My friend Sophie brought this jacket for me in 2013 from Germany. Read the original review here. I started using it from 2015. So far I have been to Sandakphu, Chadar, Roopkund and Stok Kangri. This jacket has been through snow fall, rain, minus 30 degree celsius temperatures. It has literally been there done that.
Therefore I am now qualified enough to write a long term review of the jacket.
I love this jacket. I cannot imagine going to the Himalayas without it. I have used it as a mid layer, under my Marmot Precip rainwear, as the main jacket, as a pillow in my tent. I have used it in all sorts of applications. And I have always loved owning it.
After the latest Stok Kangri trek where I not only wore it to a height of 6000 meters but also walked in it through snow fall and rain (my rain jacket wasn't with me), I gathered enough courage to wash it. This is after five years of owning it and wearing it to 4 different treks. I used the Granger liquid soap for that. I was very nervous about it. I thought the down would get all tangled up and never gain back the loft. But it got back to its vintage shape and form in no time when it dried up. Did all the dirt go? No. Most of the marks that I wanted to go are still there. But I think overall the jacket looks cleaner.
Let me briefly write down what I did so that I myself remember and anyone who wishes to follow in my footsteps finds it easy to follow.
I filled a plastic tumbler with water and poured some Granger liquid in it and stirred it well. After this I soaked the jacket in it. The jacket had a lot of air in it. So it wouldn't sink in the water. From time to time I would carefully turn the jacket inside the water so every square inch got well soaked in the soapy water.
After a few hours (I guess more than 7/8 hours) I did some very careful hand rubbing of the places where I knew it was dirty without taking the jacket out of the water. Around the cuffs, near the edge of the hood, on the arm etc. I let it soak again.
Finally I threw the soap water out. It was really dark with dirt. I never took the heavy wet jacket out of the tumbler, like I would if it was a shirt. I filled the tumbler with fresh water again and rinsed the jacket in it so that the soapy water would wash away. After this I quickly took the jacket out of the water and spread it on a thin foam mattress. The idea was to let all the water out of the jacket. Never, ever wring it. Just let it lie flat and let the water go out naturally. Do not even hang it from anywhere. The weight can be dangerous.
I let the jacket lie like that overnight. In the morning I took to the rooftop where the sun was out in all its glory. Again instead of hanging it I let it lie on the floor. It was still totally wet. I spread it out over a few newspapers. Once the front side was dry, it was turned over. The jacket dried out completely in about 6/8 hours of being in the sun.
While the jacket was wet, the clumps of down could be felt. I was a little nervous but hopeful that nothing bad would happen. Once it was dry it was back to its old lofty self. Is it cleaner? The dark dirt around the cuffs is still there. But I think overall it looks brighter and cleaner. I will probably clean it again like this after another 4/5 trips to the Himalayas.
I love my Marmot. I hope it lasts forever.
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