Companion forum thread to:

Mountain Hardwear Nitrous Jacket Review

Will, I'm confused. If the jacket dumps heat and is not as warm because of construction, why should I use it when a fleece or softshell would do same thing for similar weight and better breathability? Also, a fleece will hold up better under a pack. What does MH mean by active pursuits? Great review, as always.

Will, great review. I would just like to point out that I think the table is inaccurate about the single-layer loft of the Montbell EX Lite Down Jacket. In your separate review of that jacket, you said the single layer loft was 0.75 inches, not 0.5 inches.

The review Mark is referring to is the one Will did for BackpackGearTest. The relevant paragraph says, "Loft—The men’s Ex Light Jacket is insulated with 1.8 ounces (51g) of 900 fill-power down (size Medium). The actual amount of down in the jacket will depend on the jacket size. I measured the jacket’s two layer loft (thickness) at 1.5 in (3.8 cm), which means the single layer loft is around 0.75 in (1.9 cm). I held the jacket up to a bright light and observed that the down is very uniformly distributed. The down is held in place by a 3 in x 4 in (8 x 10 cm) sewn-through quilted pattern."

I guess we'll get an update on the loft of the Ex-Light next week when Will's BPL review on that jacket is released.

You should check out the LL Bean Down Sweater -- it is 850 fill, better construction and costs less. I got one for XMAS and I wear it all the time.

A few things jumped out at me in the review. The "as tested" weight reported was 10.2oz, which is ~2 oz lighter than the weight given by the manufacturer and used in the comparison chart. Given that the jacket, then, is ~17% lighter than the other 12oz jackets, it seems that the weight:loft ratio is decent. The difference in weight between a jacket-length #3 and #5 zip is roughly 0.25oz, IIRC, so for a jacket zip that gets a lot of use, I wouldn't be too bothered. I do think that it's a silly, extraneous thing to add a zippered chest pocket. Probably added a solid 0.5oz with that.

Regarding baffling spacing, and at the risk of stating the obvious, I've found in designing my own down gear that the spacing controls loft. In that, if I want a light, packable jacket warm to around 40*F, I might use 2-inch spacing to keep the loft minimized; although I could get a better warmth:weight ratio by using wider spacing, the jacket would could also be "too warm"... and that might not be something I want. Personally I've found that 3-inch sewn-thru spacing is the most versatile for most 3-season needs. Allows for a bit more loft and a bit more down, but then, I tend to run a little cold in camp.

It seems like somewhere there is a mistake on the listed single layer loft for the Montbell EX Lite Down Jacket. In this table it is stated as having 0.5 inches, but in the PHD Mountain Software Ultra Down Pullover Review it is stated as having 1.0 inches of single layer loft.