warmth of UL down puffy

A photo might help other owners to comment on the loftiness of your puffy.

My son has the same pullover. Has had it for a year now. It's basically a down "sweater" and not a full-blown down jacket; never has that Michelin-man puffy look. With a midweight baselayer, he's good to mid-40's at camp. Layers a rain jacket over it to the low-40's. He went to the Michigan-Iowa football game last fall wearing it with a Patagonia soft-shell over it and survived into the teens, but wasn't happy about it.

You can toss it in a low-temp dryer for 10-15 minutes and see if that helps with the loft. I don't particularly like the tennis-ball method but a few tightly rolled-up socks in with it helps.

I have the Hadron Cardigan, 8.4 oz in Large (measured). I assume you have the full-zip jacket, which seems to be the same fill as mine (partial zip, no hood).

With a 150-weight merino LS base layer, the Hadron, and a windshirt (hooded, and a hat on) I am good during breaks (cooking, eating, changing socks, sitting) @ 40°F. With another light fleece layer added over the base, I have been just fine around (or a bit above) freezing – again, at rest.
Never tried to hike with the cardigan on, and hope not to….

del

I've had the Hadron Cardigan Hoody for a year or so now, and I'd characterize the fill in the arms in certain places as "sparse." It is still amazingly warm for the weight and I have no complaints.

Sold my Hadron and bought something better. Very over rated IMHO. You can do better for not much more in weight.

I have the montbell ex light and it is only 5 oz or so…(no hood, no pockets, no cinch cords…very minimalist).

It works very well for me with a grid fleece base layer underneath (cap 4 or similar) and my wind shirt (rab cirrus) or rain jacket (rab kinetic) on top, in camp (sitting around, doing chores) into the low 30s.

I used the ex light last August on the JMT with nothing but a thin nylon shirt under it, occasionally the cirrus on top, and i was never cold, even when we slept really high.

I'm also a Chicagoan, so add that to the mix….

"I'm also a Chicagoan, so add that to the mix…."

According to Sandburg, that means that you have big shoulders. Now we have to put that into Mont Bell terms.

–B.G.–

Borah Gear announced this on Facebook on February 28…

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del

The baffles look to be the same size as the ones on their vest which has been available for purchase for a while:

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Hopefully someone who owns one will weigh in on this.

You don't fit into Montbell with big shoulders. I am 6'5" and 225# and live just south of Chicago. The XXL stuff barely fits.

Thanks all for the replies. What is becoming clear to me is that a down puffy in this weight class isn't just lighter, it is specifically and intentionally designed for a different temperature range than my point of comparison, which is the 11-12 oz jackets a la the Patagucci down sweater. I have the Costco knock-off of that, which at 12 oz of "800+" fp is clear to me now will be an overall warmer jacket. I had thought the difference in weight between the 7-8 oz jackets and 11-12 oz jackets would be due mostly to lighter materials, fewer zippers, and less weight of higher fg down to achieve the same degree of loft/warmth. Now it's apparent to me that, while these weight savings are true, they probably account for only perhaps half the weight difference, the rest coming from actual less loft in the design and thus less warmth.

I was hoping to keep my top layering options as lightweight as possible by having only a long-sleeve baselayer, down puffy, and rain jacket. Now I'm not sure that will be warm enough for me with this Hadron or similar. So my choices now would seem to be that same approach with my current (heavier) down jacket or to use something lighter like the Hadron but add another thin layer such as a windshirt, which mitigates the weight savings but does provide more versatility. I have an R1 fleece that I'm trying to keep out of the mix for weight reasons.

Thanks again for your insights.

My experience is that the 7-8oz jackets have about 1.5 to 2.5oz of down fill, while the 11-12oz jackets have 3-4oz.

I have a Montbell "UL Down Inner" jacket in the first category and a Sierra Designs Gnar in the latter. I use the Montbell much like an R1, though a little warmer. The Hadrons are similar. The Gnar is a mid-warmth jacket, like the Patagonia Down Sweater, First Ascent Downlight. Still not extreme cold temps, but I can take it well below freezing when paired with a shell.

I own a Borah Gear vest. I've been holding out on posting on this thread since I've yet to have the weather conditions to use it in the field, but since no one else has commented, I thought I'd chime in.
I hung the vest from a hanger today for a couple of hours. After an hour, I couldn't notice any settling of the down in the bottom of the baffle, After a couple of hours, I thought I could detect that the apex of the D had moved slightly below the centre of the baffles, but any effect was very small.
Take this with all the caution its lack of scientific rigour and lack of in the field experience deserves. However, I feel that any possible settling of the down in the battles will be more than outweighed by the fewer cold spots due to the baffle stitching. I also own a Ghost Whisperer jacket, and the wider baffles of the Borah Gear vest certainly allow the down to loft more fully.