Patagonia UL Down Shirt

A nice puffy insulation layer will probably be my next major purchase, but not this one. In my opinion, very expensive for the warmth and weight savings. Compare with Montbell Ex Light:

http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?cat_id=70&p_id=2301344

The Ex light is a hair lighter than the down shirt, looks like it has more down (of higher fill power), has full zip for more venting options, and is $85 less. Shell fabric may be more delicate, however. Or the Montbell Down Inner (likely my choice) for even more warmth, more durable shell than the Patagonia, a bit cheaper than the Ex Light, full zip and pockets, and 2 oz heavier than the down shirt.

If Montbell made a quarter-zip pullover version of the Ex Light, I would be very interested.

I was told by a Patagonia rep they had 56g (2oz) of down. Similar to the EXL and UL by Montbell.

It's all Patagucci'd up. That attracts some people and scares others away.

Aren't there diminishing returns with tiny amounts of down compared to synthetic insulation? I think Richard Nisely stated that somewhere here. To gain an advantage over synthetics at this weight, the shell material of the down garment must be very very thin. Bring duct tape…

@Simon: Good thought. The necessary fabric for the quilting of such small amounts of down should make a synthetic awfully close. Where's the quality 6oz synthetic jacket? I'd expect a Nano Puff to be about the same warmth (60g of Primaloft), but it weighs significantly more than these SUL options. Perhaps the biggest advantage of down here is its longevity.

the mb exl is quite a bit warmer than something like the nanopuff despite being 1/2 the weight …