New Patagonia Micro Puff Hoody

[Chad Lorenz]

first post

 

[Chad Lorenz]

 

Looks interesting.

http://www.patagonia.com/micro-puff.html?utm_source=em&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=090117_MicroPuffPreviewPRO&ett=1571934325

[Brad P]

$300 for synthetic.  They’re going to have to prove it’s as warm or warmer than down.

[Edward John M]

Nothing comes up when I click on the link

[Luke F]

65g insulation and sewn-threw quilting, sounds more like a new nanopuff then a new micropuff. It does look much loftier then a nanopuff, but I’m skeptical if it really is as warm as 100g PL.

[Richie S]

It’ll be interesting to see how this does in comparison to the other down alternatives, which are a hell of a lot cheaper.

[Brad Rogers]

I have heard really good things about this new synthetic from beta testers but holy $&!# that’s a lot of money for a lightweight synthetic jacket!!!!

Not only is the warmth per weight a concern but also the longevity of the insulation.  Synthetic jackets have a notoriously short life.

[Edward John M]

Do you mean the new HyperPuff?

http://www.patagonia.com/product/mens-hyper-puff-hoody/84390.html?dwvar_84390_color=BLK&cgid=root

 

Patagonia seem very reticent to provide any information at all

[Richie S]

http://www.patagonia.com/micro-puff.html?utm_source=em&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=090117_MicroPuffPreview&ett=1564731736&dtm_em=1bb95269a08995b4fa7944f957dddfe32dc7f2bac26747ccb85b22588184098f

 

[Scott Ryskamp]

According to Patagonia chat, the new Micro Puff Hoody is warmer than their Down Sweater Hoody.  Quite the claim considering the Micro Puff weighs 35% less…

[Sam C]

$300 for synthetic.  They’re going to have to prove it’s as warm or warmer than down.

Naw, they use advertising mumbo jumbo aka legal speak aka spin.  The beauty and the bane of the English language is that you can make a claim without making a claim.  That is; to make a factual statement by not telling a lie.  Like HMG with The Shell, Patagonia is doing that here by stating:

“…best warmth for weight we’ve ever achieved…”

So for one they are only comparing it to their own products, and, for two the key words here are warmth to weight.  For the same weight, down most likely would be warmer.  This also implies that for the same warmth a down puffy would be lighter.  But they are not making that claim, only that this is the lightest they have made based on the warmth to weight metric.

 

[Brad P]

Naw, they use advertising mumbo jumbo aka legal speak aka spin. The beauty and the bane of the English language is that you can make a claim without making a claim. That is; to make a factual statement by not telling a lie. Like HMG with The Shell, Patagonia is doing that here by stating….

Well, I mean objective reviews not associated to the manufacturer are going to have to show it to be a good product. At that premium price, it has to be a premium value. Lightweight and cold is not useful.

[Edward John M]

Richie that link brings up a blank page again

[jscott]

It looks super thin–skimpy. But their on site promo really insists that it’s all they say. My guess is that they’ve bumped its insulation value a bit at least–maybe more. It still looks like a nano puff with a hood.

[Brad P]

Richie that link brings up a blank page again

It’s working now.

 

[Edward John M]

Weird For some reason that content is not available here in Australia I keep getting that 404 error message at my end

The original Micropuff was the same as the Puffball 100GSM. Polargard 3D if my memory serves me correctly and I really miss my Puffballs, both the pants and the pullover

[Edward John M]

So I finally found the pages

Artificial down similar to the North Face Thermoball [ Plumafill ?? Some copywriter probably got paid a million dollars for that name] from what I could read into the description and Karostep baffles borrowed from the old Swiss Egge tradition

Wasting all that shell fabric on 65 grams of insulation seems pointless to me

[Nathan Watts]

Lots of people seem to be pretty unhappy that this jacket exists.  Maybe that’s just their way of showing skepticism.

Personally, I use a MontBell ex-light on some trips and find it very useful for what it is. Patagonia seems to be trying to offer something similar, but with the added functionality that synthetic offers in wet conditions (which really is a valuable benefit). The shell fabric looks to be slightly heavier, Price point is similar too for those that get hung up on price.

Of course, as one of the first posters above pointed out, this synthetic will have to show itself to be as warm as down.

Im also curious about compressibility and longevity.

 

[Steve K]

Some first look reviews have been posted.

http://blistergearreview.com/gear-reviews/patagonia-micro-puff-hoody

https://gearjunkie.com/patagonia-new-micro-puff-hoody-review-plumafill

Honestly, I’m interested. If the Micro Puff manages to be at least as warm as the Nano Puff and Ultralight Down Hoody at the posted weight of 9oz, but with better durability than PL1 and better water resistance than down, it’ll become my go-to jacket.

[Jeff McWilliams]

Sounds like a promising evolutionary product to me.

I wouldn’t pay $300.00 for it, but I’m willing to watch for discounts on it over the next year.

 

 

[Luke F]

…Artificial down similar to the North Face Thermoball…

probably not, the reason that the thermoball pieces all have such tight quilting is that it has basically no resistance to migration. Even if the plumafill does nothing more then require 50-30% of the quilting it will be a huge performance increase. That might be where the claim of it outperforming the down hoody comes from, simply less sewn-threw spots compared to the thinner down options.

Certainly the pictures coming out show better loft then the Nano Puff, but I’ll want to see numbers soon.

[Jeff McWilliams]

Agree, Luke.

From the Blistergearreview.com link posted above:

The Micro Puff Hoody’s PlumaFil insulation appears to be made of long, thin, hair-like fibers (thinner than human hair) that are randomly packed into the baffles of the jacket (in no specific orientation). This results in a very light insulation that lofts very high — Sam has even been losing a few “feathers” like you would with an analogous down garment (though not in any significant manner).

Definitely not like TNF’s Thermoball insulation.

 

[Steve K]

Another. http://www.thealpinestart.com/2017/09/first-look-patagonia-micro-puff-hoody/

[Steve K]

https://www.wired.com/story/patagonia-perfects-the-puffy-jacket/

The Wired article reveals two new interesting bits:

one, it has a photo of the new insulation, which looks a bit like a feather boa…

two, the new Micro Puff Hoody is expected to surpass the Ultralight Down Jacket in warmth, weight, and compressibility, and will replace it in the lineup with the latter being discontinued

[Brad P]

Two good reviews.  Hopefully the long-term reviews show it to be as good as the initial reviews.  Maybe some competition with this material will bring down prices.  Great to see new options.

Now we some companies to start making sleeping bags out of this stuff.

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