Warmth Comparison: Pat. Micropuff Pullover vs Flight Jkt or Skaha Plus

You might toss in the BMW Cocoon for a down vs. synthetic fill comparison. (See http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/cocoon_pullover.html)

I like the Micro Puff garments, but they aren’t as lofty as the Cocoon or the very nice down jackets on your list. I’ll bet the Patagonia will take more abuse. You have quite a price spread there too. The weight differences run just a couple ounces. Also, the Skaha Plus has a hood– the Skaha Down Sweater would be a more apples and apples comparison.

Let me further confound your choices by adding the Integral Designs PLQ jacket (See http://www.integraldesigns.com/product_detail.cfm?id=830&CFID=7378347&CFTOKEN=43005992&mainproducttypeid=1 )

What I would ask, other than basic loft comparisons, is the breathability of each model– not so much for moisture issues, but for wind resistance.

Thanks Dale for the good info. The Cocoon looks good too, but it is always out of stock (& only one color). I wonder how the warmth of the Cocoon is compared to the Flight or Skaha. The PLQ is interesting too. The PLQ says it has “3 oz of Primaloft Sport.” The Cocoon has 1.8 oz of Polarguard Delta. I am wondering what exactly those numbers mean. If the insulation was the same type, would those numbers correspond to each other? Is that number the weight of all the insulation in the entire jacket? I am wondering if anyone has compared or tested the warmth rating of our favorite down jackets to the warmth of our favorite synthetics. This becomes a bit trickier than simply measuring the loft height of the down or synth insulation. It might be good to have some good old fashion opinions and testing by people that have tried some of these in similar situations. I know people usually like to keep those categories separate, but it would still be interesting, as many times I could go either way in dry weather. Good point about comparing the wind resistance of these jackets too. It seems most of the down jackets shells tend to be less wind resistant than their synth counterparts. Is this true? The skaha can be bought with your choice of shell fabrics which is nice. If anyone else has experience comparing the warmth of the micropuff vs the down jackets (skaha, flight) I’d love to hear it. I’d also be interested in hearing ANY comparisons of our favorite synth jackets to down ones in the dry warmth category.