Uniqlo Down Hooded Parka
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I was finally down in SoHo last weekend and stopped in the Japanese based fashion store Uniqlo and was surprised to see they still had the down jacket mentioned This thread a month ago in stock, as these fashion stores rotate merchandise pretty quickly. I picked up a parka for $80.
For a fashion jacket, I'm pretty impressed so far.
I'll compare it to my two MB jackets, the UL Down Inner Parka, and the Alpine light jacket.
First and foremost, the weight is 12.53 oz for the XL parka(I had to size up. I wear large in MB) , and .42oz for the included stuff sack.
My UL Down Inner Parka weighs 8.61oz and the Alpine Light jacket weighs 12.28oz.
It's advertised as having 680fp down, and I'm pretty sure they're using the UK scale, which would be over 700+fp to us Americans.
It has two zippered hand pockets and has two inner drop pockets, which accounts for some of the added weight.
The fabric seems pretty water resistant(see pic below) and no less fragile than the Down Inner 15D.
There is no storm flap behind the main zipper, which both MB jackets have.
It seems to fall in between my MB UL Down Inner Parka and my MB Alpine Light jacket as far as loft. My crude measurements give me between 1.5"-2" average two-later loft for the MB Down Inner, 2.5"-2.75" average for the Uniqlo, and 3"-3.25" for the Alpine Light.
One big plus the Uniqlo has over the Down Inner is that it is more fitted along the bottom hem. That's not an issue with the new version with the draw cord, but I have the old version, and the unfitted hem allows cold air to get up inside, lowering the comfort rating in breezier weather. That's not a huge issue in the backcountry, as I can put my windshell over it and cinch the bottom of that, but for around town, which is what I got the cheaper Uniqlo for, it makes a big difference.
Here's some pictures.
Here you can see the Uniqlo is clearly loftier than the Down Inner Parka:
Water resistance is pretty good as well. I left that water on the sleeve for a good 5 minutes without noticeable seepage.
Maybe MontBell has competition if Uniqlo ever decides to expand into outdoors wear.
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