if you own a montbell thermawrap...

[burntoutphilosopher]

I cannot decide between the jacket and parka ... any opinions?

in my mind parka is a longer cut, but i emailed montbell and they are the same length... having a hood woudl be nice, but i don't know how warm either jacket is, so it may be overkill any ideas?


this is primarily for a PCT insulation layer to be rid of my TNF denali.

[Johnny Thunder]

i had a thermawrap jacket on my at hike and it worked well but seemed to lose it's warmth in the north. this might be because i wasn't putting out heat anymore...or i lost too much weight. two things:

that jacket and the down inner jacket are cut REALLY SMALL. i have a large and it fits me tight (i wear a medium in another one of their jackets). technically, it's a japanese xl since these two models follow the japanese sizing system.

the other montbell that i have has a hood and it's sweet. i would totally go for the hood if i were you. it makes a big difference.

but, there's no reason not to go with down on this item. it'll weigh less and last longer. even on the AT you can carry down as long as you're smart about it...and you'll be taking this out west. down makes sense.

my two bits, anyway.

[DapperD]

I cannot decide between the jacket and parka ... any opinions?

in my mind parka is a longer cut, but i emailed montbell and they are the same length... having a hood woudl be nice, but i don't know how warm either jacket is, so it may be overkill any ideas?


this is primarily for a PCT insulation layer to be rid of my TNF denali.I purchased a brand new Thermawrap Parka back in '09. In my opinion I would go with the parka for the added hood, and the extra added warmth and protection the hood provides. The jacket itself is warm, but it would still need to be made part of a layering system, with other addition insulation layers, if it would be for the colder weather such as on the A.T. in the winter months. The jacket itself is manufactured to excellent quality, but be advised they are made to be athletic fit, and do seem to run tight. You may need to order the next extra size up from your normal sizing, and in my opinion especially you need to do this if you plan to layer.

[burntoutphilosopher]

johnny,

i have converted everything else to down ... but i do want to have SOMETHING a little less susceptible to water intrusion. do you think that's completely paranoid?

[Blissful]

Love my thermawrap jacket but it is cut small. I would not use it in cold conditions,though (like in the 20s on down). I switch to down then.

[Johnny Thunder]

i don't know....in another thread you told me that you've hiked up to the sierra on the pct. you're judgement's better than mine. but even on the AT which is known to be wetter than the PCT i think that a full down kit is ok.

[camper10469]

Parka, has a hood n is cut longer than a jacket. I love mine!

[MedicineMan]

I've got 2 thermawrap parkas-one is old with several melt spots..love them but recently added the Patagonia nanopuff hoodie. I'd get it now over the thermawraps for one little reason...it has a napolean pocket-it is behind the zipper though but still a very handy pocket to have. Warmth wise is about a tie between the two with the nod given to the thermawrap...hoods on both are excellent fit and a hat you can't loose :)
The thermawraps are a fitted parka with little spae to heat if fitted properly; I'm between 6 and 6'1" 194 pounds and the XL is a perfect fit.
I've learned that (for me) a wool baselayer, the thermawrap or nanopuff, and a shell and I'm good to the mid 20's just sitting around. Forget hiking in them unless its 10F and below.

[rp1790]

I had the Thermawrap jacket on the AT last year and it's pretty warm for what you get. Definitely cut small, might wnat to think about a size larger and one thing to think about is that the Parka has a slightly heaver fill, so should be 'slightly" warmer..

[burntoutphilosopher]

Parka, has a hood n is cut longer than a jacket. I love mine!


this is what i would have thought but in an email from montbell customer servce the jacket is actually 0.3 inches longer than the parka.
if the parka covered my but it'd be a no brainer.

...i have to keep reminding myself what i hiked in the vets don't consider normal... that the PCT is typically quite a bit drier than that.
i will research a little more into their down equivalents. the weight savings is not negligible by any means it's like 5 ounces.

[burntoutphilosopher]

i can always have my denali mailed to me in ashland if the down isn't cutting it for wetness.

[BrianLe]

I have a thermawrap jacket, and a thermawrap vest, the former in size medium and the latter size large. This lets me layer them comfortably, or just use one or the other.

I carried the jacket for the entire PCT and it was a great choice; I had the vest too in the Sierras but didn't use it much there FWIW.

For the AT this year I started in late Feb and so initially had the thermawrap vest but combined with a Montbell Alpinelight down parka. When it was particularly cold I actually hiked with windshirt and the thermawrap vest; normally I can't wear thermawrap vest (or jacket) when walking or I get too warm. I swapped in Pearisburg to just carry a Thermawrap jacket from there onward.

I've never used a thermawrap parka, but I like the jacket approach for this piece of gear. It's about what role it plays in the overall warmth scheme for me. For most times in normal 3-season hiking it's all the warmth layer I need, so don't want the extra weight or bulk of an added hood. That said, I will sometimes use *two* warm hat layers that can be stacked --- a thin balaclava (also covers my nose on cold nights) and a more typical synthetic warm hat I can wear over that.

A parka hood could perhaps replace the synthetic warm hat, but I like to be able to wear the latter when starting to walk on cold mornings, i.e., for me the hat is a more flexible piece of kit.

For my down parka, I absolutely like having the hood, no question. It's just in the lighter thermawrap warmth layer that I'm happy with the hoodless option.

[Mags]

I have a thermawrap I use for shoulder season backpacking and stuff in my pack for day use on ski tours. This mini-puffy is often enough when taking a quick break (esp when combined with my other layers) in those awesome, blue bird sunny winter days I love so much while backcountry skiing...

(The photo below has nothing to do with the discussion ..but it is snowing and I excited for ski season to begin!!!! I did wear the jacket when taking the photo, though..:sun)

http://pmags2.jzapin.com/gallery2/d/22288-1/image007.jpg

[burntoutphilosopher]

thanks for all the info and replies !

i ended up going with a montbell down jacket to try, i will hike in it over the winter and if i have matting issues due to vapour i will switch to a synthetic,

they had a down jacket with 4.2 ounces of fill come up on sale for 120$; i couldn't resist.

[walkin' wally]

I have a Thermawrap jacket. New this year. It is synthetic and fits me well with room for layers underneath. I'm 5-10, 200# and it still has room inside. It has a slightly longer back than the usual jacket. It is fine with layers to 40degrees and I am waiting for colder weather to try it out again.

[jerseydave]

I have a Thermawrap jacket. I'm 5-10, 200# and it still has room inside.

What size do you have?

Thanks

[BrianLe]

One other note is that the thermawrap parka is warmer than the jacket (or vest) not just because it covers more of your body but because it contains a heavier type of insulation --- Montbell lists 50g/meter-squared of Exceloft for jacket and vest, but 80 for the Parka.

I was looking this stuff over just now in considering lightening up (and reducing bulk) a bit for next year, and was surprised at how much warmer equivalent down garments are in general for the weight --- given how happy I've been with Thermawrap stuff in the past. A somewhat in-depth but I think highly useful discussion on this can be found on the BPL site (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=18950&disable_pagination=1).

What I'm leaning to for colder weather trips now is some sort of down jacket or parka (depending on the trip) for my primary core warmth, plus to beef up my sleeping bag warmth at night, coupled with a Thermawrap vest. On cold days I can sometimes walk with thermawrap vest and a windshirt. If, however, you're the type of person (or hike in such really cold conditions) that you could hike any distance with an insulating jacket, then you might consider a Thermawrap jacket or vest for that.

Bottom line is that down works for me as primary insulation given that I never try to hike in it.

[walkin' wally]

[QUOTE=jerseydave;1086371]What size do you have?

Thanks[

I have a size large and I am taking on my hike in March. I think it will be okay for any weather then, and plan on using layers with it.:)