looking for a vest to replace my vest.

[ozyclint]

I have a vest I made out of a soft shell jacket and also a cabelas fleece vest. these are fine but is was thinking that I could do better for backpacking in terms of weight and compression.

I have a nunatak PCT apex jacket and pants that i'm really impressed with so maybe a puffy vest is the way to go? it doesn't need to be as lofty as the 3.6oz apex in the nunatak though.

preferably something quiet enough to bowhunt in.

school me!

 

[rm06]

I have a FL Brooks vest, it is warm as toast and extremely lightweight. It's new to me so I don't know how packable it would be and I'm not sure I would wear it bowhunting.

 

[ZDR]

SKRE Hardscrabble or Sitka Jetstream,,,both high quality gear. + SKRE is having a 50% off sale on some stuff right now.

 

[ozyclint]

looking at weights it seems a puffy is the way to go as I already have soft shell and fleece vests.

so...what puffy vests are out there that are quiet enough to bowhunt in? Kuiu super down? what synthetic options are out there?

when I do a search here I just get pages of old classifieds.

 

[Hootsma]

I just recently went through the same decision making process. What I determined was I don’t want a mid layer to have down or be wind proof. To me, a vest is a mid layer as much or more than it is an outer layer.

Down as a mid layer, even the hydrophobic treated down, tends to get lumpy/clumpy and lose loft when you’re exerting yourself when it’s under a wind/water proof shell regardless of whether you actually break out into a sweat.

And I don’t want it windproof because I found that having 2 windproof layers on means that I get virtually no breathability. If it’s chilly and I’m going to be exerting myself and a vest is warranted, that wind proofness turns out to actually be a liability for me. I get hot/sweaty with very little exertion and it’s just counter productive for me.

I also sleep in my vest and store all of my spare batteries and phone in my vest, so it has to have a chest pocket or ideally 2. This keeps my electronics from getting sapped by the cold and has worked really well for me in preserving the longevity of my batteries in the back country.

The vest I settled on was a Mountain Hardware Kor Strata. It’s a Primaloft Gold synthetic insulated vest and I paid less than $100 for it on sale. I used it on a 10 day trip in southern Colorado this past season. The weather was a little warm for early-mid October, but it performed flawlessly for the 11 day trip. And weighing in at just under 10 oz for a large, it was well worth its weight for my typical conditions. My only con against it would be having only one chest pocket. I prefer having two to store my batteries/phone at night, but the one chest and 2 hand pockets worked well enough as is, that I’m perfectly satisfied with it.

 

[The Ri Guy]

Filson Ultralight is my favorite vest and has replaced all others.

It is not super compressible but it is a tank.

 

[Mudbug]

I have a vest I made out of a soft shell jacket and also a cabelas fleece vest. these are fine but is was thinking that I could do better for backpacking in terms of weight and compression.

I have a nunatak PCT apex jacket and pants that i'm really impressed with so maybe a puffy vest is the way to go? it doesn't need to be as lofty as the 3.6oz apex in the nunatak though.

preferably something quiet enough to bowhunt in.

school me!

FYI the Kor Strata is currently 50% off at Mountain Hardwear

 

[ozyclint]

what about the Kuiu Kenai vest? being synthetic insulation it would probably be better suited to the wet conditions i plan to use it in.

 

[bozeman]

+1 on the Kenai and it's available in the outlet......

 

[Jimbob]

I would like to add a synthetic vest to my clothing as well.

My puffy jacket goes on when I am stationary so down is perfect. But the vest will be worn under my softshell to boost insulation when it gets colder, I will be active when using it this way so I think synthetic is the way to go.

The three I like are:

1. Arcteryx Atom LT - great solid colour but no chest pocket (I can get it 50% off)
2. Men's Kor Strata - not an ideal colour, can find it on sale
3. Kuiu Kenai - solid colours in outlet

All of these vests weigh the exact same and use synthetic insulation, I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

If I was in the States I think I would go for that solid colour Kenai in the outlet.

 

[10ringer]

I wish there was one vest that could do it all. I run 5 and each has a range where it shines. I’m a vest nut as I feel they are the perfect lightweight midlayer piece.

kryptek makes a grid fleece vest that is amazing! This is used during very high output in late season or mild output in cool weather or a warm piece when stationary in early season. I can’t believe no other hunting company makes one of these, it’s bomb!!

Kryptek makes a wind proof vest in their altitude line. In high wind this is incredible. Wear it directly over your base layer and breath-ability won’t be an issue. This is my go to piece if anticipating lots of wind or very low temps and wear it under other layers.

The warmest vest I use is the kryptek cirius down puffy. I run this under my puffy coat in temps below 30 when whitetail hunting. Combine it with the altitude vest under a good puffy coat and I’m good in single digits while startionary.

Cabelas makes a synthetic puffy vest for around $60 that is very warm. It’s a little noisy but gets better with a few washes. Cheap any very functional..by far the best value. This is the one I always recommend to friends who are afraid to spend money on hunting gear.

In cabelas instinct Line they have an active puffy vest. This one is very quiet and I regularly use it bow hunting whitetail. It’s not as warm as a puffy down vests But if your on the go and active this one is great! I’d say stationary it’s good from 50-60 or below 40 if your active. It’s very much like a grid fleece midlayer in performance.
If I could only have one this is the one

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/cabelas-instinct-hybrid-puffy-vest-for-men?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Shop%7CGeneric%7CAllProducts%7CHigh%7CSSCCatchAll&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsLWDBhCmARIsAPSL3_3S_VrWahm4NklLe2-mcTU-QpB1zJH_oSSQaPu656FtlEPKcSbgb_4aArxJEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

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[mtwarden]

check out EE's Apex Torrid vest (2.0 Apex), mine with a hood weighs 5.5 oz, packs small and is surprisingly warm