mont-bell

[wayno]

went to one of their shops yesterday.
same size as a large kathandu store,, but with a fair bit more stock and a great range of gear, all of it suitable for bushwalking or alpine climbing.. a third of the shop was clearance, jammed packed with a decent range and sizes, you could kit yourself out reasonably well from the clearance section alone.
so as you'd expect with summer approaching at home i a stocking up on down jackets.... got their new alpine down jacket (not the light version)
385gm, baffled construction (not stitch through) 800 loft, should be very warm with the construction. packs down quite small.
this is only advertised online on their japanese site. 120 grams of down in the jacket..
NZ$200 terrific value and thats their normal retail price
i'm 5 11, average build, i needed a large Japanese size, it would be an M american size
looking to go back for an UL down jacket as well
also picked up a synthetic insulated vest in the clearance for $100.
they make some decently strong softshell pants i'm looking at as well.
they certainly have a large range of down clothes, hard to know where to start unless you've worked out what you're after in advance.
so if you find yourself in a town with a mont bell shop, definitely worth a look.
i forgot all about the plasma ultra light down jacket i was going to look for, but i should be going back again and will look out for it...
being in japan, i couldnt find english speaking shop staff, so pays to do your homework before you go in... its hard enough sorting through everything to find a particular item you're after...

this is an image of the alpine down jacket i couldnt actually find any other specs other than the weight and fill of it... i worked out by looking at and handlig the product to work out the construction, that it definitely wasnt stitched through, just looking at it , i thought it might be baffled since the stitched seams didnt indent like they normally do on stitch through designs, i could seprate the inside from teh outside seem and could feel the baffle in between, so it was a bonus find for me to get this model, i was just looking to get the alpine light which is stitched through

[wayno]

correction, the alpine jacket cost closer to $190 Aus

[Strider]

Are you living in Japan now Wayno? Your profile would suggest so..

[wayno]

nope, i thought i had to change location to avoid being seeen as a spammer

[GPSGuided]

Nice shopping! What other goodies do they have?

[wayno]

they sell quite a bit of different gear
they give more info on the gear specs on the US site
http://www.montbell.us/

on the japanese site they list a greater range of activities they supply and or make gear for. its pretty highly regarded.
i didnt end up looking at it but i saw a fair bit of kayaking clothing, it took all my time to sift through the walking clothing
http://en.montbell.jp/products/

most of it is lightwight or ultra lightweight.

[wayno]

tell you what, i thought coming to a country of over a hundred million in the space of nz would be a lot worse than at aus international airports.
i wish nz and aus customs officials could learn from the japanese, queues of one person at the counters. spent the vast majority of my time at the airport waiting for my luggage, didnt have anything to declare and customs let us straight through.
then i thought turning up in a major japanese city at rush hour would be our next drag,,, not likely.... traffic was totally smooth until we hit the central city.. bus didnt take much longer than expected.... the japanese have their public tansport sorted and they use it... really bike friendly big cities as well , so far.... cant comment about Tokyo...
they have big bike bicycle and scooter parks at the train stations. public transport literally covers the country, don't need to bother with cars... walking trails for africa.. but um, i havent got to any of those yet.... family commitment and shopping first...

[GPSGuided]

Your first trip there? Yes, they are different in many ways. A lot to be learnt, as for any culture and country. As for airport immigration lines, that also depends on the time of arrival. They can get very busy, especially at peak hour arrivals from N America, Europe etc. Coming up from NZ, you are most likely to be at a quiet time.

[KANANGRABOYD]

Mont-Bell are a SUPERB company for down garments.
Their combination of quality,price,innovation are hard to beat.
If only some other companies that produce top quality down garments would look at them and take note!
Got my eye on one of the Mirage Parkas- think it will be a great addition to the rest of the "flock/gaggle"

[wayno]

very nice soft nylon fabric used on their jackets as well
i turned up at melbourne, and there was a double decker A380 parked at the terminal... we must have got in just after that,, there were somewhere around 500 people queueing to get through customs.....
the face scanners were pretty hit and miss so having a nz passport didnt make the difference it should have, it didnt recognise me...
i didnt realise my girlfriend could queue with me even though she wasnt on n nz passport luckiy someone pointed out to me she could so i extracted her from teh queue a hundred or so metres back down the concourse....

[Joomy]

Got my eye on one of the Mirage Parkas- think it will be a great addition to the rest of the "flock/gaggle"

The Mirage also has my attention. Tossing up between that or the Crux Pyro for next winter or if I go overseas this summer. My main area of concern about the Mirage is the featherweight shell fabric. 7D vs. 15D on the Crux. But box baffled.

That Alpine Jacket looks nice but why box baffle something and then leave off a hood?

[wayno]

dunno, the mountain alpine jacket is a totally new design, perhaps they are gauging popularity before committing to a hooded jacket, i had to stop myself in the shop with all that great gear, i already had three down jackets and a vest and fleece tops coming out my ears....
remember their nylon is high tensile nylon, like high tensile steel its a bit stronger than ordinary nylon. the gear looks deceptively simple but there's some good technology in there.

[wayno]

actually there is an alpine down parka with a hood on the japanese site

http://en.montbell.jp/products/goods/li ... ory=131000

[vorpal]

So is the best place for Australians to get Mont Bell from iClimb? I've seen a video online of the Alpine with the hood. Not sure iClimb have it though.

[radson]

I have ordered quite a bit of stuff over from the years from Glenn at iclimb. He's super helpful and if he doesn't have anything on hand, he can help get if for you. Mont-Bell down and lightweight stuff is quite innovative and quite non appreciated in the Antipodean market.

[wayno]

one issue with iclimb is you may have to wait a while if they have to get an item in...

[roysta]

Thanks for that post Wayne.
They are interesting shops aren't they.
I'm just back from the Alps and wandered into Mont-Bell's only European store at Grindelwald in Switzerland.
As the lovely Japanese manager pointed out, the company has Japan and American specs and her store stocked both.
I have some Mont-Bell items in the cupboard, like a heavy duty sleeping bag and Thermawrap jacket but I had no idea how extensive their gear range is.
Fantastic stuff.

[radson]

Yeah I ordered some MB insulated pants in July and got them with in the week but understand the supply lines might be longer for out of stock items.

As a side note, I couldnt find anyone stocking insulated pants in Australia.

..and lastly yeah, the thermawrap along with the Arcteryx Atom LT are really nice synthetic wear.

[wayno]

thanks for reminding me, i went back and got their thermawrap pants, and some other bits and pieces.

[wayno]

i finally got to see all of mt fuji, sort of by accident.... i left my rail pass on the train when i got off at kyoto
we told the staff, they rang the train and they found it and held it for us,, in Tokyo 450km away!, they wouldnt issue another pass!
we couldnt get out of the rail station without it and without having to pay a penalty for not having a ticket because the pass covered a ticket.... so 4 o clock we headed off to Tokyo... just caught fuji in the dying light,, two and a half hours and we're in tokyo, got the pass but had to turn around to get straight back to kyoto because we were checking out and leaving town the next day!

[GPSGuided]

That's fate Wayno!

[neil_fahey]

I bought a down sleeping bag from their US site. Very happy with it. Even more happy with the price.

[wayno]

only really used the thermawrap vest so far, great item... light, packs down, breaths through microfleece panels on the side. nice and warm while walking in strong cool wind.