[D G]

Paul/Ryan/Benjamin,

Thanks for the info.

I always have problems with sizing stuff. To make matters worse I kind of fall between M and L, which makes things even more difficult :(

[EndoftheTrail]

I would highly recommend ordering both sizes. Your only risk is the return postage — and consider how light these garments are, that should be pretty minimal…

[Author]

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