Featherlight Insulation Made for the Mountains
An ideal down jacket is crucial to my package any time I head out into the mountains. I needed to see if the Accelerator Down Jacket met my want for a flexible, light-weight down jacket that might hold me snug from mountaintops to evenings at camp. Over the course of a month, I examined the Girls’s Accelerator Down Jacket for heat, consolation and match, compressibility and packability, versatility, and sturdiness in alpine circumstances from Colorado to California.
The Particulars
Worth: $330.00
Dimension: XS
Shade: Cloudy Sky
Product Abstract:
The Himali Girls’s Accelerator Down Jacket (Hooded) is a slim-fitting, 850-fill down jacket made for the mountain athlete on the lookout for a light-weight, versatile layer.
It’s constructed with a slim match to lower the quantity of useless house between you and your insulation layer, offering further heat for much less weight. Constructed with Pertex Quantum cloth, this down jacket is light-weight, packable, and windproof as a result of tightly woven shell cloth construction.
Execs:
Excessive warmth-to-weight ratio
Slim, form-fitting building
Nice compressibility
Wonderful shade selections
11-ounce common weight
Cons:
Some down shedding from seams
Can solely accommodate 1-2 skinny layers beneath
Excessive value level
Product Options:
850 fill energy HyperDRY down
Pertex Quantum ripstop nylon shell (20 denier)
Eco-DWR coating
Fleece mouth guard
Hem and hood drawcords
Built-in stuff sack
Evaluation of the Himali Hooded Accelerator Down Jacket:
Heat
I discovered this jacket extraordinarily heat contemplating its low weight and packability. That is partially as a result of Accelerator’s 850-fill hydrophobic down building, with 4 ounces of down fill. Fill energy is a measure of the standard of down, measured in a lab by assessing what number of cubic inches of loft one ounce of down fill produces after compressing it for a minute– that’s, how a lot fluff does your down have after compressing it. Extra fluff—or loft— is healthier as a result of extra loft means extra heat.
850 fill-power implies that one ounce of this down would loft to 850 cubic inches on this check. Down jackets typically vary from 500-1000 fill energy, with 850 fill-power on the excessive finish. For extra info on understanding down fill-power, take a look at this text.
The Accelerator makes use of sewn-through baffles, the usual for light-weight down jackets. Because of this the stitching between down sections is sewn by means of each the outside and inside cloth, holding the down in place. This retains the down from transferring round, staying heat by means of everything of the jacket. Whereas box-wall building is normally hotter than stitch-through building, box-wall is normally heavier, bulkier, and solely mandatory for expedition-level jackets.
One distinctive function of the Accelerator jacket is its slim match. This match issues for heat as a result of useless house throughout the jacket is lowered, that means your physique doesn’t must warmth up as a lot air as it might with a dishevelled jacket. I discovered that the slim match across the torso and arms did certainly hold me hotter than related 850-fill jackets with baggier building.
Lastly, the jacket options hem and hood drawcords to maintain heat in and chilly air out. I really like the hem drawcord as a result of it prevents chilly up-drafts whereas sporting the jacket, and I typically cinch it tight in windy circumstances.
Match and Consolation
I’m 5 ft tall and 105 kilos and examined a measurement further small (XS) within the Accelerator jacket. I felt that this jacket was minimize barely small, so I might suggest sizing up in order for you to have the ability to stuff extra layers below it.
As talked about above, this jacket has a severely slim match. I personally loved this match for actions like splitboarding as a result of it simply match beneath my hardshell jacket, not like extra dishevelled down jackets that I’ve utilized for touring. I felt very snug when sporting this shell with a base layer and a skinny fleece below it, however any extra layers than that felt constricting, particularly within the arms. Regardless of the slim match, I felt fairly cellular within the jacket, offered I didn’t overlayer beneath it.
I felt extremely heat when sporting only a base layer and fleece beneath this puffy, typically layering this technique below a hardshell jacket. In temperatures above 20 F, I occasionally felt the necessity to layer it with greater than that system. This may be partially attributed to the slim match, decreasing the amount of air my physique wanted to warmth between me and my jacket.
The Accelerator includes a snug hood match with a fleece face guard for when temperatures dip. I assumed this was a terrific function for windy ridgelines and frigid mornings on the pores and skin monitor.
The jacket options two exterior pockets, and one inside pocket. All the pockets have been affordable sizes for storing snacks and a telephone.
Compressibility and Packability
Compressing to the scale of a Nalgene water bottle, this jacket has spectacular packability. It’s not essentially the smallest in the marketplace, however I discovered it to be the right measurement for me to stow in my pack once I’m going uphill. It additionally compresses to in regards to the form of a Nalgene bottle, so it packs simply right into a backpack.
One factor that I really like about this jacket is the built-in stuff sack that lives within the jacket’s pocket, making for easy compression and packability. The stuff sack is related to the inside of the pocket, so it’s unimaginable to lose it when out on the path or within the backcountry. I discover it simple to shove my Accelerator into its built-in stuff sack in just a few seconds, the place it may well keep sleekly compressed till I would like it. It’s also very simple to tug it again out of the stuff sack when the temperature drops.
Sturdiness
The Pertex Quantum Ripstop nylon shell (20D) is accountable for a lot of the sturdiness of the Accelerator Down Jacket. Pertex Quantum is a comparatively strong shell materials made with a tightly woven construction, permitting insulation to loft absolutely. This can be very light-weight and packable, however is windproof with a purpose to preserve greater heat than different materials. Once I make the most of down jackets in high-use conditions, I typically run into ripping and tearing of the material. In my testing, I’ve but to unintentionally tear any holes within the shell of this jacket – even when it was packed subsequent to crampons in my ski touring pack.
The material is handled with an eco-durable water repellent (DWR) coating to forestall the jacket’s down from soaking by means of– the Pertex Quantum materials itself, nonetheless, shouldn’t be water-proof. In case you want expedition-level water resistance, I might suggest discovering a jacket that makes use of Pertex Quantum Professional. For almost all of makes use of, nonetheless, this is a superb shell materials that’s comparatively sturdy and windproof. For extra details about the number of Pertex cloth supplies, take a look at this web page.
In my testing, I seen that my Accelerator started to shed down from the seams on each the arms and torso. This down was popping out of areas that had not ripped in any means, however the fill appeared to be escaping by means of the seams themselves. So far, little or no down has escaped, however that is actually one thing to notice within the sturdiness class.
Versatility
A superb puffy jacket is crucial to the wardrobe of any open air individual. I discovered this to be a fairly versatile jacket for quite a lot of out of doors actions. It is a superb layer for ski touring, backpacking, climbing, and tenting. I additionally often discovered myself sporting it round city, although due to the slim, efficiency match, I might argue that it’s extra suited to energetic makes use of. That stated, it’s a very enticing down jacket with a glossy design.
Finest for:
Ski touring, alpine climbing, backpacking, climbing, tenting.
Scores by Class:
Heat: 8
Match and Consolation: 7.5
Compressibility and Packability: 8
Sturdiness: 8
Versatility: 9
General Rating: 8.1
Why Purchase
The Himali Accelerator Hooded Down Jacket is a slim-fitting, versatile down jacket created from prime quality supplies. It’s gentle, sturdy, and appears superior on the wearer. It has a formidable warmth-to-weight ratio, making it a superb piece of insulation.
My Testing Course of
For this evaluate, I examined the Himali Accelerator Hooded Down Jacket in Cloudy Sky. With over a month of intensive use of this jacket, I received to know its options, execs, and cons. I used it practically daily, from ski touring to climbing to strolling round city.
This down jacket got here with me for a multiday yurt journey at Colorado’s Cameron Cross, for snow hydrology fieldwork in Crested Butte, and on numerous ski excursions in Mammoth Lakes, CA. I used it in temperatures as little as 8F, and as excessive as 35F.
The classes for which I reviewed this product are as follows: heat, match and luxury, compressibility and packability, sturdiness, and flexibility. Every of the above classes was given a rating on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the worst potential rating, and 10 being the very best rating. To reach on the general rating, I took the typical of the 5 scoring classes.
Continuously Requested Questions
What’s Himali doing to make this jacket with moral and environmentally-friendly practices?
Himali makes use of Accountable Down Commonplace-certified down on this jacket, that means that duck and geese feather fill is from humanely-raised animals. Moreover, they use Bluesign licensed merchandise as a lot as potential to make sure a accountable provide chains.
Artificial versus down insulation: what’s higher?
Down is the way in which to go in case you’re on the lookout for the very best heat to weight ratio. Artificial insulation is heavier, however it stays heat even when moist, whereas down doesn’t. For an artificial jacket for chilly, moist circumstances, I might be curious to check Himali’s Ascent Stretch Hoodie, which weighs in round 15.2 ounces (in distinction to the Accelerator’s 11 ounce weight).
The Backside Line
It is a high-end, high-quality down jacket suited to mountain actions. It packs down small, is extremely sturdy, and appears nice. I might extremely suggest this jacket for somebody on the lookout for light-weight, efficiency insulation for mountain actions.
Purchase the Himali Hooded Accelerator Down Jacket right here.
