Patagonia Micro Puff jacket vs Montbell Superior Down jacket.

See if this link will work for you. The doc is a quantitative, highly detailed spread sheet of quality down jackets. The author Huiter Dincink (sp?) is from northern Europe (forget country).

Must have Google account to open!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ceVWWwGTdc1KcTkIQFWscILPtA2pbgpq0UQQIq1D6gE/edit?usp=drivesdk

I am not the least bit surprised that Goosefeet Gear came out #1. Great stuff, made to your specs.

We are blessed with several custom made firms. Im partial to GG as it started with a Ga Tech engineer taking a leap! Good on ya!

Ref: Roswell is a northern suburb of Atlanta, where Ga Tech is located.

I tried on the Patagonia micro puff hooded jacket…It did not seem to have as much loft as the Montbell superior down jacket. And the down loft will last and last whereas the micropuff loft will most-likely diminish noticeably over time. Also, the Montbell is ~2/3 the price. I have the Montbell, love it!  Note: Patagonia lists the jacket (with hood) as $299, but it can be had on sale…. I’d still rather have the Montbell.

Down is warmer, lighter, more compact and has much greater longevity than synthetic.  There is a use case for synthetic, but given the OPs question, the Montbell is IMO the vastly superior of the two…pun intended.

I’m curious about the formula the referenced spreadsheet uses to calculate “Total Warmth”.
Also, I can’t understand the relationship between ranking and warmth, warmth to weight, or warmth per $, if at all.

It’s an interesting spreadsheet though.  I’ve maintained my own spreadsheet of notable down and synthetic jackets, but I’ve never made an effort to calculate a theoretical warmth rating.

Notes, explanations and change log are under the Help tab on bottom, right of the database. For more detailed input from author, click on the Reddit link in the Help section.

A couple years ago I measured the R value of the Montbell Superior Down Jacket (not the parka) at 1.11.  The Patagonia Micro Puff Jacket  is around .9. to 1.  The Superior Down was 208 grams.  The Micro Puff is 273 grams.  The Montbell Superior down costs $179.  The Micro Puff is $249.    Superior Down:  Warmer, Lighter, Cheaper.

In general, there is essentially no similar garment Patagonia makes that I’d sooner have from Montbell. Patagonia has become a “lifestyle” brand, while Montbell continues to make affordably-relevant gear for those headed to the backcountry. In the case of the Micro Puff Vs. Superior, the Superior is the clear winner.

and the Montbell Alpine Light parka is our favorite for winter backpacking!  :-)

It’s true that Patagonia sells lifestyle clothing, and that Montbell makes some great clothing for backpackers… but lets not sell Patagonia short. They continue to innovate and have been a driver in a number of partnerships which gave us EPIC, PowerGrid, etc fabrics.

I favor Montbell Down garments over any of the down garments from Patagonia, there are several Patagonia products that are my first choice.  One of those is the current Micro Puff Hoody. It’s true that the MB Superior is cheaper, warmer and lighter… BUT for me, it’s actually a bit too warm, and doesn’t put up with incidental weather as well the the Micro Puff.  If I wanted a jacket to wear at the end of the day which would be protected from weather the MB would be my choice.  But if I am going for something that I am going to be used in bad weather… especially while being active in cold weather I prefer the Micro Puff.

I have a Patagonia Micro Puff Hoody. I would have preferred it hoodless, but the regular jacket’s collar is badly designed (uncomfortably too tall). Patagonia knows about this, but won’t change it to the height of their Down Sweater or the Nano Puff (I have multiples of each of those garments. Their collars are perfect).

I use the Micro Puff for summer backpacking here in the Rockies. It’s really not warm enough for earlier or later, in which case I pack my Montbell Alpine Light down jacket. I would prefer the Superior to the Patagonia Micro Puff, but I got it so cheap on sale there’s no point.

Starting from scratch I’d go Montbell Superior. I don’t hike in insulated garments, so I’m not concerned about sweat or rain.