NEW Montbell Plasma 1000 Alpine Down Parka

[Rick M]

MontBell’s newest SUL down masterpiece.

[Hoosier T]

A beautiful thing. On a side note, have you seen the continued weight increase on the alpine light? All specs are the same and it’s up over an ounce.

[Rick M]

Yes this new parka looks sweet. The adjustable hood might just solve my biggest complaint about the EX Light Anorak but the high price makes it a deal breaker for me, especially as I also have their surprisingly cheaper Mirage too.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Actually a decent price for a top quality down parka.

I just wish it had Dri-Down or some other good down DWR.

[Ben Smith]

Full disclosure: I own GooseFeet Gear

I can do a custom down parka with cinch-down hood, hand pockets, 10d fabrics (your choice of colors inside and out), zipper (full or half), and 3.5oz of 950 FP DownTek for $325 including shipping.  This includes being cut to your measurements!  The total weight would be right around 7.5oz, depending on your size.

Shoot me an email at: [email protected] if interested!

[Arne L.]

When it comes to high priced UL down jackets, the new Rab Zero G also seems like a very worthy contender.

It makes the Montbell look ‘cheap’.

[Rick M]

Makes me appreciate the $199 Outlet deal I got on my Mirage. It is an amazingly feature rich, well tailored parka for very cold weather.

[Sean Passanisi]

Speaking of pricey down jackets, Patagonia has a new down parka for Fall 2016:

http://www.patagonia.com/product/mens-grade-vii-down-parka/84845.html

[Richard Nisley]

It appears to be an update to their prior Patagonia Encapsil (“Dry Down”) Parka (Spring 2013) which had 8.38 oz of DWR down at 18.3 oz total for size M.

The specs don’t list list the amount of fill but, a reasonable estimate based on the jacket weight, construction method, and materials is ~9oz. +. With 9 ozs of 800 fill, it is comparable to the MB Permafrost for about 3x the $. The Permafrost is camp chores thermo-neutral at about 4F.

If someone determines the specified fill amount for size M, please post it to this thread.

[Sean Passanisi]

Hi Richard. A Patagonia rep told me the Grade VII has 331 g of down fill (vs. 183 in the Fitz Roy parka).

[Richard Nisley]

Thanks to Sean’s information, my revised MB comparison is that the Grade VII is equivalent to a MB Permafrost in combination with a MB Alpine Light Down vest: for MBs 11.8 oz of 800 fill versus 11.68 for the Grade VII at 1/2 the cost and a thermo-neutral camp chores temperature of -11F.

 

The Grade VII is 8.3 oz lighter than the MB combination but has a much less weather resistant shell (MB has Gore Windstopper).

[Scott N]

I hadn’t seen a review of this piece on BPL yet, so I thought I’d chime in since I got one. I’m a bit blown away by it. One of the nice things about living in Portland is the Montbell store here (which happens to be a block from the Mountain Hardware store). It sized a little larger than other Montbell stuff I have, but I think purposefully so it can be layered under and on top of. Seems to hit a pretty good sweet spot there. Speaking of, I’d never wear this in the backcountry without something over it, the 7d fabric scares me to death. I’ve walked around the neighborhood with it on, but it just can’t take much to snag it in any other application.

I used it for two purposes on two different overnights, both with lows around 10 degrees. Purpose one as a camp layer, purpose two wearing to bed while in a thermarest navis, this weird 3/4 climber type bag they discontinued. Main point being it doesn’t have a hood. Neoair xtherm for a pad. It was great for both those uses.

I’ve never been out in cold enough weather where I’d hike in down, but it was fantastic to have a hooded down piece for the two functions I wanted… and I was warm in it with no activity in the teens. The hood adjustments solve the anoraks problems, and the plasma stitching pattern with extra down makes the thing pop in a way the jacket doesn’t. It’s kinda mind boggling how much this lofts for 8.5 ounces. If you ever get a chance to look at the exlight anorak, plasma jacket, and superior series side by side you’ll see what I mean. The pocket access to the hem drawstrings works well, and the pockets make you feel like there is a universe of down between your hands and the outside world.

Like a lot of people I thought the original plasma just didn’t have enough down in it even though it was a cool piece, and it’s really neat to see what that design can do beefed up. Again, I never wore it without my shell until bedtime. The 7d crinkles a bit when you first get it, like untumbled tyvek, but that goes away. Hard to think about something bad to say about it other than the price tag… but for what it does, worth it as near as I can tell. I agree that treated down would be neat, but I’ve not had a problem with it (or other MB down products yet) maybe just because of how I use them.

At any rate, I’m not much of a reviewer so if there are questions feel free.

[James Krehbiel]

I have been looking through older discussions and noticed this comment about the Montbell Alpine Light jackets and parkas, saying that “the specs are the same but the weights are creeping up.”

In reality the specs are not the same.  The Alpine Light garments are longer in the torso on the newest units as compared with last year’s models, 28″ vs. 26.4″.

Further, if you look at the top of the shoulder of both the newest Alpine Light Parka and Jacket you will notice an extra baffle seam, running from front to back, halfway down the top between the neck and shoulder.  Also, two additional vertical baffles are visible at the top of each arm.

I called Montbell for some insight.  Montbell designers had noticed that down at the top of the garments and top of the arms had a tendency to migrate away leaving cold areas.  They added an extra intermediate baffle at the top of the jacket and two more baffles at the top of the arms to control the fill and eliminate the cold spots..  The folks in Boulder indicated that these were not sewn-through baffles, but rather were box construction so as not to restrict full lofting in these areas.

So yes, the Alpine Light garments are slightly heavier, but they have been improved in subtle ways with extra torso length, extra baffling, and slightly more down fill which is stated in the fill weights.  Currently, one can still choose to purchase the older, lighter models if desired.

I have no affiliation with Montbell whatsoever, just wanted to point out the changes…

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Thanks James. The torso was indeed short on the old Alpine Light Parka, so it’s nice to hear they’ve added some length.

I now have the Frost Line parka (one step warmer than the Alpine Light) and think it’s 30″ torso is about right.

[J C]

I’d just been looking at Goosefeet Gear down products when I read this post so was going to post a comparison. Then I noticed that Ben had already posted. Then I noticed that someone reported his post (why? the info in the post is 100% relevant to the thread). In case it gets deleted I will add my two cents: he has made custom jackets that are lighter, cheaper and have more down.

Sure this is a step forward for the mainstream manufacturers but it seems cottage industry (as with so many backpacking items) is still the cutting edge.

[Scott Smith]

And.. the absolute Ben’s products are the BEST quality that you could ask for.. Plus  ( again) it’s custom made to you liking

I LOVE the jacket he made for me..

[John Brown]

@dandydan – what temps and use case do you like the Frostline for? Trying to decide between that and Alpine Light for general winter use in Pacific Northwest, and possibly shoulder season backpacking.

[Chad “Stick” Poindexter]

I agree with the above posters… I love my GooseFeet Gear down anorak! Custom made to my measurements, with 4 oz of 950 Downtek treated down and only weighs 7.7 oz! It’s so awesome…  :)

[Simon Kenton]

I have a Frost Line and I can take it down to 15-20F while doing camp chores. If it’s going to be much lower than that, I put my UL down vest under it and am comfy to about 10F.

[Stephen Parks]

the 7d fabric scares me to death.

I was warned to not wear my Ex-light “in the city” because I would snag it on something and ruin it, but I wear it whenever I can and a few years later it is still in great shape (ok, there are not that many chances to wear it in Houston, but still).  It is one of my most favorite material things ever.

I also have their windshirt in the same 7d fabric.  I’ve gotten that caught multiple times on branches and expected to see a tear, but found no damage.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

John: I think the Frost Line is a good winter jacket for the PNW. It’s good at 20F and okay at 10F, so it’s my main insulating layer for multi-day winter trips, backcountry skiing etc. I’d want something warmer for a winter in the Rockies (or Minnesota).

Before this I had the Alpine Light, but found it wasn’t quite enough for the winter. It’s a nice coat around 30F and can be pushed to 20F but it’s a bit light to take out for a multiday ski traverse. So I think of the Alpine light as more of a shoulder season jacket in the PNW. It would work year round at lower elevations in the PNW, but I wouldn’t want to rely on the Alpine Light for sustained temps at 20F or less.

[Hanz B]

I brought plasma parka with a tachyon mb wind jacket, 100tka fleece, a Cap thermal hoody baselayer, and a marmot essence to Patagonia to go straight up to 14-15k ft in the snow. The temps dropped to 16F by after dinner and this system me appropriately warm at chores and cooking and eating. The length helps. Also the pockets are really nicely made with draw strings for pinching the waist inside your pockets.  Richard was helping me through the math on clo value and he suggested a thermal neutral rating of 29f and > 7clo on the jacket paired with a wind shell. Its hard to beat weight to warmth here If you add the the other upper body components above you’ll be at 24 oz for a very modular cold weather hike (cap thermal really helps here). Around town my favorite item to pair it with is Icebreaker’s 240g fleece-ribbed merino wool decender – like cap thermal but all wool. I don’t know why but these two pieces just play so well together in terms of breathing enough and keeping me warm when I walk the dog in the 20s.

The best part is the puffiness – it’s so puffy that it works really great as a draft stop under your quilt on the windward side of your shelter system. the arms are basically like little heat engines  against your back .

the chin collar could come up another inch but otherwise a great jacket.

– FYI shameless plug 2: this was also my first trip with lone peak 3.0 non-waterproof trail runner, gortex socks, and mld event gaiters for a 90% snow hike. Omg. Worked like a charm. My climbing mates were so angry I didn’t bring boots…they thought I’d have to turn back. But at the end of three days I was bone dry down there every morning and mid day i put the Rocky socks out to dry in the sun and they would in by the time lunch was finished.

 

[Author]

Posts