Black Ovis puffy

yote69301

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How does the black ovis anchor point puffy gear compare to the puffy gear from Kuiu, skre, etc?
 

wnelson14

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My cousin used one on our Alaskan Moose hunt. It worked great and he loved it! Exceptional value especially the ones that are $99 right now.
 

Ltoops

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Also Interested in feedback. Heading back to CO this year
 
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I have either owned/own the BO Anchor, FL Brooks Sweater, and the KUIU Super Down Ultra.

All three jackets are versions of the exact same thing. Each is very light, thin/no bulk, packs small. Features are identical per zippers, 2 hand pockets, hood. BTW, wearing 2 of any of these light puffy coats is warmer and less bulk than a beefier/spendier puffy.

All three are great items. The only nod I can offer is that the Brooks Sweater has a slimmer cut, which is subjective preference.

OP & Ltoops: Considering all 3 are virtually the same thing, the BO Anchor is easily the best price and best value. It's 100% of the other two at a fraction of the cost.
 
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Main difference is the BO doesn’t have hydrophobic treated down so it won’t do as well with moisture.
 

Marshfly

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The Black Ovis puffy is not 100% down. It uses 10% feathers. Feathers will poke out of the jacket over time and are essentially useless for warmth so subtract that amount from the fill weight. It only advertises 4.2oz of fill so drop that to 3.8 of down. Essentially sweater weight. It’s probably fine for the price but not close to a full down jacket.


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ljalberta

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The Black Ovis puffy is not 100% down. It uses 10% feathers. Feathers will poke out of the jacket over time and are essentially useless for warmth so subtract that amount from the fill weight. It only advertises 4.2oz of fill so drop that to 3.8 of down. Essentially sweater weight. It’s probably fine for the price but not close to a full down jacket.


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Kuiu uses I believe 5% feathers. Stone glacier is 10%. Many down products have a mix of small feathers within. Feathers trap warmth, but down certainly does the bulk of the work.

It’s good info to have though for comparing general loft that one can expect on a garment, of course along with the actual cut and fill power of the down.

As a note, I have the BO puffy pants. Love them. Especially for the $100 price tag. I don’t have enough use on them though to really judge how they hold up long term.
 

Marshfly

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Kuiu uses I believe 5% feathers. Stone glacier is 10%. Many down products have a mix of small feathers within. Feathers trap warmth, but down certainly does the bulk of the work.

It’s good info to have though for comparing general loft that one can expect on a garment, of course along with the actual cut and fill power of the down.

As a note, I have the BO puffy pants. Love them. Especially for the $100 price tag. I don’t have enough use on them though to really judge how they hold up long term.

If you are looking for top performance step outside of the hunting brands. I went SG for pants due to the side zips but Montbell for the jacket. Way nicer than any hunting brand for the money.


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ljalberta

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If you are looking for top performance step outside of the hunting brands. I went SG for pants due to the side zips but Montbell for the jacket. Way nicer than any hunting brand for the money.


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Montbell is great for the money. But their down blends are generally between 10-5% feathers, and depending on the item the fill power of the down varies greatly.

I have a wide variety of gear from both hunting companies and otherwise.

My point was that most if not all high end down product makers have between 5-10% feathers in their down products. If a company doesn’t specifically list the down to feather ratio on their websites, it can be worth looking into as well if it’s a concern for someone because it can be a higher feather ratio.

I believe 95/5 is currently the highest commercially available down to feather ratio.
 
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jimwinks

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BO gear is good quality at a better price. Don't expect a cadillac when you are paying for a kia!
 
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Here's a little real-world observation of the 3 items I mentioned in post #5.IMG_0944.JPG

On water handling/dry out rate
  • Stuffed all 3 into a one-gallon freezer bag... filled with water... purged out the air... then let soak overnight.
  • The next day I removed all 3 jackets... gave each a brief squeeze & wringing... threw all 3 into dryer.
  • Set the dryer for 60 minutes on 'Air Only' mode and checked every 10 minutes.
  • At 40 minutes, all 3 jackets were dry enough to wear. [Note that at 30 minutes all were marginally damp, so each dried to the same degree at the same rate.]
Conclusion: Dry out rate is impressive for all 3. Seems the product descriptions claiming the most do not offer a competitive advantage. Fill recovery/total dry (2+ hours) with even baffle distribution in order of FL, BO, KUIU.

Handling/feel
  • Each is a virtually identical lightweight hoody with a nylon shell and baffles. What separates them is less about quality (they're all nice), but preferences like color, noise, fit/cut.
    • FL Brooks and BO Anchor are equally soft/feel with less noise, KUIU is more noise (candy wrapper)
    • Brooks has the trimmest/taper fit, Anchor and KUIU are boxier/square under ribs
    • All three pack small and light
    • All three are thin/no bulk (see pic)
IMG_0946.JPG
R to L: BO, KUIU, FL

Summary: Comparing the 3 jackets, each is within 2% the other in terms of quality and what they're made to do. I barely favor the FL Brooks as #1, BO Anchor #2, KUIU #3 (one thumb down for noise). Nevertheless, Anchor is easily the smartest buy considering the much higher price points for the FL and KUIU items.

As mentioned, I prefer having 2 because I'll contend that combining 2 of these lighter puffy jackets is warmer and more versatile than wearing/packing any of the bulkier puffy makes.

My intent here is to be helpful to anyone who might buy this sort of jacket online without handling. Be sure to understand that none of them are puffy or bulky. I appreciate that FL calls their jacket a sweater.

[Edit to comment about drying: Note where I mention '...dry enough to wear.' Because these jackets can't be heated in a dryer, it can take several hours of Air Only mode and a couple tennis balls in the dryer to completely dry and revive the insulation fill. Don't let the clumps of wet insulation/down and empty baffle areas scare you - the baffle fill will boost back to normal if you allow the jacket to tumble for a few hours/till total dry.]
 
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Pdzoller

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I bought the SG while already owning a Marmot Zero Down and an Under Armor Alpine Ops parka. The SG didn’t really impress me and didn’t fill the gap between the two. I sold it and am buying the BO vest.
 
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