I've used various weight fleeces as my mid layer for years in my layering system. I've had very few issues with fleece - its warm, lightweight, and quiet.

My family bought me a Marmot down vest for Christmas and I've been wearing it hiking and for alot of running around town tasks. It has a remarkable weight to warmth ratio. I've looked at various puff jackets over the years and was always skeptical with something that could pack into a small pouch.

I'm also evaluating the Sitka Gear line and finding it has a good weight to warmth ratio. Been looking at the Kelvin jacket as a primary intermediate layer. It is made of 170 gram primaloft.

What has been your experience with these primaloft/down puff jackets as a mid-layer? Any recommendations on brands/products?

Thanks.

Cabelas primaloft "passage" is decent. Noisy, but cheap and warm.

Fleece is somewhat obsolete with a good puff jacket although nice for adding a thin, warm layer. Lots and lots of flavors and tons reviews out there.

A lightweight fleece vest under primaloft jacket is a good combo.

Primaloft pretty much sucks for bow hunting, but I like it for most everything else. I really like my Patagonia puff ball best and pull over.

100wt fleece or lighter for that, IMO. The Patagonia R1 Hoody is the standard, or the Propper Spy Hoody if you can find one.

Wick, warm, wind.

Firstlite Chama hoody + fleece mid layer + Primaloft = toasty. Start peeling when hiking, pile on when glassing.

Great jacket. I have one and wanted to buy one for my nephew for Christmas but no longer available.

I still like my fleece. I've been through the down phase (a long time ago). That's why we layer. Plus down is still susceptible to moisture--be it from sweating or from the sky.....

I area ski and backcountry ski, and every article of clothing I wear is synthetic. And I have a fleece vest mid-layer for every activity.

Backountry skiing can be the ultimate test, climbing (lots of sweating) but in windy conditions in varying temps, skiing down--still can be work but windy and lots of snow pouring on you--especially when I crash....... Of course, unlike hunting I have hardshell coat and pants on to shed snow.

For hunting I like fleece because it tends drape and is quiet. Even my cold weather hunting coat is a Cabela's fleece-Gore Tex coat from the mid 90's (Remember the Whitetail Series with Chuck Adams smiling mug shot?). Love that coat--I own two of them in fact.

Casey

Some well known ultralight backpackers still prefer fleece for consistently damp and wet conditions. Apparently even the synthetic puffies aren't very comfortable or warm when they are wet.

"Fleece clothing is often poo-poo�d because �puffy� clothing (insulated with goose down or synthetic fill) is much warmer for the weight. But in prolonged wet environments, I will inevitably get wet. And a wet puffy is cold and uncomfortable, regardless of the insulation type. The warmth of fleece is less effected: it retains less moisture and its loft is less effected. I longed for a fleece mid-layer to sandwich between my active layer and rain shell during the Alaska-Yukon Expedition, during which numerous storms overwhelmed my rain gear."


http://andrewskurka.com/2012/stupid-light-not-always-right-or-better/

I need to get a puff because I'm sick of freezing my butt off on top of mountains at last light and first light. NW winds for us are cold, and that's the only guarantee you'll not have fog on mountain tops. Rain isn't aa issue because if it's raining, there is a really good chance it's socked in and you are in PVC, in the tent, or heading back to the rig to take a shot at it on another hunt.

Anybody ever handle one of these?
Cabelas XPG

Primaloft is awesome stuff. And the jacket linked is a good'un. The XPG line is pretty good.

Haven't used mine much yet, but the First Lite Uncompahgre seems to be a pretty sweet jacket.

I first used fleece in 1976, have still got a lot of it and like it for some situations.

I have down (very highend) and seven Pl. jackets, my best are original Integral Designs and these are my overall favourites wearing, as I do for 90+% of my activities and have for 50 years, merino layers.

I would keep Pl. over fleece and even down for BC conditions and down in dry cold, the Yukon and some winters here.

My best to date, out of a LOT of gear worn and worn out, is my Westcomb Neoshell Apoc, Montbell or ID jacket and merino underneath. I have never found any synthetic layers that keep me as comfortable, but, I no longer ski-mountaineer and now move quite slowly in the bush.

The BEST gear I now know of IS Westcomb and "Wildthings" in the eastern US....but, I just bought two Cabela's PL jackets at 29.95 each for hunting and like them a lot, so, research and see what you like.

I work as a professional ski patroller during the winter and just got home from work on a day where it was darned windy and didm't break +10. I'm wearing 3 layers of fleece and had a down vest under a goretex shell. I don't have much experience with primaloft or promaloft/down, but haven't bought it because I don't see it filling a need. I wear fleece under an outer layer when I hunt and carry a down jacket in my pack as a backup. If I'm so cold I need the down it's unlikely that I'm sweating so the down isn't likely to get wet. I'm also a big far of wool but am old enough to be old school without being a hipster. I hunted a couple of days this fall with a buddy who has is an Alaska Master Guide. When he got cold he pulled out a down piece.

YMMV.

Frank

It doesn't specifically say it's windproof but I suspect it is. I'm not fond of the nylon exteriors because they tend to be a bit noisy.


Casey

What is "Pl. jacket"?

Fleece midlayers has been my go-to for about the last 10 years. Fleece is very breathable but not as warm at down/primaloft. The issue is hiking with down encapsulated in nylon doesn't breathe real well and I sweat. Hiking into a spot to sit works great with fleece but it isn't warm enough when temps start to dip in the high country. I haven't played with the newer puffy jackets but think hiking is a fleece mid-layer deal and sitting is a puff jacket under the outer shell deal.

I bought a primaloft packable jacket this weekend with 100 grams primaloft encased in some type of non-nylon fabric. Thinking it might solve both isues. We'll see.

Primaloft I'd believe.

Yup.

This is by far my favorite puffy jacket. Sheds wind and light rain like no tomorrow. If I'd had this years ago I would have saved a pile of money on other jackets.

OK thanks. Missed that one..............

In above-freezing wet weather, a puffy against a waterproof shell of any sort will wet out on the outer surface from condensation, at least in my experience.

In wet weather, I wear a fleece over the puffy. The fleece layer against the waterproof layer keeps the puffy from wetting out. When the weather breaks and you get a chance to take off the shell, the fleece does what it does and dries quick.

The fleece might be sized such that the loft of the puffy is a bit compressed, but at above-freezing temps the compressed lofts hurts you way less than being wet.

None of this matters when it's dry and/or well below freezing.

35F and raining? I'll string a tarp, or get up and move.

If you're not out and about when it's 35F and raining, you might miss out on something.

Right you are but I spent two winters in the AK interior in a light infantry unit but the coldest I ever remember being was at Ft Jackson SC soaking wet on a windy day. Never been hypothermic 'cause I'll go admin and build a fire in a heartbeat.

Great pics Vek!

Fleece is underrated. There is nothing better. Cheaper than dirt, doesnt absorb water and warm as hell. I have some new fleece long jons from fred meyer that are so hot i cant wear them unless its below zero. Its called grid fleece base layer by weatherproof. 20 bucks. I wear the other synthetics around town, primaloft, polarguard, nanopuf, etc. They breathe a lot better and arent nearly as warm so you can exercise and they look good. But fleece is tougher, warmer and dries quicker.