I just noticed this 'Frost Smoke Parka' on Montbell's website today. I'm not sure how long it's been there, but it's got a 'new' icon so it must be fairly new.

The Frost Smoke is only available as a 'parka' and not a 'jacket' - in other words it's only available with a hood. This parka slots in between the UL Down Inner (2.5oz of down, 9oz total) and Alpine Light Parka (4.3oz down, 15.7oz total). The Frost Smoke has 3.5oz of 800 down and tips the scales at 12.5oz. It uses 15D fabrics like the UL Down Inner, but it has some reinforced 40D areas in high wear areas. Overall, it sounds like a great 3 season hiking piece as I find the UL Down Inner to bit out-gunned in spring/fall and the Alpine Light to be a bit overkill usually. As always with Montbell, it's priced great at $199.

You could argue this jacket is really close to the UL Tec Down Jacket, but I never liked the UL Tec because it's pretty much just a UL Down Inner with heavier fabrics and hardly more down (2.9oz vs. 2.5oz). The new Frost Smoke ups the down to 3.5oz, adds the longer cut and doesn't waste as much weight with heavy fabrics so it's a much better piece IMO.

One of the best parts of this new parka is the longer cut. Montbell seems to finally be listening because almost of their stuff is cut too short in the torso for the average person. The Frost Smoke is 29.1" long at the back, whereas the UL Down Inner (27.6") and Alpine Light (26.8") are quite a bit shorter. I had to size up with my Alpine Light Parka just because I didn't want it to fit so short and I"m a fairly normal build at 5'11, 170 lbs.

Montbell also has some other 'new' stuff on their site which I think is new, but it's hard to be sure since any time they update anything or just change the colors they call it 'new'. So seemingly new (or not offered recently anyways) is a vest and t-shirt version of their UL Down Inner. The vest is offered in mens and womens, while the tee is just mens.

They also seem to have some new 'Thermawrap' stuff going on, but I'm not too sure what is new since I don't really follow Montbell's synthetic stuff. The website (montbell.us) is showing 'new' beside a Thermawrap Pro, Thermawrap JK and Thermawrap Guide.

Frost Smoke Parka:

they made the thermawrap parka about 5 oz heavier for 30denier fabric is the only change i see on the tech sheet

But am not too thrilled with the two-tone scheme. Seems like a nice light weight but warm piece. Hopefully somebody buys one soon and lets us all know the verdict.

Nice write-up by the way.

I need I have someone hide my wallet before i do something crazy :D

If that resisting doesn't work out, order a size medium black one for me too please.

nice parka, looks to be a pretty close competitor w/ the WM Flash (3.0 oz 850)- @ 9 oz the Flash definitely has some appeal

I have an Exlight and a Alpine Light parka- can't personally see the need for something in between, but I'm sure it would be the cat's pajamas for someone :)

im not quite sure what this is supposed to be ... at first the higher denier patches made me think it was a belay jacket, but there is no double zip ...

it has less down and is lighter than the alpine light, but is heavier than the UL ... so logically it should fit between the two in price

but its priced HIGHER than the alpine light parka

honestly i luv my exl, but i think their marketing department is running a bit amok ... a removable hood on the frostline, heavier i believe thermawrap parkas, and now a parka with less down than the alpine light but priced higher ...

i wont say the Y word ... but it seems that the simplicity of the old MB lineup (exl, ul, alp lt, alp, permafrost) is POOFAY

more money for less down and in some cases more weight ...

Size medium on geartrade for $120 if someone wants (not mine): http://www.geartrade.com/item/230236

Dan, you might want to ask him for a large. Their jackets run small.

I have the Alpine Light which I really like. But if this one was out I would have gone for it. I also bought a jacket and I now wish it had been the parka.