Montbell is out of stock till the new ones (w/ new material) arrive in Sept.:(

So, I'm eyeballing the Western Mountaineering Flash. Looks great...though it's more expensive and a touch heavier.

Can anyone compare the two...or at least give their impressions of the WM Flash?

Have you tried Prolite Gear's website? They always carry MB and on sale. Good company to deal with.

Thanks, Leadfoot. I did look there and they didn't have the color/size I was looking for. However, I'm now not 100% sure on the size, color or even jacket to get. I'm thinking I'll cool my jets until I figure out exactly what it is I want....unless of course I run across a screaming deal.;)

I'm waiting on a Flash from Backcountrygear...should be here in 2 weeks...plan to use it coupled with an Arc AT..on the skin side will be Smartwool Tights below and a Beartooth Merino Hoodie on top...expected lows in the upper 30s....all this in a hammock..going from Delaware Water Gap north starting 3rd week of September.

As an owner of a WM Megalite bag I'd go for the WM Flash jacket. Their quality of materials and workmanship is second to none PLUS it's made in the U.S., whereas Montbell is a French company.

Eric

shows what i know! i thought montbell was japanese
regardless i made my decision based on weight. I've got
a Patagonia Down Hoodie--what an awesome piece of kit, but sometimes too warm...for this time of year on the AT in NJ and NY I'm hoping the Flash will suffice and it will obviously save me precious ounces over the Patagonia Hoodie....speaking of saving ounces, I'm also hoping the Beartooth Merino Hoodie will save some ounces over my Patagonia Axuwool Hoodie (I don't think Pat. makes it anymore)..

Wrong on both counts.

Montbell is a Japanese company- not French.

http://www.montbell.us/about/

Western Mountaineering's bags are made in the US, but their
garmets are made in Canada.

http://www.westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=Products&page=Jackets%20%26%20Vests

the Flash arrived last week...sweet piece of kit and it does weight 11ounces for size XL based on my digital. As all WM gear the workmanship is perfect. Some complaints I've read about the pockets but none from me the side rises enough to keep small things from simply falling out, though there is no zip for added security. The hood is very balaclava like which is something I love with my hoodies (Beartooth, Azuwool). I haven't decided about the color yet, I chose blue. I've got most of this type gear in black and just wanted to be able to tell the difference quickly based on color...done the same thing when possible with my Arc series quilts from Nunatak.

Popped into Pro Mountain Sport two weeks ago in Seattle since I was there on my way to a couple of hikes in WA. They had MontBell as well as the WM Hodded jacked. Got the Flash, a blue one in spite of the fact that I prefer Charcoal ( still have no idea why...)
The Flash jacket worked very well for me at camp with just a base wool layer under ( 140 or 200 IceBreaker) .
The temperature dropped down to only about 4c (39f) so I had no use for it in my Ultralite (used as a quilt and still too warm ) but very nice for my usual toilet break at around midnight.
Be very careful with the fabric (very thin/fragile) as I have a small hole in mine (repaired with some glue...) after I caught it on something when fiddling at camp. You also need to become proficient in pulling those "feathers" back into it , more in proportion than with their bags.
I would suggest storing it into a light stuff sac(inside the backpack) , Pro Mountain Sport kindly gave me one from Integral Design.
Franco

What Franco said. To add, I normally wear my rain shell over the WM so as to protect the shell fabric of the WM.

second the motion on the rain shell for protection...tore a nice hole in a WM Flight years ago in an AT shelter and learned that lesson.