MYOG Down Jacket with Box Baffles.

[Aaron Sorensen]

Okay, just finished my down jacket.

Fabric is Argon 10D with over 5 ounces of down and has a 1 1/4" box construction baffle in the main body.

I wanted a jacket that I could take out in the high Sierras that would be warm enough to hang around before sleeping and enhance my 18 ounce myog quilt to be comfortable just below 30*, which is usually the lowest you'll get down to in the hiking season.

I could not find my scale so I had to fill each compartment by eye.
All came out perfect.

Weighs 8.5 ounces with about 5.2 ounces of 900 down.
The hood is stuffed to the max and is very warm.
Loft is very uniform with a double layer between 3-3 1/2".

I also have a Golite Roan Plateau and this is about the same in terms of warmth and loft.
It has a 26" zipper so it's 2" longer than most standard (non-parka) jacket.

I love the thing. It's nice, but wow was it a pain in the booty to make. It is also about 90% of what I wish it would look like.
The hood and fit was impossible. I did make the entire body with 1 piece of fabric (inner and outer). It came out looking good, but..
NEVER AGAIN!!!

Hope you like it.

Thanks for looking.

[Anonymous]

Pretty nice job for you first down jacket Aaron.

Is Argon supposed to be pretty good with down leak?

[Andy Duncan]

Wow, that is beautiful. Thanks for posting! I can appreciate the amount of time it must have taken to finish it. The detail on the hood looks great and I like the unique color (I haven't seen it offered by the usual MYOG suppliers). If you have more photos of the hood I would be interested in seeing your design. Did you use cuben for the baffle material?

[Eugene Smith]

Clean and functionally simple. Looks good Aaron.

[Jerry Adams]

Looks good.

Hopefully, after you use it a while, your "NEVER AGAIN!!!" feelings will fade : )

[Aaron Sorensen]

I've made 13 quilts, 2 other jackets, a wind breaker and 2 insulated pants.

No way am I going to make another down jacket.

I just used the argon for the baffles.
The hood is what came out for the worse.
It works and that is the most important thing.

Unless you special ordered from Goose Feet, I don't see any other 8.5 ounce hooded jackets out there with over 5 ounce of down in them, so how can I not be happy.

[Jerry Adams]

Are you saying a down jacket is so much more difficult than a down quilt? Especially the hood?

[Dustin Short]

I would assume so Jerry. A quilt is basically2 dimensional with just some strips to connect (maybe get fancy with the foot box).

A parka though requires basically attaching sleeves (two mini sleeping bags) to the torso (a quilt) and then the hood. Getting a hood to fit your head properly would require a lot of planning I assume.

Either way, looks great and makes me jealous of my lack of MYOG ambition!

[Stephen M]

Very nice Aaron.

[Sam Farrington]

Aaron,
Beautiful jacket, at premium weight and materials.
Did you use a pattern, or rough out the dimensions of each piece somehow.
It would be interesting to know.

[Tim Marshall]

I love it! A jacket is on my personal to do list. What color is the shell? I think they have a coyote but it looks maroon, which would rock.

-Tim

[Aaron Sorensen]

Hey Tim,
It's the Chocolate Brown.

I love the argon fabric. It's not only soft, but I have no down leakage from it.

I picked up 2 of the Faux- Jack Wolskin Windshirts for a synthetic jacket and only used 1.
I cut the other up for a pattern since I couldn't find my thru-hiker one.
I just took the sleeves off and used the entire shell as a single piece to make it look a little nicer.

[Scott Nelson]

I wonder if you could start with a Whitney Down Jacket kit from Thru-Hiker and baffle the torso? The challenge would be in figuring out the sizing. Would the torso fit loose after you use baffles instead of sewn-thru quilt? The fit on the Whitney is not baggy, so it could be okay. Otherwise, the instructions for the Whitney jacket are excellent and the finished jacket is great.

[Jason G]

how is the new argon? do you think it work well as a wind shell? Im considering making some wind pants with it

[Aaron Sorensen]

I have no idea how breathable it is compared to other 10d fabric (other than M50).
As a wind pant, I would say go for it as the argon is soft.
I know there is other conversation with this discussion on an M50 as a wind jacket that I think had the info you're looking for.

[And E]

Wanna hear a chemistry joke?

…

Sorry, all the good ones Argon.

Awesome work. I wish I had the skills and the cajones to tackle such a project.

[James Lee]

New to DIY and must say, I'm mighty impressed! I just finished a down beanie that had me asking myself why the hell I didn't just buy one considering the hours of cussing it took to get the fit right. If I made this, I'd be so proud I'd go naked in 50 degree temps just for a chance to wear it! Congrats.

[MFR]

Really impressive. I've got a few days and decided to check off one of the items on my MYOG list, but it's nothing like this.

Seriously good.

[Aaron Sorensen]

I just got my scale and woo hoo.

8.5 ounces with 5.2 ounces of down.

[Adam Kilpatrick]

That's impressive Aaron.

I'm guessing that a vest would be a much easier thing to make…I might start with one of those first :-)

[Peter Boysen]

Yeah, that's super cool. As long as it works, hopefully you won't actually need to make another one. What specifically about the hood was so tough?

[Author]

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