Wild Things
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Scott McMahon wrote: Dang...guess that's what I get for jumping on the first generation.Scott what was your impression of the jacket you do have? Fit issues aside How has it held up? |
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rock_fencer wrote: Scott what was your impression of the jacket you do have? Fit issues aside How has it held up?Overall the desgin is nice and it's pretty durable with some tough fabric. Fill wise, it's sort of an in between piece. It doesn't have the lightweight packablility of the atom, so it comes out more as a cooler weather belay jacket. I'd say it's also less of a layering piece and more of over layer as well, but I wouldn't bring it out on an ice climb. I haven't put it through it's full paces as of yet since at this time of year I'm either using my Atom LT or a larger puffy Rab Neutrino. I recommend it more of a late summer / fall crag jacket instead of the typical alpine WT's is known for, but of course that's just my opinion. Fit wise just to add on a bit I'm 5'9 with a wide upper body and decent ape index and had to go with the XL. The fit both upper chest and sleevewise on the original was way too small, whereas I can wear the atom more comfortably as a layering piece. Luckily for me, being wide makes some of the WT, current Patagonia and Cloudveils work a bit better. |
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Hey John. The Makulu was a great piece. We may have the bandwidth to put a new shell on it. Having the fabric on hand is another question Your best bet is to give the folks at the store a shout. 1-877-WTHINGS |
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Hey Michael, thanks for joining in on the conversation; I think that says a lot about Wild Things. |
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I agree with most everything said in this thread. |
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so does anyone climb in a synthetic/down puffy on rock...or do all these jackets with the UL fabrics just get tore up and i should stick to climbing in a fleece and be looking at a lightweight belay jacket. |
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Thanks for articulate expression Stephan. We do need to step up our product development to retain your business. |
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rock_fencer wrote:so does anyone climb in a synthetic/down puffy on rock...or do all these jackets with the UL fabrics just get tore up and i should stick to climbing in a fleece and be looking at a lightweight belay jacket.The Nano puff is pretty burly from what I hear. Have a friend who had a late night (multiple) bike "accident" while wearing his Nano and supposedly it emerged unscathed. |
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rock_fencer wrote:so does anyone climb in a synthetic/down puffy on rock...or do all these jackets with the UL fabrics just get tore up and i should stick to climbing in a fleece and be looking at a lightweight belay jacket.like i said it depends on what you climb, how much you climb and honestly some blind luck ... eventually it wil wear through if youre sport climbing or something with a similar style with very little body contact, it wont matter if youre climbing trad or a style with a lot of body contact, deep jams and grovelling ... youll get holes sooner or later ... and im not about the occasional ... "oh i had to do a short chimney pitch and it survived" ... but day after day of said climbing i find that windshirts (a synth puffy is basically a thin windshirt with insulation) get holes within about 20+ pitches of yosemite/squamish style hand/fist/offwidth/chimney jamming ... you need to ask yourself 2 questions 1. are you cold when moving or at belays 2. and if the former do you really want to spend 150-250$ (assuming you get one of those fancy brand names) on something that will be in regular full contact with the rock if that is your climbing style |
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rock_fencer wrote:so does anyone climb in a synthetic/down puffy on rock...or do all these jackets with the UL fabrics just get tore up and i should stick to climbing in a fleece and be looking at a lightweight belay jacket.I'll give a +1 to bear breader, personally I use a patagucci down sweatshirt with hood for my alpine climbs, but I don't climb in it, it comes out at the belays. for moving I run a lil warm so a standard capilene shirt for a base which is usually the exposed layer while climbing. the down sweater is my choice for the belay due to its self stow pocket and clip loop, that way it can be on my harness while I climb and I don't need a pack to have it with me on lead. I think if I was forced to wear it while leading it wouldn't survive very long at all, really feels fragile as all heck. as far as WT goes I had already contacted them via social media suggesting they add the self stow and loop to their insulight jacket, and if they do I'll switch to that over the patagucci, but until then I'm sticking with what functions the way I need it to, and for a climbing jacket the ability to take it with, without a pack is crucial on harder alpine routes. for a layer heavier than capilene to actively climb in I'd reccomend something like R1 with its one side fleece so the outside is more abrasion resistant. |
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Food for thought. |
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then i suggest a 100g/m+ primaloft (assuming freezing level, if colder get more insulation) belay jacket that you can use at belays ... should be fitted so that it can easily go over your softshell ... |
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Ultimately, it was the expectation that WT was going to return where they left off that let me down. Which they did. I was expecting ultra light, ultra durable innovation. Instead I got a "good" product, that doesn't really match up to the top brands of the industry. |
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You won't be climbing technical ground in a 100g jacket even in pretty cold winter temps with out over heating. That is the standard belay jacket weight on most terrain in NA short of Alaska or Canada over nights in winter. |
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It appears that WT has already responded a bit. Primaloft One is now an option on their custom Insulight jackets. |
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I've always purchased Wild Things insulated jackets because they are more durable than anything else. That Epic shell is the deal maker, not the deal breaker. For professional use, one can purchase the latest and lightest, but you'll need to replace it before the next season. If WT can keep the highest quality synthtetic insulation, with a durable shell cover, they will always get my money. I now have an Atom SV (?) and I'm impressed. I wonder if it will last as long as my WT EP though...5 years and counting. |
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Brian Abram wrote:It appears that WT has already responded a bit. Primaloft One is now an option on their custom Insulight jackets.something to consider now that patagucci and others are moving away from PL1 to the cheaper insulations ... if you are buying new of course even el cheapo brands use PL1 like the latest MEC 100/m+ jackets for 85-100$, the EB FA ones that are often onsale, hell even LL Bean uses PL1 ... if a "high end" brand name doesnt use PL1, you really gotta ask what yr getting when these "budget brands" do ... course the best thing is just to get what is on a big sale regardless if yr using it on rock ;) |
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"if a "high end" brand name doesnt use PL1, you really gotta ask what yr getting when these "budget brands" do " |
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Ray Pinpillage wrote:Custom clothing, unless tailored, has always been a huge letdown for me. I bought a very expensive Beyond custom softshell and it was total crap. I'm not willing to go through that again.What were you disappointed with in the Beyond jacket? I have one that I absolutely love. It took them WAY longer to get it to me than anticipated, which was pretty disappointing, but I'm very happy with the qualify of the product. |
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Dane, |