A regal shot of a helmeted Alex in the BD Down Deploy Hoody.
In the realm of ether and just enough, Black Diamond’s Deploy Down Hoody provides a bump of warmth and could be a key piece in your layering system for cold-cold, and not-so-cold, days.
Black Diamond constructs the Deploy Down Hoody out of pure aspiration. If you take a midweight down jacket, remove all pockets, drawstrings, half the zipper, most of the nylon denier, and any semblance of sanity, then stuff it full of 1000-fill down, you are left with the Deploy. My medium barely registers on the scales at 148 g. Will it shred to tatters by the end of the week? Maybe. Do I care? No. BD made a jacket out of fairy dust and dreams—I love it.
The last few weeks have finally been cold here in AK. I helped this along by ditching skis in the Chugach for ice tools and heading up to Denali National Park for a few days over New Year’s (killer northern lights!). The cabin’s old mercury thermometer dropped to about -10 Fahrenheit; down in Nenana Canyon, the car read -17 degrees; walking towards the ice down on the river, it felt a bit colder, maybe around -25 degrees. While on the move, I layered with a Merino t-shirt, Patagonia R1, and the Deploy Down Hoody. An old Patagonia Fitz Roy was my belay jacket when stopped. I am a big fan of layering lightweight and midweight insulation layers for touring. If I can get away without a large parka, all the better. A down pullover really helps with this system. The challenge of multiple insulation layers is simply bulk and heft. An ultralight-down jacket helps solve this.
While touring outside Girdwood last week, I had two lightweight insulation layers in my pack. With temps hovering around 15 degrees, the Deploy Down was the only jacket I ever put on.
So, the Deploy: it’s a pullover hooded half-zip with a single internal storage flap/ stuff sack. 4D nylon (half the nylon of whatever you used to call “ultralight”); 1000-fill down (800-fill is apparently now for heavy metal couch cushions). That’s it. It’s a down jacket under 150 g that packs into the size of a half-liter water bottle. From what I can gather, it’s the lightest down jacket in the world.
The BD Deploy Down Hoody packs down to a small size that weighs…not a lot. (148g size M.)
This model shot show from BD shoes the trim fit, yet enough cover to cover a cold bum.
The Black Diamond Approach Down Jacket, a fully featured alternative with similar warmth, weighs 304 grams. The classic Patagonia Nano Puff hits the scales at 337 grams. The Arcteryx Cerium weighs 338 grams; the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer weighs 249 grams. My all-time favorite jacket, the Crazy Idea Levity (previously advertised as the world’s lightest down layer), is the only contender close to as light as the Deploy, and it comes in at 215 grams. Sure, most layers listed above have much more jacket to the jacket, but sometimes less is more. When that’s the case, the Deploy wins. The Deploy Down occupies its own niche: a speed weenie’s field hoody. That niche, too, can broaden if you are a more moderately paced tourer but prefer several minimalist layers to equate to a single puffier layer, say, like a big down belay parka.
From a functional standpoint, the Deploy Down Hoody may leave you wanting. I really like pocket and waist elastics. Durability is great, too. But I also like having a layer of real insulation that weighs less than my t-shirt. My goggles weigh more. My gummy bears weigh more. My helium balloons weigh more. This piece is a one-trick pony, but it is a good one—two thumbs up.
The BD Deploy Down Hoody is also available in a women’s fit.
A high and dry Alaska—a proper environment for the BD Deploy Down Hoody.
The Basic Stats
Price: $395.00
Shell & Lining: 4d Nylon Ultralight rip stop (100% Nylon, 17gsm)
Insulation: 1000FP Goose Down (95% Down, 5% Feather)
Weight: 148g
$/g: 2.67
What’s the famount of fill?
If you are looking for these kind of minimalist options, definitely check out Timmermade as well. His stuff is super stripped down, and he has the SDUL options if you want the lightest down and fabrics.
https://timmermade.com/product-category/clothing/
But in general, with such a thin down garments the weight savings from 1000 FP vs 800 FP down is nearly non-existent, after all, even if it’s 25% heavier, 25% of, let’s say 1.5 oz, is 0.3750 oz, or, in more comprehensible units, less than 11 grams. In fact, for that reason, I have switched mostly to synthetic for the lighter garments. Not much of a weight penalty and thin loft jackets can really use. the benefits of synthetic regarding moisture resistance.
In my mind, the more useful application of higher fill power down is for big parkas and sleeping bags, where you have a large quantity of down (although I still personally choose to save the money and go with the cheaper down) so the weight savings start to add up.
The biggest weight savings with lightweight packets comes from fabric and especially features.