SKRE Ptarmigan in the Outlet

[GunsAreFun]

Here's their reply:

Bryan,

The down feathers will regain some loftiness once it has been out of the package and has time to air out. You will find that once it airs out a little bit it will still be slimmer than your other jacket. The Ptarmigan Down Jacket is a more compact athletic fit. The fill power refers to the loftiness that is put in the jacket. That Jacket you have can be the same fill power but can have more down in it. The fill power is the size of the feathers. With it being less spread out, the Ptarmigan is going to insulate and let minimal air come in, keeping you very warm while still having the ability to be agile while wearing it. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am happy to help.

Thanks,

This smells like BS.

How many ounces of down does that OR puffy have? Also, was the SKRE vacuum sealed when it arrived or just in plastic bag somewhat compacted?

Every down item I’ve owned rebounded from being compressed substantially in a matter of minutes.

 

[passinggas33]

I too am a little suspicious of this jacket and information so far. Just got it today and have it “airing out”. Or hopefully in this case airing up cause right now my KUIU super ultra down has more loft that this one with 1/2 the fill. If I don’t see some significant improvements, I’ll be sending it back their way. I was hoping it would be more on par with the KUIU pro down in loft as they have pretty similar specs but I’m leaning more towards them not being close and me sending this back and going with either the SG or KUIU pro.

On a different but possibly related note, it did come in one ounce lighter than advertised (XL - 17.3oz). But now I’m wondering if it just came in lighter because they forgot to add in all the fill

 

[Baddog]

So I have a Kuiu down coat that is several years old, I can't remember the model and the tag is gone. It's a size large and doesn't fit well with multiple layers anymore. So I've been waiting on a deal for another puffy type jacket in a XL. I saw the skre and got it a couple days ago and initially had the same thought as its a little thin. I got the kuiu out and they are actually pretty close in thickness. This evening it was 40 and windy so I walked around the block with each one seperatly in a t-shirt and they seemed to be about the same warmth. I like the fabric a little better on the kuiu. Anyways thats my unscientific test...

 

[Maverick1]

Similar experience here. Took it out of the package today and aired it out for the last twelve hours or so, stopping by occasionally as I walked past to fluff it up. No improvement in the loft. Still very flat. Significantly flatter than my feathered friends Helios jacket. I’ll take a look at it tomorrow, if things don’t change I’ll be contacting them.

 

[Huntingpreacher]

This smells like BS.

How many ounces of down does that OR puffy have? Also, was the SKRE vacuum sealed when it arrived or just in plastic bag somewhat compacted?

Every down item I’ve owned rebounded from being compressed substantially in a matter of minutes.

I'm not sure about the amount of down in the OR jacket, but I do know the total weight is only 2 oz more than the Skre. I've got several down puffies, ranging from 650fp to 800fp. They all have considerably more loft than the Skre.
The Skre was not vacuum sealed. It's been out of the package for several days now. I've tried several ways to fluff it out, but it is still flat.
I like Skre as a company and will buy from them in the future, but this specific product is going back.

 

[Kyle Wheeler]

I'm not sure about the amount of down in the OR jacket, but I do know the total weight is only 2 oz more than the Skre. I've got several down puffies, ranging from 650fp to 800fp. They all have considerably more loft than the Skre.
The Skre was not vacuum sealed. It's been out of the package for several days now. I've tried several ways to fluff it out, but it is still flat.
I like Skre as a company and will buy from them in the future, but this specific product is going back.

That’s a bummer. Sorry to hear that.

 

[lonedave]

I got mine yesterday and as others have said, it’s very “non-puffy”, so to speak. Mine has also been “airing out” as others have been doing. I also put it on an hour or so ago and went outside to check it out in our 39 degree temp with a little wind. It actually felt just fine and cut the wind very well. It’s definitely much less lofty than my Eddie Bauer stormdown 800 (I said downlite in my previous post). I put it (size large) on the scale and it’s 16.4oz. My size large stormdown 800 weighs 18.7oz so there is a bit of weight savings. I also have a First Lite Uncompahgre, size medium that weighs 19.2oz and really feels about the same in warmth and wind cutting ability. The fit on all these is roughly the same so the fit on the Ptarmigan is good and as expected. I think I’ll wear it a bit today and think about it a little more, but at this point, I may send it back too. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a great jacket and would work great for me, but it really isn’t any better than what I already have. I was hoping for a bit warmer jacket to complement what I have, but the Ptarmigan doesn’t really do that. My 0.02 cents.

 

[lonedave]

I just spoke with Josh again and he said it's not a problem to return the jacket and they sent it with a return shipping label. I'm still a little on the fence, but I told Josh i was actually looking for a jacket to put on while sitting and glassing and I didn't think this would do what I wanted. I think it's really more of an active layer and probably would work well for that use. He said he totally understood. That's pretty good customer service in my mind.

 

[realunlucky]

I just spoke with Josh again and he said it's not a problem to return the jacket and they sent it with a return shipping label. I'm still a little on the fence, but I told Josh i was actually looking for a jacket to put on while sitting and glassing and I didn't think this would do what I wanted. I think it's really more of an active layer and probably would work well for that use. He said he totally understood. That's pretty good customer service in my mind.

I've used the Ptarmigan for 4 years it's definitely not a active jacket way to warm for that.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[lonedave]

I've used the Ptarmigan for 4 years it's definitely not a active jacket way to warm for that.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

Interesting. It just feels so thin. It did seem fine this morning in the wind and 39 degree weather. Like I said, I’m still on the fence. It is a nice jacket.

 

[realunlucky]

Mine is older but still looks similar to the one you received.
I will say to me the Ptarmigan is warmer than the kuiu super but I've haven't used the super pro.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[Maverick1]

Similar experience here. Took it out of the package today and aired it out for the last twelve hours or so, stopping by occasionally as I walked past to fluff it up. No improvement in the loft. Still very flat. Significantly flatter than my feathered friends Helios jacket. I’ll take a look at it tomorrow, if things don’t change I’ll be contacting them.

Update from my earlier post. Has been airing out for a day with no change. Comparing it to the Helios, no comparison. It’s a Flat Stanley.

Skre ptarmigan specs: 5.2 ounces of 850 down fill.
Feathered Friends Helios: 7.2 ounces of 900 down

 

[Maverick1]

1” loft.

 

[GunsAreFun]

Mine has been out of the bag for 4 hours. It is easily a third less loft than the Eddie Bauer Downlight, which is 800 FP and has 0.2 ounces less down. It’s 30% thinner than my Ghar, which is synthetic fill so take that with a grain of salt. The jackets are within an ounce or two in overall weight.

Super disappointed in SKRE. I just don’t get how they managed to waste 5.2 ounces of 850 down like this. Maybe the baffles are too small to allow it to loft?

 

[Deputynrc]

I just spoke with Josh again and he said it's not a problem to return the jacket and they sent it with a return shipping label. I'm still a little on the fence, but I told Josh i was actually looking for a jacket to put on while sitting and glassing and I didn't think this would do what I wanted. I think it's really more of an active layer and probably would work well for that use. He said he totally understood. That's pretty good customer service in my mind.

I was wondering if the design changed. The newer ones on the website appear to have long baffles (just horizontal stitching) on the back. Mine (with older camo pattern) the baffles are smaller square type sewing with stitching running both vertical and horizontal. Maybe someone with the newer one can confirm this.

I was able to get mine to loft up a bit better by tossing it in the dryer on air dry (no heat and gentle). l let it go for 15 min and the body and upper sleeves did loft up more. The lower half of the sleeves are still a bit thinner. I only have my wife's Northface vest to compare it too which 800 down I believe and it seems pretty close. I think I am going to just roll with it and see how it goes. I know I will be far less worried about something damaging it in the backcountry vs something in the $400 plus category.

 

[Huntingpreacher]

Mine has been out of the bag for 4 hours. It is easily a third less loft than the Eddie Bauer Downlight, which is 800 FP and has 0.2 ounces less down. It’s 30% thinner than my Ghar, which is synthetic fill so take that with a grain of salt. The jackets are within an ounce or two in overall weight.

Super disappointed in SKRE. I just don’t get how they managed to waste 5.2 ounces of 850 down like this. Maybe the baffles are too small to allow it to loft?

I think you're onto something. Given the specs on paper, it should have considerably more loft than it does. I think the baffles are sewn "tight" such that they don't allow the down to loft and do its job.

 

[stephane]

This is interesting. From reading reviews/comments on this jacket from the ‘Clothing’ section of the forum, it seems like people find it very warm compared to other similar puffies…which doesn’t make sense, since I thought the insulating properties from down are directly related to it’s loft?
I wonder if the inner/outer materials are warmer than other down puffies and that’s what’s making this jacket feel very warm to its users.

 

[Lando]

I just received mine and ran it through the dryer on the air setting with tennis balls for 30 minutes. Many of the baffles improved, but there seem to be several baffles that have very little down. I have an eddie bauer down jacket with about 5 oz of fill and it's got more loft and the loft is consistent baffle to baffle. My other SKRE ptarmigan, in Summit pattern doesn't have this issue either. I know these jackets are imported, so I'm starting to suspect that the Asian manufacturer didn't put 5 oz of down in and that the fill is not consistent baffle to baffle.

 

[GunsAreFun]

I just received mine and ran it through the dryer on the air setting with tennis balls for 30 minutes. Many of the baffles improved, but there seem to be several baffles that have very little down. I have an eddie bauer down jacket with about 5 oz of fill and it's got more loft and the loft is consistent baffle to baffle. My other SKRE ptarmigan, in Summit pattern doesn't have this issue either. I know these jackets are imported, so I'm starting to suspect that the Asian manufacturer didn't put 5 oz of down in and that the fill is not consistent baffle to baffle.

Would love to see some side by sides with your Summit model.

 

[PistolPete]

Been following but didn’t pull the trigger. That jacket certainly doesn’t look to have 5+ oz of 850 fill power down in it. I have a backpacking puffy from Stoic that has 2 oz of 850 which looks loftier than that (plus it only weighs 7 oz total).

And you can’t compare total weights with other jackets, especially without accounting for the differences in materials. I’d send it back if mine looked that way.