ProView – Millet Trilogy Jorasses Dyneema Down Jacket Review

With a winter of ice climbing and skiing in Alaska, the Dyneema Down Jacket was the perfect companion for me. The Dyneema Down Jacket accompanied me on the full gambit of wild Alaskan weather from rimed alpine peaks to cold, wet days climbing ice along the coast. I was able to put the Dyneema Down Jacket to the test in some less than idyllic conditions which pushed the jackets lofty technology to the test.

After driving 3,300 or so miles north from Denver, Colo. to spend winter in Alaska with my wife (and adventure hound, Zeke), I was thrilled to review the Dyneema Down Jacket in the cold of the far north. I have used and abused many down (and synthetic) belay jackets over the years and was ecstatic to see Millet had finally answered may dreams by incorporating Dyneema into the shell fabric to increase the durability.

I have been living on the road for two years now climbing and skiing full time which has given me intimate knowledge of my belay jackets. “Belay jackets” being large, very warm down (or synthetic filled) jackets intended for keeping you warm in the gnarliest of conditions while climbing (or skiing).

These jackets generally fall into two style categories, “6000m” jackets and “8000m” jackets, as in the general elevation they would be adequate for. “6000m” jackets are more packable, lighter weight, and very warm, just less warm than their “8000m” counterparts. These are what are most commonly used by ice and alpine climbers as a belay jacket. Think ice climbing in Montana, ski mountaineering on Rainier, or mixed climbing in Rocky Mountain National Park. “8000m” jackets are heavier and bulkier, but extremely warm. These are the jackets people wear to Everest base camp or Antarctica.

The Dyneema Down Jacket threads the needle between these classes and aims to deliver the best of both worlds. After many miles on skis and pitches on ice I have found the Dyneema Down Jacket sits in a very specific niche of belay jackets where it is perfect in some regards, but not all of them.

Fit & Comfort

As soon as I donned the Millet Dyneema Down Jacket, I noticed it had a very boxy fit and doesn’t have a “parka” cut along the waist where the back of the jacket is a bit longer than the front to cover your butt. I was a bit surprised by this coming from a French company.

The hood of the jacket is absolutely massive and swallows my head with a helmet on even when synched down most of the way. I found this hood a bit over the top in size and it precluded the view of my harness many times when climbing. The fit may be the jackets biggest flaw that I found personally. The jacket is extremely warm and fitted across the chest and arms, but its boxy cut creates a bit of a flare near the waist. I had to be diligent about synching the waist to fit my layers so I wouldn’t lose heat out the bottom.

If I could take some fabric from the hood and put it down around my waist to make the jacket longer, then the Dyneema Down Jacket would be perfection in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong though, when the hood and waist are synched correctly, the jacket is extremely warm for its weight. With massive 1000 fill power down baffles, the Dyneema Down Jacket traps heat more efficiently than any jacket I have ever used!

Look & Style

Style isn’t necessarily the Dyneema Down Jacket’s strong suit, this jacket is much more utilitarian. The jacket looks a bit chunky with its oversized hexagonal baffles, but don’t let its lack of style fool you into thinking it isn’t more than capable. The royal blue color with white interwoven Dyneema thread does give a very nice color and pattern to the jacket though.

Features

As I said above, with the Dyneema Down Jacket hitting the mark in some regards, but missing in others really shows in its features. On one hand, I understand that Millet was aiming to create a minimalist style jacket as they describe about the Dyneema Down Jacket online. I’m sure their aim was to try to cut down on weight by removing features so they could add more insulation to deliver a jacket that is warmer than my other “6000m” style belay jackets while staying as, if not, lighter weight and packable than them. But, then again for the price point I was pretty underwhelmed by the jacket’s features. 

The Millet Dyneema Down Jacket has all of the basic features like a synch-able hood and waist, two outer pockets, two inner stuff pockets (one with a zipper), a stuff sack, belay zipper, and adjustable cuffs. I consider these pretty standard features as almost every company out there includes these in their belay jackets. Especially for the price point of the Dyneema Down Jacket, I would have liked to see some features befitting an extremely high end jacket. For example, comparable high end belay jackets that I (and my wife) use from competitor companies include many more features both for comfort and for utility with a smaller price tag and with small weight penalties.

The Dyneema Down Jacket’s greatest feature is its incorporation of Dyneema into the shell fabric to give it very high durability. I will touch on this more below. In terms of features though, I would have loved to see the Dyneema fabric used on the bottom interior baffle or two of the inside of the jacket. I have found over the years that there is more of a risk of ripping your down jacket on an ice screw or ice tool on your harness while belaying than any rock or chunk of ice generally causes. The ice climbers out there will understand the plight. But, I cant hold that against the Dyneema Down Jacket, as no belay jacket has a reinforced inner fabric around the waist that I know of.

The insulation of the jacket is 320 grams (in a size mens medium jacket) of 1000 fill power RDS (responsible down standard) goose down that has a ExpeDry hydrophobic treatment to “ensure that the down dries more quickly, all while improving its environmental impact” says Millet. 1000 FP down is the highest level of commercially available fill to date meaning this jacket has top of the line insulation. 

Weight & Packability

The Dyneema Down Jacket boasts some incredible warmth to weight. This jacket is warmer than any high end belay jacket that I have used. Even with its reinforced Dyneema shell fabric, it weighs as much, if not a bit less than my other belay jackets. Absolutely incredible innovation by Millet! I found it was very easy to stuff in its included stuff sack and carry on the harness while climbing. Honestly there really isn’t much else I can say in this regard other than the Dyneema Down Jacket has the best warmth to weight ratio than any jacket I have ever seen to date.

Function & Performance

No matter the conditions, as soon as I pulled the Dyneema Down Jacket from my pack and put it on I felt like I was wearing a suit of armor. The jacket is so big and insulated it almost feels as if I am completely removed from the weather outside altogether. I was more than comfortable enough standing in the driving snow and belaying on multiple occasions. The wet maritime snow here didn’t seem to alter the warmth of the dry treated down at all, even after the shell fabric was pretty well soaked. It was also a frequent companion any time I stopped while on a ski mountaineering mission to trap all of the heat I had worked up on the ascent and keep me from quickly freezing in the arctic winds. So far, everything the Dyneema Down Jacket boasts has treated me well. The Dyneema shell has repelled all abrasion, the dry treated 1000 fill power down has kept me toasty warm in a variety of conditions, and the jacket has been easy to pack and carry in a variety of scenarios. High marks across the board in the performance sector.

Durability & Construction

One word: Dyneema. Millet has revolutionized the belay jacket by incorporating it in the shell fabric. Why is it revolutionary you may ask? Well, until now, jackets have always had to fight weight vs durability in the sense that simply put to increase durability, the outer fabric just increased in thickness thus increasing weight and decreasing packability. Dyneema is extremely strong and lightweight though which allows it to benefit both the weight and durability of the jacket. This allowed Millet to deliver a jacket that is more durable, yet lighter weight than contemporary competitors. It is something I have been waiting for to be incorporated into jackets for years and I am really excited seeing it on this jacket. 

In terms of the construction of the jacket, it is well made, but it is a bit rough around the edges for the price point. I found the stitching to be a bit crude in areas with loose ends fraying or gaps in the stitching allowing feathers to escape here and there. In terms of baffle construction, I have observed the down completely leaving one of my baffles and filling the neighboring baffles leaving me with an empty baffle. Thankfully the jacket is so warm that I didn’t notice it while using the jacket but rather when I took it off back in my camper. When I held the jacket up to a light I could see that almost no feathers remained in this baffle. It has happened a couple of times now and I have had to manually work down feathers back into the baffle to refill it which is a bit annoying. It seems like it has to do with the construction of that one baffle in particular somehow as none of my other baffles have any issues and stay full and lofted correctly.

What sets the product apart?

The Dyneema Down Jacket is a standout in terms of warmth and durability. Its minimalist construction allows it to be warmer than any jacket I’ve personally used while falling into the same weight class as my other jackets. The Dyneema in the outer fabric though is what really sets this jacket apart from anything else out there. This revolutionary innovation makes the Dyneema Down Jacket stand alone among the rest. Frankly, it launches this jacket and Millet to the forefront in garment technology.

Who is the product for? 

This product is for those seeking a extremely warm and durable jacket for cutting edge climbing, skiing, mountaineering, or alpine pursuits. Due to it’s lack of features with its minimalist style and its use of Dyneema, I think the Dyneema Down Jacket fits a specific niche for those who are already familiar with belay jackets and are looking for something more tailored for their intended goals. I don’t think this jacket necessarily standouts from the competition for beginners looking to buy their first belay jacket, but it definitely does if you aiming to do cutting edge climbing or skiing. As I have said previously, this jacket is intended for the gnarliest of conditions and Millet describes the Trilogy series being for cutting edge mountaineering and alpinism and giving its users ultimate protection. So if you are planning on climbing in places like the Alaska Range, the Himalaya, the Karakoram, Patagonia; or long, committing climbs or ski descents in places like the Alps, the Canadian Rockies, or the likes then this jacket may be perfect for you. 

Eco-Friendly

Millet, being a French company, means I am not surprised in the slightest with their strong commitment to the environment. If you want to go into a deep dive, Millet is very transparent about their impact and openly provides environmental audits on their company, their manufacturers, and their suppliers online. This is all accompanied with pages of plans on how they are going to address their environmental impact for years to come. I can’t say I have seen many companies having third party environmental audits completed on themselves, let alone posting the information openly for anyone to read. It is almost too much to sum up here so I highly recommend you go check out all of the info on the site (“Discover” tab in menu then “Summit of Responsibilities”).

For this reviews sake I will tell you that their environmental commitment is robust. They focus on five areas of improvement and what they are doing to address them, Climate Change, Circular Economy, Pollution, Biodiversity, and Social. These cover everything from what Millet is doing to reduce carbon emissions from manufacturing to how they are trying to make their products last longer while at the same time being made of more recycled materials to a wide range of external partners and projects they are supporting who are accomplishing similar goals and everything in between. 

The Final Word

The Millet Dyneema Down Jacket has revolutionized the market with Dyneema technology and I eagerly await to see what comes next from Millet. The Dyneema Down Jacket has served me well here in Alaska and I am stoked to have such a bombproof jacket for climbing and skiing in brutal conditions for years to come. In my opinion, if Millet added a “parka cut” to the jacket and/or added a couple of more features, this jacket would no longer be so niche and would be a standout belay jacket in all regards. I think it would be sought after for a wide range of uses from beginners to experienced climbers and skiers alike.

The ice climber in me thinks a reinforced lower inner baffle would be cool and since no one has done it yet, maybe Millet will be a leader in this innovation someday. A boy can dream. In the meantime, for those of you who are looking to upgrade your belay jacket or are looking for something that is tailored for hard climbing and skiing in rough conditions then look no further than the Millet Trilogy Jorasses Dyneema Down Jacket.

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