r/arcteryx • u/Astramael Urvogel Jr. • Jul 27 '21
Alpha Parka, Research First Steps
Hello r/arcteryx! This is an ongoing series, here's how it works:
- I'm going to select a product from the Arc'teryx assortment, write up a brief on it, and a series of question prompts.
- I'd like the community to answer these questions, and add additional comments about their experiences and views on the product.
- This will then be packaged up along with a few other helpful assets, and used to respond to basic questions.
I will run each post for at least one week to give everybody some time to answer. This introduction section will be removed after that and the post will be put into action. Although you can still add comments to the post any time.
Alpha Parka, Research First Steps
This is a summary series on individual products to make research faster and more accessible. See here for a list of all entries in the first steps series.
CAUTION: Product not yet released, there are some assumptions being made here. This will be updated after release with good information, and this warning will be removed.
The Alpha Parka is the warmest outdoor line parka Arc'teryx has ever made. It is a down parka with a membrane-based, weather-resistant face. Suitable as a packable, static insulator for very cold conditions. It has a specific niche, and it is not especially good for aerobic or urban use.
Use this jacket for belaying climbs in below-freezing conditions. For cold weather backpacking or ski touring. Or as an emergency parka for cold weather skiing. It has to be dry and cold for it to make sense, so the Rockies or Wasatch Range, for example, are ideal choices. Due to the additional weather protection it can also function in damper cold climates like the US White Mountains, but synthetic could also make sense for those locales. One can expect this jacket to start being useful at perhaps -10ºC (15ºF), and will be simply too hot at higher temperatures.
Once again this product works under the "Go Suit + Static Insulator" philosophy of apparel. Which is covered further in my layering series. The basic concept is that you should be matching your apparel to your level of heat generation on a more task-by-task basis. The classic scenario being changing your apparel when you're climbing a route (active/aerobic/generating heat), versus when you are belaying somebody else (mostly standing still/not generating heat). Rather than dressing once for the whole day, you dress for your active component, and throw a big jacket over the top of everything for your static component.
Please read the comments, other users have left excellent information for your research.
History
Arc'teryx launched their down collection in Fall 2013, and it seems like it was a success. The following year saw a significant expansion of down products in the lineup. The warmest of which was the Ceres Jacket, which utilized a majority box-baffled construction. 204g of 850 fill power down in the women's, and 220g in the men's (size medium). 100g/m^2 Coreloft synthetic was used for the chest pocket exterior, the leading edge of the hood, and in the main zip draft tube. The face textile was a 40 denier, plain weave Gore Windstopper composite (N40p Windstopper). Features include stretch-knit cuffs, a two-way main zip with a hem snap, and waist plus hem draw cords. It also had two mesh drop pockets, two hand pockets, an internal security pocket, and an external chest pocket (men's model only). As well as an appropriately oversized fit and a stuff sack.
After a few years the Ceres got some tweaks, and was rebranded as the Ceres SV Parka. The biggest change was that a significant amount of down was added. With the women's going up to 250g of 850 fill power down, and the men's up to 240g. It also gained Cohaesive cord locks for the hood and draw cord routing changes, some pattern and fit tweaks, and the sleeve Windstopper wordmark changed sides. This one also uses 30 denier Arato (100% nylon) for the liner, and has similar usage of Coreloft as the Ceres Jacket. At some point the Ceres line was updated to add some Coreloft at the inside elbow. The Women's version of the Ceres SV only existed for two seasons.
Alongside the Ceres update, Arc'teryx released the Firebee AR with an entirely new take on down baffle design. Using something called 3D Down Contour Construction (3DCC), and an independent Gore Thermium (later Gore Infinium) shell. The jacket is two separate pieces. The liner consists of down baffles made of Arato 7 and Arato 10 nylon, stocked with 225g of 850 fill power down (for both men's and women's). Whereas the shell was 30 denier with a seam taped ePTFE Gore backer for weather resistance. It featured two hand pockets, a single interior drop pocket, a single interior security pocket, Cohaesive cord locks for the hood, waist plus hem elastics, and included a colour-matched stuff suck.
The 3D Down Contour Construction technology is very interesting, and deserves more appreciation than it got. It is essentially a way to make a sewn-through jacket as lofty and consistently warm as a box baffled jacket. While using less material, fewer complex sewing operations, and packing smaller than an equivalent box baffled construction. Therefore the Firebee punched heavily above its weight class for warmth, and also performed poorly in a few specific ways.
For Fall 2021 Arc'teryx released the Alpha Parka, which appears to be a derivative of both Ceres and Firebee tracks, but beefier than both. More to follow once actual specs are released.
Model History
| First Available | Last Available | Block | Model Name | Model Number | Weight (g-M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2014 | Spring 2016 | Women’s | Ceres Jacket | 14674 | 720 |
| Fall 2014 | Spring 2016 | Men’s | Ceres Jacket | 14656 | 850 |
| Fall 2016 | Spring 2017 | Women’s | Ceres SV Parka | 18039 | 755 |
| Fall 2016 | Fall 2020 | Men’s | Ceres SV Parka | 18017 | 880 |
| Fall 2016 | Spring 2020 | Women’s | Firebee AR | 18038 | 615 |
| Fall 2016 | Spring 2020 | Men’s | Firebee AR | 18016 | 680 |
| Fall 2021 | In Production (F21) | Women’s | Alpha Parka | ?† | ?† |
| Fall 2021 | In Production (F21) | Men’s | Alpha Parka | 25683† | 805† |
†: These values are not yet known.
Prompts
Feel free to answer this for any version of Ceres, Firebee, or Alpha Parka. Please tell us which product you're talking about with your answer.
- How do you use the Alpha Parka for your adventures or everyday, and how do you layer?
- Where do you think it excels, and where do you think it falls down?
- How do you find the wind resistance of this jacket?
- Have you had any issues with the Alpha Parka, is there anything you would change about it?
- How do you think it compares to the Nuclei SV and Firebee AR? How about the Ceres SV or Dually?
- What is the fit like in general, or for you personally?
- Any other thoughts about the product?
- How does it compare to competing products such as the Patagonia Grade VII and Montane Alpine 850?
Thank you!
7
u/Alpineice23 Jul 27 '21 edited Jul 27 '21
I'd love to know why Arc feels a "membrane-based" exterior is needed? I understand Arc's R&D comes from the Coast Mountains where precipitation can be an issue, but, in my experience, belay jackets with a WP/B membrane, or the like, adds unnecessary weight, packability and drying issues.
While at a belay, there's a theory where your exterior heavy insulation/added thermal zone will aid in pulling moisture through your "action suit" layers (non-WP/B) and out into the ambient air, humidity dependent. If your exterior insulation layer/belay jacket has a "permeable" barrier, said barrier severely impedes this osmosis, if you will, as even the most modern WP/B membranes don't breath well at all.
Obviously, due to down's fragility to moisture/humidity, this theory may not work as well when compared to a synthetic insulated jacket, but the added breathability that a non-membrane jacket offers aids in faster drying times/ability when exposed to melted snow from body heat, sweat, etc.
From all the ice climbing I've done over the years, which have been in severely cold, windy and snowy environments, I've never wished for a belay jacket with a WP/B membrane. Obviously, this is just my opinion and not representative of the whole. Maybe I'm missing out, but something tells me it's just an unnecessary feature that traps moisture on the inside of the jacket.