Belay jacket review part 1

[zeroforhire]

nice! It is great to hear about companies that stand behind their products.

[Steve McGee]

On 3/11/2010 at 7:51 PM, Vickster said:

For down jackets, I still love my eVent FF Volant. Also love my Icefall parka. FF parkas are all I have ever known. All the mass produced down parkas do not have long enough sleeves for my arms so I had to go custom.

 

Regarding durability... I remember seeing a Rainier ranger using a volant one trip, he told me that it was donated by FF 4 years ago and that it had seen constant use. While it was on the grungy side, it looked to be holding up great.

 

For synthetic, I use a Hooded Mammut Stratus jacket. It has a good long sleeve on it, toasty warm, and was dirt cheap too.

Serious necro-post - but this thread is linked to very popular blog posts that come up at the top of search results - so my input on FF:

I used a Helios jacket for 6 years in the Sierra, it's a great weight for that. Then, for another 8 years sitting in my unheated house, leaning back in the chair eating a tub of fried rice or a bowl chicken rice soup resting on my chest watching YouTube. 
The teal jacket had become brown with greasy stains, I wore it daily for hours. Gross. But this is a testament to the materials and quality of the Helios. Even the elastic pocket trim remained unfrayed even though they were almost black with use.

The zipper finally failed. I bet if I'd cleaned it, the teeth would have stayed whole and I would still have it.

[JasonG]

I wash my FF down most years and it keeps going for decades!