I got one in the mail yesterday. I’ve had (and tried on) quite a few insulation jackets so have a few thoughts right away on it.
- If you’re looking to buy one, the closest jacket to it that I know of to it is an Atom AR from Arctyrex, for comparison purposes of where it might “fit” in use. I always thinks it helps when companies talk about “why” they design things certain ways, so hopefully SG puts more out there like that.
- insulation is 133g/sm and not “mapped” meaning it is that weight everywhere. That contributed to why it’s not 15 oz or so and closer to 21. The Atom AR is 120 g/sm in some areas, 80 in some, and 60 in a few spots.
- fit is exactly like the revised DeHavilland jacket fit. Which is good.
- it’s significantly more coverage on fit than a lot of other jackets you might be comparing to like a Sitka aerolight, Kuiu kenai, Patagonia synthetic like nano series. Collar is very high and nice. I took of photo of a gen 2 kenai on top of it which really illustrates the size. Both mediums.
- pit zips add weight and the Kuiu kenai has them as well. This is much more insulation than a kenai has though.
- the face fabric is pretty dense, and soft, but you can tell it’s a bit less open than what Kuiu uses on the kenai series. It isn’t super shiny, fairly matte.
- it would have to be a fairly chilly day to hike in this thing. There’s a few days in rifle season this year I wore a brooks down sweater all day just to keep warm, and this would fit that bill a lot better, but again way warmer.
- hood has the single pull point SG design - what’s odd is the stretch cord isn’t connected, it’s separated into two pulls, one for each side. I’m sure there’s a reason for this, they just don’t dive into those details in a catalog or the website. Reminds me of FL turrent design, which again is a good thing.
- the cuffs are really nice, and very articulated sleeves like all the SG stuff, and longer length than a Kuiu or Sitka piece.
Hope that helps if you’re considering picking one up - much different than any synthetic I’ve owned. Windy today so we’ll see how it does out and about.



