The Decathlon Forclaz MT100 ($100) is a no-frills hooded down jacket designed to be used as a light-weight three-season insulation layer when tenting or throughout mountain climbing relaxation stops to keep away from changing into chilled. Insulated with 800 fill energy down, it’s surprisingly cheap in comparison with comparable jackets that price two or 3 times extra. If you need a down hooded jacket that can preserve you heat right down to 40F levels and also you don’t thoughts the jacket’s barely outsized hood, the MT100 is an effective purchase. For colder temperatures, we’d suggest buying a hotter down jacket from Decathlon or one other value-oriented model equivalent to REI, Eddie Bauer, or LL Bean.
Specs at a Look
- Males’s and girls’s fashions can be found
- Whole Weight: 11.4 oz in a males’s XL
- Consolation vary: 23F-41F
- Insulation: 800 fill energy RDS-certified down (10% gray duck feather, 90% gray duck down)
- Insulation weight: 3.1 oz in a dimension medium
- Pockets: 2 zippered handwarmer pockets, jacket stuffs right into a pocket.
- Building: Sewn By
- Shell Material: 15d Polyamide
- Harness loop: Sure
Building
The Decathlon Forclaz MT100 is insulated with 800-fill energy RDS-certified duck down which is a bit uncommon for a jacket at this worth, since most lower-cost down jackets are insulated with 650-fill energy down. Earlier than you ask, the 800-fill energy duck down utilized in MT100 is simply as heat as 800-fill energy goose down as a result of fill energy is a species-independent measurement. Duck down is cheaper than goose down nonetheless as a result of there’s a a lot bigger provide of it.
The MT100 has a sewn-through baffle design, the place the inside and exterior cloth are sewn collectively to create pockets to carry the down insulation. Whereas some warmth can escape on the seams, this method is the norm on budget-priced down jackets as a result of it’s less complicated and cheaper to stitch than the field baffled design discovered on hotter and dearer jackets.
Options
The Decathlon MT100 Jacket has a minimal characteristic set. It has an outsized, non-adjustable hood, a YKK zipper with a zipper storage on the prime, two zippered handwarmer pockets, elasticated wrist cuffs, and a shock-cord waist adjustment to seal out drafts from under. There’s no chest pocket for storing a telephone and no inside pockets for storing further gloves or snacks. The hood is outsized and never adjustable to seal in physique warmth, however it’s massive sufficient to suit over a climbing helmet. There’s additionally a harness loop so that you stuff the jacket into certainly one of its handwarmer pockets and connect it to a climbing harness.
Temperature Score
Decathlon assigns the MT100 jacket a consolation ranking of 41 levels F. That’s correct so long as you’re layering it over a jersey and a mid-layer and sporting a heat hat. It truly is a light-weight down jacket and is greatest utilized in hotter climate.
Jackets just like the MT100 are supposed to be worn in camp once you’re hanging out with buddies or cooking meals or throughout a relaxation cease so you may rapidly put one thing heat on to keep away from a chill. They’re not an optimum energetic layering possibility once you’re mountain climbing since you’ll rapidly overheat when sporting one, they don’t take in perspiration, and don’t wick it out of your baselayer like a fleece. See our Decathlon Quechua MH100 Overview for a mid-layer fleece we suggest, which enhances the MT100 properly.
Match
The MT100 in a dimension males’s XL is true-to-size by way of sleeve size and torso size though it’s a bit cosy across the chest. The sizing is simply massive sufficient to accommodate a base and mid-layer. The hood is massive and non-adjustable. Whereas its opening is bordered by elastic, it’s too loosely tensioned to shut the hole between the hood and one’s face. We suggest you put on a fleece or wool hat when utilizing the hood to maintain your head hotter.
Suggestion
The Decathlon MT100 Hooded Down Jacket is an affordable packable down puffer insulated with 800 fill energy down that’s priced lower than comparable jackets supplied by different producers. For those who solely want a down jacket for three-season mountain climbing and backpacking use to maintain you heat to about 40 levels, then it’s a fairly good worth for the cash like lots of Decathlon’s different merchandise. However in the event you want a jacket for colder situations, I’d suggest getting a heavier jacket with a greater hood and extra down insulation. Decathlon additionally makes a hoodless down jacket known as the Forclaz MT500 which has a 32F diploma consolation ranking and could also be a very good different. The benefit of a hoodless jacket is that it may be worn beneath hooded rain jacket or winter shell extra simply than a hooded puffy.
Disclosure: Decathlon donated a jacket for evaluate.
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