Marmot Zeus Jacket

I love Marmot gear, but the quality control on the Zeus jacket appears to be a problem (I've seen similar problems to mine posted elsewhere). Mine has several empty, or nearly empty down compartments along the inside of each arm that create very noticeable cold spots - big ones. What I essentially have is a double layer uninsulated nylon windbreaker over large areas of both arms - not good.

I live in Bozeman, Montana, and work and play in the mountains and need a good puff coat that I can count on to keep me warm. So far, this isn't it. I'm sending it in to Marmot for a repair that should take  "4-6 week(s)" Great. I'll post another review in, let's see, February when I hopefully have this back, and let people know how the customer service was, and how well the repaired jacket works.

Other than the cold spots, everything else seems up to Marmot's usual high standards. Also, the fit is typical of the other Marmot gear I have: average cut (not space-suit tight like some others) with good freedom of movement and some room for layering. Nice, big dump pocket inside, and the main and pocket zippers don't snag.

If you do decide to buy one of these, I recommend going to a real store and checking that all the baffles contain down before purchasing.  

12/19/10 Update:

My bad. My review critical of the down distribution is a bit off the mark.

Yes, there are problems with the way down winds up distributed in the arms, but it is not because of an unfilled compartment. The seams make it look like there are three different compartments encircling the arms, when there are only two. One of the compartments extends from the inside around to the outside of the arm.

As your arms swing and brush against your body, down will be squeezed away from the inside of your arms and effectively pumped around to the outside of your arms. This is not a good design, and another seam/compartment that traps the down layer on the inside of the arm is needed.

Other than this, it's a really nice jacket and is built with Marmot's usual attention to quality, which is great. So, I think it should get 4 stars.

I just moved to Montana from California and you could sat at the very least I was unprepared for the weather changes. We get rain, snow and lots and lots of wind here and I needed something that could be flexible enough to wear skiing, hiking, around town, and even walking the dogs...this is it.

I spent a lot of time researching online and bought the bigger Marmot down jacket with a hood...the Ama Dablam size L. It was just...too big. I am 5'11 and weigh 165 with an athletic build. I had to send it back.

Then I bought the Montbell UL down jacket with hood in black and while it was light, it just was weird. I know this may sound lame but it looked like a garbage bag with some puff. It might be the technical champ but you don't want to wear this thing in town, the fabric was just too shiny. Sure if you are on a trip, bust that sucker out and your friends will marvel at it's achievement but other than that it's just odd.

Finally I got this baby and it's perfect. I got a size L and it fits perfectly...stuffs down small in its pocket if you like to about the size of a Nalgene...maybe smaller. The colors are rad and it's just cool. I've worn it skiing with 35 mph winds (with a shell...but still) and plenty of times from 20 degrees to 40 with wind. This jacket is awesome and considering that you can use it for everything not that expensive.

As you can tell...I like it.