What is the Frostline Jacket?
The Frostline Jacket is a minimalist, low-bulk down jacket with a weather resistant shell that’s been designed to keep you warm on those fast days in the mountains. Its small pack-size makes it a perfect piece to throw in your pack and forget about until you need it, then the warmth it offers is very welcome.
What is the Frostline Jacket made from?
Drilite Loft 20D outer fabric offers good abrasion resistance, as well as wind proofing and high water-resistance, especially when combined with the factory DWR coating to further help repel water. The 20D fabric also keeps the pack size small.
The insulation comes in the form of 116g (Size Large) of Down Codex approved 700 fill power down. This keeps the bulk of the jacket low, but the warmth to weight high. The Frostline is ideally suited as a more active layer, when static for longer periods you may find more layers will be needed in order to keep warm. It is aimed more at the alpinists and trekkers amongst us who need extra warmth and a tiny pack size. The down is spread across the jacket on a baffle by baffle basis to ensure an optimal fit and body-mapped warmth.
What are its features?
The aim with the Frostline was to keep the jacket fairly minimal, prioritising the weight and pack size of the jacket over outright features, but Mountain Equipment still managed to tick a lot of boxes with it.
The elastane bound hood has been designed to fit snug to the head, keeping in valuable warmth and making it perfect to pop on underneath a shell hood or a helmet. The YKK front zip deals with closure and the insulated rear baffle behind the zip keeps out any chance of cold spots. It features two zipped handwarmer pockets, one of which acts as the stuff sack for the jacket, leaving it with twin karabiner carry loops for easy harness/pack attachment. Elastane bound cuffs for a snug fit and an adjustable dual tether hem with drawcords round out the Frostline Jacket’s feature list.
How does the Frostline Jacket fit?
The Frostline Jacket has been aimed as a lightweight outer layer or warm midlayer, meaning it will fit well over a baselayer and possibly another lightweight midlayer, but the fit is fairly trim to keep the insulation as efficient as possible.
Where does it fit in the layering system?
The Frostline lines itself up as a midlayer or lightweight outer, making it versatile enough in the layering system to fit in at a few different points.
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DRILITE® Loft 20D outer fabric; totally windproof and highly water resistant
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116g (Size L) of Pure Down with a minimum content of 90/10 700 fill power
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Stitched-through narrow baffle construction throughout
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Optimised down distribution and fill weights using a baffle-by-baffle approach
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Elastane bound Mountain Hood
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YKK® moulded centre front zip with insulated rear baffle
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2 zipped hand warmer pockets
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Elastane bound cuffs and adjustable dual tether hem drawcords
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Packs into hand pocket with twin karabiner carry loops
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Weight : 350g (Size Large)
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Lightweight
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Extremely packable
How to wash your down products
Having spent years talking to people about down products, whether that’s a jacket, sleeping bag or even a pair of slippers, very few have had the confidence to go ahead and wash the product on their own, especially when they have just spent an arm and a leg on it. This small guide is here to explain that it’s not as daunting and utterly terrifying as it first appears.
Step one: Before you even get near that washing machine, wipe off any excess mud or dirt that may be lingering on the surface of the jacket, as this will clog up the washing machine, eventually rendering it useless.
We recommend the use of Nikwax Down Wash Direct for down products as it’s one hundred percent environmentally friendly and will wash and re-proof the garment without the use of bleach or any other nasty chemicals. What household washing agents can (and often do) is remove the water repellent coating on the fabric of the jacket, whilst also damaging the delicate array of feathers inside.
Step two: We’ll assume in this instance that you’ve been washing other products prior to your down jacket and have used a bleach based detergent. Therefore it’s a good idea to run the washing machine for half an hour or so without anything inside to rinse it clean before adding the Nikwax or putting the jacket in. Also, don’t forget to remove the detergent drawer to give it a wash inside, outside and behind, as detergent can clog up and still enter the washing machine if not cleaned out thoroughly. This ensures that any remnants of detergent are removed and that the Nikwax products will work effectively.
Step three: Set the washing machine to a cold wash (check the garments care label, most tend to be around 30°C) and as delicate as possible. Most washing machines have a “wool” cycle which is ideal.
Step four: If using Nikwax Down Wash Direct, place 100ml in either the tray or directly into the washing machine inside a small pot/ball. If you choose to use another washing product, place the appropriate amount in the machine in the same way.
Step five: Set the washing machine to run on a slow cycle, allowing plenty of time for the jacket to soak up the cleaning/re-proofing product. Most washing machines will have a pre-set time for different washing cycles.
When the cycle has finished be prepared for a shock, your precious bit of kit will come out looking like a soggy ball of material. But don’t worry, you haven’t ruined it, it’s just that all that fluffy down insulation has become water logged and has clumped together. The trick is to now get all that down nice and dry to reinstate its superb insulating properties. Simply hanging it up in a warm place will not work that well. It will take days to properly dry and you will have to constantly break up the clumps to get it thoroughly dry. The best way is to use a tumble dryer; either a domestic one for smaller items or a commercial drier for sleeping bags.
Step six: Pop the garment into the dryer and make sure to select a low heat; a high heat runs the risk of melting seams and fabrics within the garment. It sounds weird, but shove a few tennis balls into the drier with the garment; the tennis balls will bounce around and help to break up the clumps of down. Every 20 minutes, pull the jacket out of the dryer and lie the jacket down on a table. Run your hands over the jacket until you find a 'clump' or ball of down; tease apart this down clump and spread it evenly into the baffle. Once you're confident you've pulled apart every clump to the best of your ability, stick it back in for another 20 minutes. Keep repeating this until there are no more clumps left.
Step seven: When the cycle has finished and you are sure that you have got the garment as dry as possible, hang it up in a warm dry place, an airing cupboard is ideal, for 24 hours. This drives out the last of any dampness and allows the down to loft fully. Take it out and give it a good shake and, hey presto, it’ll be as good as new.