I've been considering the purchase of new, lighter weight down inner garments for quite a while. And based on what I've been reading, I thought I would like the Flash pants and jacket best. But before buying them, I wanted to try them on to see how they actually felt and fit.
I found a small mountaineering shop that stocked some of the items of both brands. I liked the fit of the Flash pants, so I purchased them (they didn't have the Montbell pants in stock).
I was surprised to discover that I did not like the way the Flash Jacket fit me. I liked the fit of both the Montbell Alpine Parka and the Montbell U.L. Down Inner Jacket, but I chose the Inner Jacket because it was significantly lighter in weight (6.2 oz., weighed on my digital scale), and it was more like an inner garment (which is the only way I plan to wear it).
I also liked the possibility of wearing a vest under the jacket for maximum flexibility, and the lighter weight jacket made that option more practical. The shop also only had the WM vests in stock, but I loved how the Flash vest fit, so I bought it (one size smaller than the jacket to make sure the vest would not be compressed). The vest weighed only 3.75 oz. (on my scale), and it fits nicely under the Montbell U.L. Down Inner Jacket.
The jacket and vest combined weigh only 9.95 oz., which made them a slightly lighter choice than the Alpine jacket alone (which is about 10.6 oz.). I was very glad that I didn't purchase the Flash jacket without trying it on–otherwise it probably would have shown up in the gear swap!
