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Reviews > Clothing > Jackets > Integral Designs PLQ Jacket > Christine Korhonen > Initial ReportIntegral Designs PLQ Jacket Initial
Report Name: Christine Korhonen Age: 32 Gender: female Height: 5' 4" (1.6 m) Weight: 150 lb (68 kg) E-mail: chris@wormguy.com Location: Western Montana Date: November 27, 2005 Backpacking Background: I'm in Montana enjoying the summers and becoming re-acquainted with winter. Now that I'm back above the snow line, I'm attempting some winter camping and snowshoeing. I'm a lightweight backpacker mentally, if not always in practice. My summer pack weight is around 19 lb (9 kg) with a tent, but my winter pack hovers around 25 lb (11 kg). I have been backpacking since 2000. Product Information: Manufacturer: Integral Designs URL: www.integraldesigns.com Item: PLQ Jacket MSRP: US $200 Year Recieved: 2005 Color: Black Size: Large
 Listed Weight - medium: 11 oz (315 g) Measured Weight - large (without stuff sack): 12 oz (340 g) Listed Stuffed Size - 8" x 5" (20 cm x 13 cm) Measured Stuffed Size - 7" x 5" (18 cm x 13 cm) Stuff Sack Measured Weight - 0.6 oz (17 g) PLQ Description from Integral Designs: The PLQ Jacket is part of Integral Designs' Fast and Light insulated clothing line. According to Integral Designs (ID), the PLQ is made from 3 oz PrimaLoft Sport insulation with 20 denier lightweight Pertex Quantum ripstop nylon microfibre for the shell and lining. The cuffs and bottom hem are trimmed with lycra binding. The jacket came with an ID catalog, a flier describing the PLQ jacket, and hang tags listing the benefits of PrimaLoft Sport and Pertex Quantum. According to its tag, PrimaLoft Sport is breathable, fast drying, and water resistant in addition to being compressible. The website mentions Pertex as the shell material for the PLQ, although this is not indicated in either the catalog or flier. According to its tag, Pertex Quantum is the lightest Pertex material at 30 g/m2 (0.9 oz/yd2). Pertex Quantum is strong for its weight, durable, soft, and half of the weight and volume of standard fabric. I am not sure which standard fabric the tag is using as a reference. Initial Impressions: The first thing I noticed was how light the PLQ is. Lifting it up, it felt like nothing. The same black material is used for the outer shell and inner lining. This material is silky, smooth, and cool to the touch. The jacket has a zipper that goes half-way down its front, and an inner zippered chest pocket. Both zippers have a 3" (8 cm) ribbon that reads "Integral Designs" for a zipper pull. The jacket has a a 2½" (4 cm), insulated, stand-up collar. There is hang loop inside the jacket at the back of the neck. A logo tag and second tag with washing instructions are located inside the jacket. A second logo tag with website information is sewn into the bottom left side seam. First Try: The jacket slid easily over my head. I was surprised by the thumb loops on the sleeves since they aren't mentioned on the website. The sleeves are long enough to cover my hands easily, so using the thumb loops didn't stretch out the arms at all. The insulated collar covered the back of my neck up to my ears, and zipped covered my chin up to my nose. The zipper's teeth are made of plastic, but the slider is metal, and my lips hit against the metal slider occasionally when I moved my head around. The jacket seemed even lighter on, like less than nothing. The PLQ's torso is quite long. Since I'm only 5' 4" (1.6 m), the size large jacket covered my hips and ended below my butt. The bottom hem wasn't tight and can stretch, so I was able to walk normally with the jacket on. I raised the hem of the jacket so it was at my waist and folded the bottom of the jacket over. Folded like this, the jacket ended at my hips, the length I'm used to. Since the insulation is so thin, even doubled the jacket wasn't bulky. I couldn't feel the extra layer, it felt like there was only one. Looking in a mirror, I couldn't tell the jacket was doubled. On, the jacket was nice and warm. The torso seemed just the right width, although the upper sleeves were a little loose on me. The shell material made some noise as I moved around, and I'm interested to see if static will develop as I wear the jacket. The inner pocket zipper slid open smoothly. This zipper ends slightly below the jacket's front zipper, so it was a little difficult to open the pocket fully. I needed the zipper fully open in order for the pocket to be wide enough to slip my hand in. Stuff Sack: A gray silicon coated nylon stuff sack came with the PLQ jacket. This stuff sack is extremely light and smooth. It has an internal tag indicating that it's the extra-small size. An Integral Designs logo tag, the same one that's inside the jacket, is sewn on the outside of the sack. There is a top draw cord and a bottom ribbon to hang onto when removing the sack's contents. The place where the draw cord exits the sack is reinforced with high-denier material and a metal grommet. None of the seams on the stuff sack are sealed. The jacket just barely fits into the stuff sack. There's no extra room, and the stuff sack doesn't close completely with the jacket inside. However, the jacket compressed quite easily into this small space. Since both the jacket and sack are made of slippery material, the only problem was hanging on to them both and making sure the jacket went in the right direction. Taking the jacket out of the sack, it had a few wrinkles but returned to its regular loft immediately. Test Plan: I will test the PLQ along the trails of Montana, Wyoming, and Michigan. I will pay particular attention to comfort: how the jacket feels and how well it regulates temperature. I am interested to find out if the jacket generates static electricity and how water resistant the Pertex shell is. Condtions are expected to be snowy and cold. Read more reviews of Integral Designs gear Read more gear reviews by Christine Korhonen Reviews > Clothing > Jackets > Integral Designs PLQ Jacket > Christine Korhonen > Initial Report | |||||||||||||||||||
