Down jacket dilemma

Also – rest of layering system = baselayer + midweight fleece, exact weight of each depending on expected conditions. Plus shell.

And, happy to have this be a part of sleep system, but I don’t like cutting it super close, so not banking on that. Probably bring a 20* quilt regardless, unless mid summer.

Don’t want to make the choice harder, but have you considered a half-zip? You can save a lot of weight and have significantly better down weight to total weight ratio.

For instance this one: https://lukesultralite.com/robic7-down-jacket

It can also be modified to a full zip if you want. It weighs 6,9 ounce with 3,6 hydrophobic 900FP down. This is about 52% down weight compared to the Rab at 39%.

I was going to recommend Luke’s Ultralight too. He made me a full-zip down vest with black on the inside and a dark gray on the outside. Since he puts his logo very discretely at the bottom, it’s much more elegant than the usual sports gear. You could probably ask him to put the label on the inside too.

It’s a great technical piece of gear too. Very light, very warm (for a vest), packs small, and the fabric is surprisingly tough for its weight.

I read elsewhere that he is overbooked with orders -just a heads up.

The Montbell Alpine Light is superb for what you describe. I have a MH Ghost Whisperer and various other down jackets, but the Montbell Alpine Light is the lightest/warmest of all those I own. So many down jackets, like the Ghost Whisperer, are so busy trying to be light, they aren’t very warm! The Montbell hits the sweet-spot between light and warm about perfectly, and without breaking the bank.

In some ways it seems to come down to hydrophobic down vs longer coverage.

Well, if it comes down to this two, my choice would be easy: longer coverage.

DWR down is useful in the PNW winter/shoulder season, for jackets anyways …

i can speak only for the EB DWR down … but that stuff dries quicker than normal down on humid days … ive even dried it out at moderate temps with body heat (no sun) …

of course how long the DWR lasts if a question

is it needed? … nope … but if its yr only insulation piece then you had better not make a mistake

;)

John, as Brad mentioned you probably can’t go wrong with the Alpine Light, which would be ideal for milder winter and shoulder season in the PNW, and plenty warm for 3 season use in the Western mountains.

If you only do occasional winter trips and you want to save several ounces on mild 3 season and most summer backpack trips, then you might consider a slightly different approach with three down pieces:

1) A light down vest (3.5 ounces from Borah Gear, $99)

2) A light down jacket (5.5 ounces for Montbell Superior Round Neck, $125)

3) A down or synthetic balaclava (1.5 – 2.5 ounces, Zpacks or EE, $55 – $65)

For a little more investment ($80 extra), you get a very light vest for summer trip, a light jacket for 3 season use, and you can combine both (wear the vest over the jacket) for shoulder season or occasional winter trips. And the balaclava serves double duty as a “parka” hood and as a quilt hood, if you use a quilt. On colder trips while sleeping, you can wrap the vest around your feet while you wear the jacket, adding lots of warmth to your bag or quilt.

As for kayaking trips, on the WA and BC coast I never take down clothing, although I use a light down mummy. Kayaking trips always seem to have more time around camp than backpacking trips, so hardier clothing to wear outside the tent has always worked well for me. A heavier fleece jacket  takes up little extra room or weight in the kayak and can take anything the Pacific ocean can throw at it (wind, rain, salt spray, fog, high humidity, imploding hatch covers from surf, etc). Even on a solo trip with kayak weight is more important, I’d carry the heavier fleece (and an extra tarp too).

… but if its yr only insulation piece then you had better not make a mistake

If that is the case then you honestly don’t know or understand what can happen. Yes, I always look at the weight of something when I want to buy something, but weight is just one single factor of the many that can influence my choice.

no one makes mistakes on BPL … we are all perfect

;)

Of course. I forgot. Shame on me. :)

Thanks for the pointers to Luke, thoughts on modular system, and Brad – fleece for kayaking makes a ton of sense.