I've had the Montbell Alpine jacket (not the Alpine Light) for about two months now, and it's just not that warm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I've worn it on a month long road trip out west during this winter from Ohio to Utah to Arizona to New Mexico and back to Ohio. Temps ranged from 10-35 degrees. I've also worn it almost 24/7 here at home, where temps are around 7-20 degrees outside and only 30-45 degrees inside because I don't have the heat on in my apartment.

I used to wear a cheapo Campmor 650 fill jacket which I feel is actually warmer than my $150, Montbell 800 fill, full box construction jacket.

I'm Asian with a slender figure.

1. Despite Montbell being a Japanese comany, unfortunately for me they have wider US sizing for the US market. The Alpine doesn't hug my frame like my old Campmor does, and since there's more dead air to heat up and more room for cold air to come in, I don't stay as warm.

2. 800 fill, when compressed, offers zero insulation. And 800 fill is very very easy to compress. If I wear a shell outside the Alpine the down around my shoulders gets compressed and my shoulders get really cold. If I lay my arms on a cold table the down underneath my arms get compressed and the bottom of my arms get really cold. When I lean back into something like a cold car seat, the down along my back gets compressed and I get a very cold back that's sapping the heat from my core. My old Campmor jacket, because it used lower quality down, didn't compress as much, but this means more warmth because less compression means more thickness when compressed.

3. The box construction lets gravity shift the down. Montbell says its box construction eliminates cold spots, but in my experience it makes a lot more cold spots than a tighter sewn through construction. Imagine you are wearing the jacket and you stand up with your arms out at a T. Shake your arms a little bit and all the down in the arms will shift to and pool in the underside of your arms, leaving no down at the top of your arms. Now go ride a bike in the winter and the tops of your arms will be freezing as the wind blows along the tops of them. My old Campmor with its sewn-through construction didn't allow down to shift nearly as much.

4. The neck collar is sized for large American necks. My neck is slender so the collar doesn't go flush with it, or anywhere close. I lose a lot of heat here. My Campmor jacket would zip up flush with my neck.

5. About the only time that I feel really warm in this jacket is when I'm standing and not leaning against anything. Only in this fashion does the down not get compressed or shifted to produce cold spots.

Does anyone know of a slim fit down jacket? The Montbell Alpine Light and Thermawraps are VERY slim fit (went to the Montbell store in Boulder on a road trip), but they lack so much insulation due to trying to be lightweight that I shivered just looking at them. From the look of them there is no way they can be any warmer than a normal midweight or maybe a heavyweight fleece jacket.

I have the Alpine Light inner pants as well and they really suffer from the down compression problem. If I bend my legs the down at the top of my knees and shins and thighs compresses and essentially becomes zero insulation. They are the warmest, again, when I'm standing, and are comparable to a midweight to heavyweight fleece pant only in this standing state.