Lightweight synthetic insulation with no sleeves for summer from Patagonia.
Just in for review from Patagonia and an interesting looking bit of summer lightweight insulation, is the Men's Nano Puff Vest, a PrimaLoft-filled gilet that weighs just 220 grammes and packs down nice and small.
Wet Weather Friendly
New for this spring, it's a a classic bit of Patagonia kit and goes along with their existing jacket and pullover versions, saving weight and bulk over both. The insulation is PrimaLoft One, which has good water resistance, dries fast and packs down well, while the shell is 100% recycled polyester complete with a Deluge DWR, water resistant finish.
That makes it pretty much windproof and hopefully, capable of coping with light showers. It's a simple beast otherwise, having a couple of handwarmer pockets and a zipped internal chest pocket that doubles as a stuff sac and has a clip loop.
First impressions are that it's surprisingly warm for such a lightly insulated bit of kit and, as Patagonia suggests, you could wear it either as a mid-layer or as an outer garment.
Look Ma, No Sleeves!
Not everyone will like the absence of sleeves, you do lose heat fast through your forearms in particular, but it reduces arm bulk when layered under a shell, saves weight and pack size and also means the vest may be more wearable when you're churning out the heat a bit.
Fit is Patagonia's 'Regular', which means an amenable middle ground that should suit anyone who's not looking for a close-fitting technical sort of cut. The hem's adjusable too.
Big pluses are that it should fit easily into a lightweight summer pack and mind-set and the damp-friendly insulation and DWR-treated outer will lap up the odd damp bits of British summer time, the downside is that it has a spendy £115 price tag hanging from it - bear in mind comparable jackets also tend to be expensive - and, of course, it has no sleeves. By choice, we'd prefer a sleeker cut for more efficiency, but that's very much down personal preference.
More details at www.patagonia.com
