I recently received my Montbell Alpine Down Parka (the heavier alpine one), so I thought I'd share my thoughts since puffy get a lot of attention in this forum. I went with the evergreen/dark color, which I figured would look somewhat natural to the environment in cedar country, or up in the pines. a few things I considered for making my decision on this piece.
USE: This will be a stationary jacket. I never hike in my puffy. this is meant to be the warmest of the warm for later season hunts when temps are below 20, the wind is whipping, and I'll be sitting on an exposed ridge glassing for long periods of time (Hopefully longer now since I'm hoping this thing will be toasty) and also for rides into hunting areas on ATV's, or sitting around camp at night.
STATS: 800 FP EX Down- labels says it's FP rating is between 800 and 1000.
7 ounces of down fill- (1.7 ounces more than closest hunting brand competitor I know of at 5.3 oz.)
Claimed weight for medium: 16 oz.
Actual weight of my Large: 17.5 oz. in the stuff sack
20D ripstop shell, 20D lining- it's thin, but not flimsy. It is 'crinkly sounding'.
Microfleece lined collar and hand pockets.
drawcord waist on either side of zipper, drawcord hood on both sides, velcro size adjustment on hood elastic + Velcro wrist closures.
Fit: Large fit me exactly how I wanted it to. I'm 5'8" with a stockier upper body- 32 waist, 43 chest, if that's helpful. It's cut large enough to
wear a baselayer, fleece/midlayer comfortably under without feeling like it's binding your arms or constricting movement. But it's not baggy, draped all over me, or baggy. The tail is cut long, which I like so that air doesn't come in when my elbows are up on my knees glassing, etc. The hood design is excellent. It's the first puffy hood I've tried where it fits how I think it should. It hugs your ears so drafts don't get in, and your face doesn't constantly "run into" the sides of the hood when you turn your head.
Zipper is on the wrong side. Not a big deal. Makes me feel pretty. Not a big deal to me, but it will take a little getting used to. It's plenty beefy, which surprised me on a lightweight jacket. Pocket zippers are finer teeth design. Pockets are placed similarly to other outdoor puffier- slightly high for access with a pack on. I don't care about this too much, because I almost never put stuff in my puffy pockets since it's in my pack a lot of the time.
It definitely has that warming effect when you put it on. I've only worn it in my house, so no idea how warm it will be in hunting conditions. I live in Texas, so winter here is long gone already. On cold days, it will be replacing my Nunatak Gear APEX PCT with 5 oz. in body, 3.6 oz. in sleeves, and 2.5 oz. in the hood. Last year in Colorado, the Nunatak just wasn't warm enough when I was stationary for more than a half hour. I ended up wearing an Eddie Bauer 700 fill super puffy vest instead, so I started looking for an alternative after last season.
After comparing the SG Gruman at Scheels, which was more money with less down, I opted for the Montbell. I also considered the KUIU SuperDown Pro at 5 oz. and 400 dollars, and the RAB Electron, with 6.7 oz. down at $325 which are pretty scarce. In the end, I ended up with a $300, 7 oz of down fill, with a weight penalty of about 3-ounces. I'm old, but I think I'll gladly take the warmth and money savings over carrying 3 ounces less. Hell, maybe I'll glass longer and get to fill my pack 100 pounds of deer or elk quarters more often.
In the end, I'm impressed with the jacket. It appears to be very lofty compared to the Gruman I handled, and well made. I'll let y'all know updates as I put it to use.
USE: This will be a stationary jacket. I never hike in my puffy. this is meant to be the warmest of the warm for later season hunts when temps are below 20, the wind is whipping, and I'll be sitting on an exposed ridge glassing for long periods of time (Hopefully longer now since I'm hoping this thing will be toasty) and also for rides into hunting areas on ATV's, or sitting around camp at night.
STATS: 800 FP EX Down- labels says it's FP rating is between 800 and 1000.
7 ounces of down fill- (1.7 ounces more than closest hunting brand competitor I know of at 5.3 oz.)
Claimed weight for medium: 16 oz.
Actual weight of my Large: 17.5 oz. in the stuff sack
20D ripstop shell, 20D lining- it's thin, but not flimsy. It is 'crinkly sounding'.
Microfleece lined collar and hand pockets.
drawcord waist on either side of zipper, drawcord hood on both sides, velcro size adjustment on hood elastic + Velcro wrist closures.
Fit: Large fit me exactly how I wanted it to. I'm 5'8" with a stockier upper body- 32 waist, 43 chest, if that's helpful. It's cut large enough to
wear a baselayer, fleece/midlayer comfortably under without feeling like it's binding your arms or constricting movement. But it's not baggy, draped all over me, or baggy. The tail is cut long, which I like so that air doesn't come in when my elbows are up on my knees glassing, etc. The hood design is excellent. It's the first puffy hood I've tried where it fits how I think it should. It hugs your ears so drafts don't get in, and your face doesn't constantly "run into" the sides of the hood when you turn your head.
Zipper is on the wrong side. Not a big deal. Makes me feel pretty. Not a big deal to me, but it will take a little getting used to. It's plenty beefy, which surprised me on a lightweight jacket. Pocket zippers are finer teeth design. Pockets are placed similarly to other outdoor puffier- slightly high for access with a pack on. I don't care about this too much, because I almost never put stuff in my puffy pockets since it's in my pack a lot of the time.
It definitely has that warming effect when you put it on. I've only worn it in my house, so no idea how warm it will be in hunting conditions. I live in Texas, so winter here is long gone already. On cold days, it will be replacing my Nunatak Gear APEX PCT with 5 oz. in body, 3.6 oz. in sleeves, and 2.5 oz. in the hood. Last year in Colorado, the Nunatak just wasn't warm enough when I was stationary for more than a half hour. I ended up wearing an Eddie Bauer 700 fill super puffy vest instead, so I started looking for an alternative after last season.
After comparing the SG Gruman at Scheels, which was more money with less down, I opted for the Montbell. I also considered the KUIU SuperDown Pro at 5 oz. and 400 dollars, and the RAB Electron, with 6.7 oz. down at $325 which are pretty scarce. In the end, I ended up with a $300, 7 oz of down fill, with a weight penalty of about 3-ounces. I'm old, but I think I'll gladly take the warmth and money savings over carrying 3 ounces less. Hell, maybe I'll glass longer and get to fill my pack 100 pounds of deer or elk quarters more often.
In the end, I'm impressed with the jacket. It appears to be very lofty compared to the Gruman I handled, and well made. I'll let y'all know updates as I put it to use.
this is a furnace down coat she loves it
