Hardshell Jackets
Product 2020
Woman, Man
To avoid any confusion, it should be noted that there are two Trollveggen insulation jackets in the Norrona catalogue: the Trollveggen ACE down 950 M’s made from down and the one that we are interested in, the Primaloft™ 100 Zip Hood M’s.
If there is a choice to make, our heart leans without hesitation towards the latter based on Primaloft™. If this jacket does not have the “natural” prestige of down, it does have multiple advantages. Primaloft ™ is indeed a fiber conjured up by the American army in order to be able to replace down, which provides effective insulation … when it is dry. But the latter, as soon as it is wet, loses its thermal qualities. It is also very long to dry. It’s not easy to work with, it must be distributed in boxes and the seams must be very well sealed to avoid feathers escaping (the jacket loses its inflation over time). So basically, down is effective in dry conditions and remains appreciated for its ability to be compressed. Despite the various treatments it has undergone over the years aimed at making it hydrophobic and insensitive to odors, it must be recognized that technical fibers reach this effectiveness and even exceed it. For several years, we have traded our down insulation jackets for Primaloft™.
The advantages are obvious: the fiber is not sensitive to moisture, it dries quickly and can be arranged more uniformly in a jacket. The thermal bridges are therefore reduced, there is no fiber that packs down at the bottom of the boxes due to gravity as is the case with down. Washing is also simpler and does not require any special anti-odor treatment or prolonged drying. In terms of compressibility, Primaloft™ loses a few points, it is true that in this area, down is more efficient.
The Norrona Trollveggen Primaloft™ 100 Zip Hood M’s jacket has been tested primarily skiing and ice climbing. It is an insulation jacket and not a protective jacket, even if it is water-repellent and equipped with quite a resistant Cordura outer fabric.
This jacket’s first quality is its warmth. You immediately feel that your body heat is happily trapped. We really appreciated this first-rate thermal comfort. In static positions, like on a chairlift in full wind, or in the relay on an ice climb, the Norrona Trollveggen Primaloft™ 100 Zip Hood M’s is really effective. The collar is remarkable and so is the hood, that can be worn over a helmet. A note: the volume of the hood is such that folded at the nape of the neck, it can cause a thickness beneath the helmet (ski for example) and inside the hood of a protective jacket. In any case, there’s no cold air that slips through and bad weather cannot attack your face or neck. Your chin is well protected from any friction by a small, cozy textile insert.
The other big strong point concerns the design and cut that goes down very low to your buttocks. The protection is total. You lose a little aesthetically maybe, but you gain enormously in thermal comfort. Made of 100g Primaloft Gold®, the Norrona dries quickly and remains impervious to humidity
The chest pockets are huge, you can get a book in them. The internal mesh pocket enables you to store your ski mask or other small, not very heavy technical equipment (the mesh stretches a lot). Two large hand pockets (above the harness) complete the array. The zips do not get stuck and look solid.
The Norrona Trollveggen Primaloft 100 Zip Hood M’s is designed to push your limits in skiing, mountaineering and in all winter conditions requiring flawless thermal insulation thanks to Primaloft™ Gold. It logically wins the Test4outside.com FIRST Award.
We used this equipment over a long period of time
These are our thoughts after intensive use:
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