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Holy Grail of UL active, synthetic Vest? Apex Vest version 3.0


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Home Forums Gear Forums Make Your Own Gear Holy Grail of UL active, synthetic Vest? Apex Vest version 3.0

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  • #1312937
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I call it, backpack vest. I'm going to take some more pics later on of me wearing it, when my wife gets home, but here are some pics below. Weight of the vest is 2.3 oz, with longer torso and completely redesigned. Very little fabric in the back, and using elastic webbing on the back.

    Back of vest, see why i call it "backpack Vest"?
    back

    Front of vest with velcro open
    velcro

    Vest on scale–2.3oz weight
    scale

    #2070382
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    More pics

    front

    side

    back

    #2070385
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    wow! 2.3 ounces

    #2070389
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    It is pretty amazing how light, and how small it packs. I'm wondering if it will provide adequate insulation on the side though.

    #2070394
    Jerry Adams
    BPL Member

    @retiredjerry

    Locale: Oregon and Washington

    If you're backpacking, you don't need a lot of warmth

    #2070404
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    True enough. Plus, if you keep your windjacket partially closed at the bottom, should help to retain a bit more of the heat, but when you need to, easier to dump same by fully opening the windjacket.

    #2070407
    K C
    BPL Member

    @kalebc

    Locale: South West

    Sorry to criticize, but when active, I don't need insulation. And when I'm cold, I start to layer up for the evening (when I'm not hiking). When I am hiking I usually get cold over passes or when it's windy, that's when I put on a wind jacket that weighs about 3-5 oz. I just don't see how your vest would replace or be better than anything, plus, it looks like it's too tight and the insulation gets compressed making it useless. How about taking a raw piece of Apex 2.5 and poking a hole in it, put it over your head under a shirt?, that makes more sense.

    #2070412
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Depends on the temps you are hiking at.

    Recently i've been out in some less than 10 degree for the high days, not even factoring in the windchill.

    In these kind of more extreme temps, some people like to use fleece. But fleece is heavy, not that warm for the weight but your back still gets sweaty a lot, and it's bulky. This is very little weight, very little bulk, solves the problem of back sweat, and is much more weight to warmth efficient.

    The good thing about fleece is that it dries relatively fast and breathes very well. However, using such breathable lining/shell and using Apex, it should dry significantly faster than most other puffy type garments.

    This kind of my really cheap, DIY answer to Polartec's really expensive and new "Alpha" material, which ironically it seems companies are facing it with not very breathable fabric which defeats the purpose (or so i noticed "Woubeir" mentioning).

    Btw, the insulation is not that compressed. 2.5 oz Apex isn't all that thick to begin with.

    Granted, hiking at 25 and above, especially if doing a lot of steep elevation gains and loss, this would not be a good garment to use.
    Unfortunately, i live in VA, and most hike near SNP which has a lot of gentle hills, etc, and often i get cold going down or flat when hiking at temps less than 20/15 F.

    I could bring my heavier fleeces, or i could bring this 2.3 oz garment that takes up no space in my pack…

    #2070431
    Tim Marshall
    BPL Member

    @marshlaw303

    Locale: Minnesota

    Think you're going someplace cool. However you can't call that a vest. It's an insulated apron! Get "kiss the cook" screen printed on there;)

    I really do think there is something there just gotta bust some balls sometimes.

    -Tim

    #2070433
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Well i did just clean the house the other day…but i would have over heated wearing my Apex apron, methinks. Dang it, back to the drawing board…again…! :/

    #2070464
    Delmar O’Donnell
    Member

    @bolster

    Locale: Between Jacinto & Gorgonio

    The concept makes sense to me.

    I have a bicycling vest with a similar concept (minus the insulation). Silnylon front, large-hole mesh back. Designed to block wind from the front/sides only.

    http://tinyurl.com/kgn4cmb

    #2070669
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks Delmar. Admittedly it is more of a niche piece of gear, sort of like that cycling vest you linked to.

    #2071219
    William F
    Member

    @wkf

    Locale: PNW

    Nice Justin, 2.3 oz. is nothing and it seems like it would vent really well when you are active in cold weather like you mention. I for one don't see a windshirt filling the same niche… this thing is lighter, provides insulation only where needed, and has tons of venting potential in the under-arm area the way you cut it. My one concern is the shoulder area. I get putting less there because you've got straps on and things tend to get pretty hot directly under the straps, but personally I get cold fast if the tops of my shoulders are exposed like you have it now. Is there a reason why you didn't go for coverage on the upper shoulder area? I would be inclined to make a deeper neck slit for even more venting potential in the upper chest in case things heat up. Do you think the velcro will stay open with a pack on if you did want to vent there? I'm thinking it might close-up when you want it to be open just do to the nature of velcro and where that slit is. The vest paired with arm warmers would give you a very modular winter active set-up. I love modular systems myself. Good work!

    #2072092
    Thayne N
    BPL Member

    @teethless

    Locale: Four Corners

    Great out of the box approach to torso insulation!

    #2072094
    Justin Baker
    BPL Member

    @justin_baker

    Locale: Santa Rosa, CA

    "Sorry to criticize, but when active, I don't need insulation. And when I'm cold, I start to layer up for the evening (when I'm not hiking). When I am hiking I usually get cold over passes or when it's windy, that's when I put on a wind jacket that weighs about 3-5 oz."

    That's probably because you live in the south west.

    #2072246
    K C
    BPL Member

    @kalebc

    Locale: South West

    "Sorry to criticize, but when active, I don't need insulation. And when I'm cold, I start to layer up for the evening (when I'm not hiking). When I am hiking I usually get cold over passes or when it's windy, that's when I put on a wind jacket that weighs about 3-5 oz."

    "That's probably because you live in the south west."

    RE:

    Did you know they have Airports here in San Diego?

    #2072700
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi William,

    Thank you for the reply and feedback. Re: the shoulders, you can pull the shirt back up so that it covers a bit more of same. I pulled the front down far to show the length, but as you can tell from the side pic it's over long on me. It still won't completely cover the shoulder when pulled up some, but a little more.

    Good point about the velcro. I meant to put a little bit of velcro on the front, to hold open one side of the flap, but i completely forgot about it. Unfortunately, i sent it off to a tester with this over sight. Doh.

    I think if i stick with this concept at all, i'm going to stick with a full length zipper to give maximum venting options. Due to feedback from the tester on the previous version, i think i also want to use a different fabric for the inner liner, a more breathable and wicking fabric–probably a polyester, or poly blend of some sort. I think Dri-Release might work really well in this capacity, or possibly Pertex equilibrium. Unfortunately using non thin nylon's and/or thicker fabrics will raise the weight some.

    I also think that if i do start selling these, i will stick with the 2.2 oz Apex over the 2.5 oz Apex, which i've used so far (because i had some left over). There probably isn't much noticeable difference between the two though in terms of weight or warmth, but even a very slight decrease in both is better than nothing.

    #2072702
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thank you Thayne.

    #2072709
    Dale Wambaugh
    BPL Member

    @dwambaugh

    Locale: Pacific Northwest

    Good points for thinking outside the box.

    I have a Showers Pass cycling vest built with a light stretch panel on the back and windproof fleece up front. Something thin and wicking would be good on the back I think

    Showers Pass cycling vest

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