Which puffy to get?

[zpearo]

Anyone have any experience with the non-hunting brand "Rab"?

I have access to their veteran discount and they have a lot of options quiet a bit cheaper than the hunting brands..

Here's an export from a Google Sheet I have been building lol..

Rab makes great stuff. I got their Neutron Pro (not the nebula pro that you have on your spreadsheet) as a super warm option. It's got a lot more down than the Grumman does, which is what I replaced as it didn't seem quite warm enough for me. It also has a chest pocket, which I found is important to me and the Grumman is lacking.

Only thing that bothers some people about Rab is that the zippers are on the opposite side, since it's a European brand

 

[Loo.wii]

Looking at getting my first real puffy jacket. Ive always had some cheaper off brand models that work ok for what they are. Not really going to be packing in anwhere, just day hunts from the road. Mostly be used for rifle hunting in South Dakota when i stop and glass. November can be pretty brutal here on the open plains. Any recommendations? Thanks everyone!

Stone glacier. After multiple interactions with their staff I can say that I will always be a customer.
Their stuff is high quality and their warranty and service has always taken care of me.

 

[grizz19]

Vote for kuiu super down pro. Been rock solid for me.

 

[V2Pnutrition]

The new OV piece is warm, really comfortable, and impressive from a numbers standpoint (as mentioned by @K_pem).

The Katabatic Tin Cup might be an interesting piece to you, too if you’re interested in the Gruman. A lot of the same specs with 20D shell and slightly lower price point.

 

[medvedyt]

Huge difference between puffies in warmth, weight, price, etc.

I have the decathlon mt100; good warmth to weight, great price, not that warm, it’s a summer or archery elk jacket.

I also the rab electron pro, which is a great jacket for late season.

The specifications you’ll want to look at are down quality (600, 800), down fill (how much down), and overall weight. Comparing those specs will give you a pretty good idea of what you are looking at.

not the warmest for sure when we talk about the mt100 but it is coming with 800 down filling still and i found for the price and light side very hard to beat but of course it is depending about your other layers. i will have not a problem to use as one of my layers even for bison hunting during our winter ... but it is not camo nor high end hunting brand ...

 

[Oregonhuntrboi]

+1 on wondering this as well!
Sleeves are tight if I do too much layering with my FL UNC 2.0, but a vest would be easy.
Also, from Southern Oregon!

I might try running the grunman vest with my mountain hardware ghost whisperer 2 jacket. That way I could pack one or the other or both depending on conditions.

 

[neil.hansford]

Anyone have any experience with the non-hunting brand "Rab"?

I have access to their veteran discount and they have a lot of options quiet a bit cheaper than the hunting brands..

Here's an export from a Google Sheet I have been building lol..

Yes. Rab has a lot of puffies to choose from and you can usually get more for your money than with the hunting brands. All of my Rab stuff has been great.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

 

[mahonsr]

Do we know the actual fill volume/weight of the new OV puffy?

 

[Joshuajosh]

I really like my kifaru lost park puffy

 

[jd1006]

I’d wait for the OV puffy - 16oz - 7-9oz of the Allied Down fill that Sitka is using. Also sounds like it will be more weather resistant based on the construction than other options.

I have most of the other options - my favorite has been the Cirque Jacket from Stone Glacier, but that’s a synthetic option and not quite the warmth that you’d get from down for the weight hit. The Grumman is a great jacket - the fit can be awkward for people with short torsos, and its just a bit too light on the fill for some applications.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Grumman has been rock solid in a year of use now. A bit of down fill degradation when compared to my Nunatak custom in the same use, but overall, very solid.

 

[Huggies05]

Thanks to this thread got a Grumman to replace my lost park parka. That’s a good deal on eurooptic


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What’s your take on comparison between the two? Do you like the Grumman better and why? Been looking at these two options and somewhat leaning towards Grumman jacket and lost park pants. Thoughts?

 

[Huggies05]

@Brigham @ Outdoor Vitals did give a range in the Hunt Backcountry podcast episode in which they discussed all the pieces but I can't recall exactly what it was for the puffy. I want to say it was like $250-279 ish?

But keep in mind that piece will have like 1.5x the down fill of the Grumman and only weigh about that much more in total weight. It should be stupid warm, I'm definitely planning on snagging one; whether or not I decide to dump the Grumman all together is still TBD.

Saw September release do you know if that’s still accurate?

 

[K_pem]

Saw September release do you know if that’s still accurate?

I believe @Brigham @ Outdoor Vitals recently updated that there was a delay on fabric so I think it’s been pushed back to mid September now

 

[Brigham @ Outdoor Vitals]

Here's my latest update from the other thread.

Hey folks, just wanted to give some updates. In this case, not great news, but I care about being up front and keeping everyone in the loop. The Vantage Alpine jacket is further delayed, and production will not be finishing until late September and we don't anticipate being able to ship to customers until about the first week of October.

I mentioned earlier that the fabric used for this jacket is taking a lot longer to manufacture than expected. To give you an idea of what that means, I'll attempt to briefly explain.

There are a few ways to make a lightweight woven fabric down-proof. The most common method is called calendaring or cire. It essentially smash-seals one or both sides of fabric by rolling it through a machine that applies heat and pressure to seal off the small spaces between woven threads. Our fabric is made down-proof by applying a very tight weave that has to meet very tight tolerances in order to be down proof. We also have to make it this way because the fabric is two layers, so heat and pressure cannot be applied evenly to the inside and outside of the fabric. The space between the two layers becomes the down chamber. This weaving method also allows the fabric to have a matte appearance, versus the shiny appearance common in puffy jackets. This is a very slow process, and requires constant and tight inspection. This means that a significant percentage of the fabric does not meet quality standards in is not usable for a down jacket. So it is taking longer to weave the total amount of fabric we need for the jackets.

Sometimes we can find existing materials for our products that meet our needs, and sometimes we have to work with fabric mills to create new fabrics that are better suited to the end product. This is one of those cases.

This will not affect the timing of the pants or fleece hoodie. They are on track for September 1. Anyone who has signed up for the emails will be getting an email update about this.

I know it's disappointing news, but just wanted to be forthright with all of you. Luckily there is still of lot of hunting season from October on!