MontBell Plasma 1000 Down Jacket Review

I have the Selkirk UL jacket in a large , 6.8 oz. on my scale .

Will,

It was a pleasure to read your review. I have missed your excellent contributions to BPL.

Bobb, with a little experience, I think you can keep your down dry. You do need to make sure you are doing what you need to to keep it dry, but it is a very good option. I backpack mostly in the wet southern Appalachians with down. I have never had a problem.

If you are inexperienced and not paying attention to your down insulation, it can be the source of problems. However, when you first acquire a down sleeping bag, get a bit of paranoia about keeping it totally dry. Then very soon, that will become your natural instinct to keep it dry. It is one thing with a sleeping bag since you are asleep for most of the time that it is used. A down parka is easier, because during the middle of a day, you are fully awake and you ought to be conscious of what is happening to it. If you are sweating it too seriously from the inside, then why not remove a layer? Let ventilation be your friend.

I don't see anything at all wrong with a down+shell arrangement.

–B.G.–

"I will say I think its easier to keep down dry in the western US(most of it anyway) than in the east."

By reputation, the weather in the Pacific Northwest tends to be wetter and cooler, and it stays that way for longer periods of time.

In the summer along California's John Muir Trail (somewhat high elevation), it can still get wet, but it tends to be much more sporadic, as Ben suggested. It can be cool, as well, but that varies tremendously with elevation. When a down sleeping bag or down jacket is used for some time, it can be dried on a sunny rock, and then packed for reuse later. At high elevation, there are few trees, so there is less shade to allow cold/wet spots to last.

–B.G.–

Great review. I was really on the fence as to whether or not I was going to buy the EX light or Plasma this winter. After reading this review, I think the EX light is a better purchase for my money.

I'm still learning about UL backpacking, and am curious about how down jackets (and bags) perform if you are out for several days in cold rainy weather. When I read gear lists, it seems like down is the key to significant lightening of weight, but I'm a bit scared of going to a solely down+shell system.

i own and use a MB EXL

and i will say that when its raining hard at ~40F temps the entire day … the EXL does not feel any warmer than a good fleece

never mind getting down wet … just the 100% humidity degrades the loft

now if its cool and dry out, thats a different story

;)

Great article Will.

My recommendation would be to double the amount of down in the Plasma Jacket, which would differentiate it from the Ex Light (and others) and substantially raise the warmth to weight ratio in a sub-7 oz (198 g) jacket.

I came to the same conclusion with this jacket.

I think it could be hard for them to stuff another 45 grams of down into the jacket, but they could easily, one would tend to think in looking and wearing this jacket, have gotten another 25-30 grams of down shoved into it.

I would have liked it to be longer.

It really is easy to understand why so many are choosing the Ex Light over this Plasma 1000.

…for this informative review. I've had my finger on the trigger on the MB ExLight forever. Seeing how puffy it is and reading the squiggly black lines and dots gave me license to click buy/checkout.

yeah Patagonia brought that out first, but its a COMPLETELY different jacket. I own one. And I have worn the montbell before, the ex lite. They are for entirely different purposes. I have no doubt that my Patagonia encapsil belay parka would keep me warm to about 0 degrees with a layer of long underwear under it. It is too hot for anything but the coldest of weather. It makes most sense to use as a parka for when you're hiking or climbing in winter and you stop to rest or for a break, or while in camp. You would not wear that jacket while hiking or mountaineering unless you were climbing a world-class mountain like Raineer or Everest. You would sweat yourself into dehydration in no time. The montbell in this review is a "down sweater" style meaning that while it is warm, it is a thinner garment not designed to stand alone in the deep cold that the patagonia encapsil does. This is patagonia's competitor to the montbell, and it isn't 1000 fill:

http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/mens-special-edition-down-sweater?p=11891-0&pcc=1128

these are the kinds of jackets you CAN wear while hiking, but I highly suggest a synthetic layer instead of a down layer for this purpose. I own one of these for that and recommend it VERY HIGHLY. Probably has become my favorite piece of clothing I own for hiking, seriously. It is heavier than the down by at least 5 oz but as something worn during the cool weather months, that extra weight means nothing if it is on your back instead of in your pack:

http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/mens-special-edition-down-sweater?p=11891-0&pcc=1128

At the risk of starting a flame war, I very much agree with Dale on this.

Especially if you are anything above average in metabolism when awake, there's not much point in having a double windshirt with a smidge of fragile down in between. In fact, its more like two windshirts perforated with a lot of stitching, leaking heat.

I guess it really depends on what conditions you are in, but unless its a really dry trip, I'd struggle to choose this myself. Certainly, the Plasma with extra stitching and arguably more fragile down is less of a good choice. Spring/Autumn in arid conditions would be great, if your camp behavior means you are up and out of your sleeping bag still after dark (more likely if you aren't solo). Otherwise you'd be much better off just carrying a single windshirt, and putting the weight saved into extra down in your quilt or sleeping bag.

Also, the Ex Light might also be slightly warmer as it might have less stitching overall. At the temperature ranges these jackets are useful, the two layers of 7 denier might provide just about as much warmth as the 40g of down if they weren't perforated.

Thanks all for the advice on the down. If I am not digressing too much from the topic of the discussion…what do you all prefer to store your down in for sleeping? For cold wet weather, say 35F and rainy, do you bring a fleece with for hiking? I can't help but recall the "cotton kills" statements I heard about insulating properties of wet cotton while younger; seems like down is similar, but the advantages of dry down are too good to pass up.