Article by Matt Kolat
Montbell - Plasma 1000 Alpine Down Parka (£480 €560)
Introduction
Montbell is a legendary outdoor brand hailing from Japan, established in 1975. They are most famous, at least in my mind, because of their ultralight down products, which you will see later on in the review are as light as they possibly can get. Their design philosophy is ‘Light and Fast’ gear which can be used in unpredictable conditions which Japan is famous for. Coincidentally, I live in Scotland which is famous for being just as unpredictable - 4 seasons in one day are nothing out of the originary.
Please keep an eye on Montbell’s UK Instagram accounts @montbell_uk - they are just about to launch a UK based online store as well as in the near future open a brick and mortar store in Keswick! For those of us living outside the UK, Keswick is one of the main towns in the English Lake District, well worth a visit not just to scoop some excellent Montbell gear!
Please join me in the review of one of Montbell’s flagship down jackets - the Plasma 1000 which has been provided by our friends from Wisdom and Effort Distribution.
Fit
I was not sure what size to order, I considered sizing up as this is a Japanese brand but I am glad that I didn’t. I picked my usual size Large and honestly I could have probably pulled off a Medium. I would describe the fit as boxy and accommodating. If you are intending to use this jacket primarily as an outer layer and want to fit multiple layers underneath it - I would stick to your usual size. If however you want this jacket as a more close fitting mid-layer for extreme conditions or prefer a closer fit in general you might want to size down. Summing up, the Plasma 1000 runs about a half size too big but that might become handy when layering. In the photo below I am wearing the Plasma with a merino wool t-shirt and merino wool ultralight hoodie underneath and there is still umpteen space left for extra layers.
What I liked
Weight. Let’s start with the biggest value added this jacket has to offer - its weight. Or rather lack of thereof. My size Large, inside a stuff sack, weighs 270g, which is beyond insane.
My second lightest jacket is the Patagonia Micro Puff which weighs over 100g more and is synthetic and not as warm as the Plasma. If you are after ultra lightweight insulation - there is honestly not a better product on the market, or not at least any that I am aware of.
Packability. The Plasma packs down really nicely into its own stuff sack. It does not have a dedicated pocket it stuffs itself into. Out of the four winter ready, insulated jackets I own, it packs the second smallest. Below is an image showing, in order from largest to smallest, the Patagonia Micro Puff (size Large), Mountain Equipment Senja (size X Large), Montbell Plasma 1000 (size Large) and Cumulus Climalite (size X Large).
Hood. If you follow my Road Trail Run outdoor gear reviews, specifically jackets, you know that hoods are typically make-or-break features of a jacket for me. The Plasma hood is excellent. It is big enough to fit a helmet and has three cinching points. Two cables in the front and a velcro adjustment in the back. Really good stuff, it’s not going anywhere even in very windy conditions.
Warmth and baffling. The 1000 EX-down fill is very warm and I would not be afraid to wear the Plasma in temperatures -15 Celsius / 5 F. I tend not to venture out in the hills when temperatures drop below -20 C / -4 F. Apart from the extreme fill, what also contributes to the warmth of the plasma is the unique baffling and stitching.
The stitching method Montbell uses is called ‘skip stitching’ and it's very different from the usual patterns chosen by most brands.
The image below shows a Montbell heat map as well as a comparison between standard quilting pattern and Montbell’s skip stitch.
Style. This is of course completely personal and a very minor thing but Montbell looks really cool. You put the Plasma on and you feel like a million bucks, I would not have a problem wearing it to the pub with a nice pair of jeans and a pair of cool kicks.
Waist cinching. Another one of those very small design decisions that at first seem inconsequential but are very handy indeed. The waist cinching cables are located inside the pockets. What this ensures is that the cables will never get hooked up to any objects. Smart.
What I did not like
Price. Hard to dance around this part - the jacket is very expensive. This is definitely an ultra high end product. You do get however the lightest warmth to weight ratio and also huge street cred. In the UK at least, where I live, Montbell is considered one of the ‘it’ streetwear brands at the moment hence there is a price to match.
7D outer material. Okay so this is a part like and part dislike. One of the reasons for the Plasma 1000 being so ridiculously light is the fact that the outer is a 7 Denier Ballistic Airlight fabric. In non-technical language that means that the outer materials are very thin. The limitation here is that I would probably not want to be wearing this jacket on any scrambles or hikes where rock abrasion is likely as chances are you will tear your Plasma quite easily. That said weight savings need to come from somewhere.
Down. The previous dislike brings me to this one. Because the fabrics are so thin you can actually feel the down feathers, from time to time, poking against your skin. While this is a small dislike it can be quite annoying. Simple solution to this is not wearing the Plasma with only a t-shirt on and thus not exposing bare skin to it. Minor issue.
Limited pockets. The jacket does not have any drop pockets inside or a chest pocket. Those are very minor dislikes but pose a limitation in terms of storage. The two hand warmer pockets do a decent job, but if you are wearing a backpack which has a hip belt the access is limited. If Montbell is designing a Plasma 2.0 I would recommend moving the pockets upwards.
Use cases and conclusions.
The use cases of a jacket depend on the user. To me however the Plasma is most suited as a winter mid layer or an outer layer for non-technical adventures. I don’t think it is suitable for mountaineering as it does not have a two way zipper. It has plenty of room for layering making it suitable for very cold conditions, however the 7D outer material makes it a tricky piece of kit for technical adventures where abrasion is unavoidable.
Another group of users who should pay close attention to the Plasma and Montbell in general are ultra light hikers because there is not a lighter jacket on the market with a 1000 down fill.
Overall I despite those minor limitations I found the Plasma to be an excellent piece of kit.
Maciej 'Matt' Kolat- 39 years old, hailing from Poland but pounding Scottish pavements and trails since 2007. Mainly runs shorter distances on pavement 5-10 km and reserves longer runs and hikes for beautiful Scottish Glens. Matt’s opinion sometimes may differ from other RTR testers as he is the slowest of the bunch (5k at 25:38). Matt also uses running as a way to stay healthy having shed 100 lbs so far (and counting).
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