I was shooting for something along the lines of the montbell ex light simplicity with the cut of the ul inner jacket with 2oz of 900fp down. I ended up using 2.3 oz (mostly because 10ths of grams are tough units to be working with). I used a rather heavily modified whitney pattern from thru-hiker for the pattern. I've made two hooded whitney jackets previously and this one definitely went fast with no pockets or hood. Overall I couldn't be more pleased with the jacket. I've never handled the Montbell jackets in person to see what ~2oz of down can do, but I'm surprised how much loft and warmth this has and the fit is perfect.

Wow,

Thats one nice down jacket.

That is fantastic.

Great work Brendan! Before reading your post I thought this was a mont-bell.

Very nice work!

How small does it stuff ??
Probably like the size of a softball or what ??

Wow! I really want one of these!

Great job!

I think Thru Hiker should make a kit for this one. Sure you can put it together from bits but a kit makes it nice and easy.

+1 on thru hiker kit, but on a minima base for me :)

That's beautiful!

How did you do each chamber? ie: leave a small hole and stuff, then sew shut? Or another way?

You did a great job.

Dude, Brendan, my brain just exploded. The talent on these boards never ceases to amaze me

PFM!

Brendan, Absolutely incredible! I think you just created the perfect jacket. I really like the slight angles in the vertical baffles. The down fill looks extremely even. And again the orange color really looks great.

This is the exact jacket I want to make with one change...I want to make it 1/4 zip. I just need a little bit more M50:) PM me if anyone wants to sell some.

I have some questions....

- Are the baffles sewn thru?
- How much larger than your chest and waist as the front and back panels?
- How long are the sleeves?
- How much down did you put in the sleeves vs the body vs the collar?
- How many yards did it take?

Any insights into the design are greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Jamie

Hey great looking jacket, love the color and craftsmanship.

make a half zip with a hood and see us all drool even more...

Thanks to everyone for the kind words! To answer some of the questions:
It does pack down to softballish size. I haven't measured exactly but that sounds close. As far as construction, it is sewn through. I calculated 1.2" of loft for the torso and .8" for the arms and collar to put me at about 2oz. I sewed all of the horizontal baffles, filled with whatever weight for that row of compartments, sewed a vertical baffle, repeat... As far as the pattern/measurements, I had previously made a hooded parka with about 5oz of down, which turned out a little shorter than I would like and the arms were a little roomier than I wanted (the arms were easy to adjust, length I just live with). For this jacket, I figured with less down the length would be fine and I'd definitely want to take some off of the arm girth. I cut the pattern full size and took 1" off each side of the arms (and added an inch in the front and rear armpits so the holes werent' too big). Once I filled it, I sewed the first seam of the final french seam and then made a couple more seams inward until I had a fit that seemed good (taking into account I'd lose a little more with the final part of the french seam). I ended up taking about an inch off of each side in the torso and another 1/2" or so in arm girth. Length ended up perfect and the waist is fitted enough to not need a drawcord. I originally had elastic in the wrists, but ended up removing it because the wrists are small enough and come down a little bit onto the tops of my hands, creating enough of a seal that the elastic just kinda seemed annoying and unnecessary. For reference, the length at middle of the back (not including collar) on the pattern is 29" and on the finished jacket is 26".

I'm not sure the exact yardage I used, but I had an M50 quilt kit (5yds) +2 yards and made a quilt and this jacket and have some left over.

If I could make one recommendation for a jacket like this is to use a good scale. Tenths of grams is essential. I don't think any of the compartments used more than one gram of down. Overall though it's a very doable project and really due to the simplicity and lack of features is quite a bit easier than the thru hiker whitney.

Edited by brendans on 02/21/2011 23:20:39 MST.

I can't stop coming back to this thread and staring at that jacket. That looks incredibly well made. You should be very proud of yourself.