I guess I must have been lucky a few years back because I picked up a Montbell Alpine Down jacket pretty cheap on a close out at Prolitegear. I have liked the jacket because it was a big light box baffled bundle of warmth but I didn’t like it so much because it didn’t have a hood, it could use a smidge more length in the arms and torso and the outer fabric was 20 or 30 dernier. So lately I have thought about getting another model to try something that would have the same amount of loft and warmth but with some of the features I was looking for. I tried some OR and other brand stuff but it didn’t really pan out. I just tried some RAB stuff but the Microlight and Neutrino Endurance were a bit too small in XXL. What really shocked me was that the Neutrino Endurance Plus in XL was large enough but the jacket weighed close to two pounds, 30.3oz, and didn’t seem to have nowhere near the loft of the Montbell I have (6oz down, 20oz total weight) even thought it was supposed to have 10oz of hydrophobic down in it. The sewing of the baffles had a variety of height to them from near nonexistant to maybe about half an inch so although the jacket maybe had a lot more down in it, there was no real huge loft to make the down work to its fullest. And it is not just this RAB piece but a lot of the jackets that I have tried out that are box baffled just don’t have baffles that loft that much. I also really don't like that most the hooded jackets that have 4-5oz of down usually weight between 17-18oz in XXL.
Since I mainly wanted a jacket/parka for the winter to use around town and as an insulating layer if I do go out winter camping (very rarely) maybe I will just save the Montbell and buy a down hood and be done with it.
I did like the Mountain Hardwear hooded Ghost Whisperer I tried out with the other stuff I ordered but where do you use this that you just can’t use a 200wt fleece?
