With the best properties of down and synthetic insulations, the Micro Puff™ Hoody offers a previously unattained balance of warmth, weight and compressibility
VENTURA, California.—After nearly a decade of reimagining the limits of synthetic insulation, Patagonia has developed the Micro Puff Hoody, the lightest, most packable insulated jacket the company has ever created, offering the best properties of down and synthetic insulations in an ultralight package. Patagonia has achieved a previously unattained balance of warmth, weight and compressibility by using PlumaFill, an innovative synthetic insulation, combined with a unique patent-pending construction technique that prevents shifting and clumping over the life of the garment.
“Knowing that down gets wet and loses its heat-trapping loft while synthetics never quite achieve the same warmth and compressibility, our research and development team spent years tinkering with and field-testing every iteration and combination of materials and insulation. We were looking to solve for the Achilles’ heel of each type of insulation, and we ruled out dozens of technologies before getting to PlumaFill,” said Jenna Johnson, vice president of technical outdoor. “We have found a previously unattained sweet spot with the Micro Puff where we can truly maximize the tremendous benefits of both down and synthetic insulation.”
For the first time, Patagonia is using PlumaFill synthetic insulation that has a unique stabilizing structure featuring strands of heat-trapping ultrafine filaments that offer the warmth and packability of down but with the warm-when-wet performance of synthetics. Paired with an ultralight nylon Pertex Quantum® GL woven fabric, it is highly compressible and has a down-like touch. To stabilize the insulation and prevent shifting and clumping, Patagonia’s design team worked in its Innovation Forge on countless versions to come up with a unique solution that stabilizes the insulation. They developed an offset, discontinuous stitching pattern which reduces the number of quilt points, achieves larger lofted areas, cuts the overall weight of the jacket and prevents cold spots. Combined with a design that utilizes fewer, yet larger, pattern pieces, heat is allowed to move more freely within the jacket, offering consistent warmth.
Patagonia’s alpine climbing ambassador Colin Haley states, “I have been bringing the Micro Puff on almost every mountain endeavor that I’ve been on in the past nine months. This is one of the more exciting new products that Patagonia has come out with and, in my opinion, what makes these jackets special is a warmth-to-weight ratio that is extremely good. Most people who pick these jackets up for the first time mistakenly assume that they are down, not synthetic.”
Other features include two welted zippered handwarmer pockets and a left pocket that doubles as a stuffsack with a reinforced carabiner clip-in loop. The men’s and women’s Micro Puff Hoody will be available in Patagonia stores and on Patagonia.com starting on September 6, 2017.
Men’s Micro Puff™ Hoody: $299. Weight is 9.3 ounces (men’s medium).
Women’s Micro Puff™ Hoody: $299. Weight is 8.0 ounces (women’s small).
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About Patagonia
Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is based in Ventura, California. A certified B Corp, Patagonia’s mission is to build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. The company is recognized internationally for its commitment to authentic product quality and environmental activism, contributing over $89 million in grants and in-kind donations to date.
Contacts
Corley Kenna Corley.Kenna@patagonia.com
Tessa Byars Tessa.Byars@patagonia.com
Corey Simpson Corey.Simpson@patagonia.com