Table of Contents
About Montbell
Montbell proves that outdoor essentials don’t need to be cumbersome. With lightweight, packable styles, its collection of apparel and gear for men and women is thoughtfully made to keep you warm, dry, and comfortable on your next adventure.
Said to rival the performance, warmth, and functionality of its luxury competitors, Montbell has made numerous publications’ ‘Best’ lists, including The New York Times and Clever Hiker. Its social community is divided between pages specific to the many countries the brand is found in, but overall, they add up to a whopping 80k followers.
So what’s in store for this Montbell review? Everything you need to know about the company. We’ll cover background information, best-selling outdoor gear, and customer feedback, along with a few must-know extras to give you the full scoop. Let’s get moving.
Overview of Montbell
It just makes sense when a brand is created by someone who actually uses what it sells. Founded in Osaka, Japan in 1975 by an outdoorsman named Isamu Tatsuno, Montbell was created from a need for high-quality, performance-driven outerwear that was easy to pack and a pleasure to wear.
Over the years, Montbell has extended its reach, opening up warehouses in America and Switzerland to better serve its customers. In the US, its hub is located in Boulder, Colorado, but you’ll find the brand in several outdoor-centric stores around the globe as well.
Montbell has always been dedicated to giving you the best price for quality possible, but that doesn’t mean cutting corners on sourcing. Choosing down from operations that don’t practice live-plucking methods, its feather sources offer them as by-products of the food industry.
Now that you know a little more about how the brand got started and what it’s all about, this Montbell review will walk you through its highlights. Then we’ll get right into its functional outdoor wear.
Highlights
- Wide range of apparel and gear for men and women
- Lightweight and packable
- Great quality for value
- Down sourced from Europe and Asia
- Customers are highly impressed with its gear’s performance
- Ships around the world
- Free US shipping on orders over $50
The brand’s collection of men’s and women’s apparel and gear is designed to support you in the elements. Though it offers quite a range of backpacks, travel bags, camp supplies, footwear, and more, in this Montbell review, we’ll focus on its jackets.
Montbell Men’s Jackets Review
The Montbell men’s jackets collection has designs for every type of weather. With long and short insulated styles for winter, vests for fall, and everyday raincoats, the line doesn’t skimp on details or exciting colors.
Up next, this Montbell review will introduce you to the best-selling men’s jackets. We’ll cover a mix of down, rain, and travel-friendly styles so you get a sense of the variety this brand has to offer. Each style is available in sizes S-XL.
Montbell Plasma 1000 Down Jacket Review
The Montbell Plasma 1000 Down Jacket is incredibly light but packs a punch in the warmth department. Designed to eliminate cold patches with its special quilting pattern, this smart style is all about keeping you warm—that means no hand pockets.
With a slim fit to keep you snug and warm, it features elastic cuffs to trap in heat. Grab it in garnet, black, and primary blue colors.
Stay warm with the Plasma 1000 Down Jacket for $330.
Montbell Storm Cruiser Jacket Review
Made with a signature one-piece K-Mono Cut, the Montbell Storm Cruiser Jacket makes sure you stay dry in heavy, wet weather by reducing the number of seams it has. Made from rainproof GORE-TEX®, it weighs just 10 oz to help you move freely while navigating the outdoors.
Practical features like two zippered hand pockets, Pit Zips, and a three-way adjustable, roll-up hood make this jacket a smart addition to your outdoor gear collection. Plus, attractive colors like dark teal, black, and dark forest make it something you look forward to putting on.
Articulated arms, hem adjusters, and adjustable cuffs mean you get the perfect, slim fit. Stay truly dry with the Storm Cruiser Jacket for $300.
Montbell U.L. Travel Down Half-Length Coat Review
The catch with most long down coats is that they’re a pain to pack. The Montbell U.L Travel Half-Length Coat delivers on warmth but rolls up into a packable size should you need to take it off.
Promising superior warmth and wind resistance, it’s made from GORE-TEX INFINIUM™ WINDSTOPPER® and packed with 800 fill power ex down with a sewn-through construction for incredible durability, warmth, and comfort. Two external zippered pockets keep things cozy when they’re not needed while one internal zip pocket stores your essentials.
Available in solid black, pack the U.L Travel Half-Length Coat for your next adventure for $330.
Montbell Women’s Jackets Review
The collection of Montbell women’s jackets includes a range of insulated, rain, and fleece jackets to keep you warm and dry in the elements. With a great selection of classic and trendy colors, there’s a ton to pick from.
To give you a peek at some of what this brand has to offer, we’ve included a list of its best-sellers that include an incredibly lightweight fleece, vest, and down parka. You’ll find them in sizes S-XL.
Montbell Chameece Jacket Review
An ideal second layer before adding your down coat, the Montbell Chameece Jacket works just as well on its own in the spring and fall too. It’s made from micro-fleece with two zippered hand pockets and slant-Tex cuffs to ensure no heat escapes through gaps.
Easy to move in, this Montbell jacket comes in midnight blue, black, and ivory colors. Pull on a vest for added warmth on chilly days.
Get the Chameece Jacket for $65.
Montbell Alpine Light Down Vest Review
Remember that vest we just mentioned? The Montbell Alpine Light Down Vest is ideal for fall weather when a full jacket isn’t needed. With 800 fill power ex down, it’s both incredibly lightweight and warm, blocking the wind with its 20-denier ballistic nylon shell.
In both gray and black color options, the vest has a classic outdoorsy look that layers easily over fleece jackets and thermal shirts. It’s equipped with a micro-fleece lined collar and elastic cuffs around the arms to keep your neck and torso cozy.
You’ll find a total of four pockets around the vest, including two zippered fleece-lined outer pockets and two interior drop-in pockets for essentials like keys and cash. Add it to your chilly weather wardrobe for $170.
Montbell Permafrost Light Down Parka Review
The Montbell Permafrost Light Down Parka is perfect for winter adventures—whether that’s on a snowy trail or through the city streets. Made with GORE-TEX INFINIUM™ WINDSTOPPER® fabric, it does an excellent job of keeping out the wind.
Its construction also means it’s easy to compress and lightweight, making it a great choice for camping and treks when the weather is unpredictable. It even comes with a stuff sack to make packing a breeze.
With tons of features like a two-way adjustable hood, adjustable alpine cuffs, and pocket hem adjusters, it provides a custom fit to shut out the cold. Keep your hands cozy and essentials safe with the two zippered hand pockets and two drop-in interior pockets.
The Permafrost Light Down Parka is currently on sale for $210 (normally $300). Only size XL is in stock, as S-L are sold out.
Who Is Montbell For?
Montbell makes outdoor apparel and gear for men and women. Equipped with smart technology, signature construction, and features to keep you warm and dry along the path, its line is ideal for hiking, trekking, or simply walking through cold, wet, or windy weather.
Montbell Reviews: What Do Customers Think?
Choosing the right gear for your next adventure is critical. In this section of our Montbell review, we’ll look at a range of feedback from across the web to find out if the brand is worth adding to your list of outdoor must-haves.
Our first stop for feedback was Outdoor Gear Lab. The folks who test for the site assess hundreds of products critically, and we appreciate the depth they go into for each review. Checking out the Montbell Superior Down Jacket, their team gave it an overall score of 4.7/5 stars and ratings in the following categories:
- Warmth: 6/10
- Weight: 9/10
- Water Resistance 4/10
- Fit: 7/10
- Compressibility: 8/10
- Features: 9/10
The jacket is said to rival more expensive choices in terms of warmth. Here’s what else the folks at Outdoor Gear Lab had to say about the jacket in their Montbell review:
“The MontBell Superior Down has all the features you’d expect to find in a premium brand name jacket but is being offered at a seriously reduced price point…this coat has an above-average weight to warmth ratio but is still a lightweight choice. If you’re looking for a lightweight, affordable insulation layer, this down is for you.”
Lightweight, warm, and very packable, the Superior Down Jacket is a low-cost option for cold weather and performs just as well as more expensive brands. That says a lot about Montbell as a company.
The next Montbell review we’ll be looking at comes from a blog called Halfway Anywhere, and it’s for the Storm Cruiser Rain Jacket. After being put to the test in the Japanese Alps, here’s how it scored:
- Weather Resistance: 4.75/5 stars
- Breathability & Venting: 4.2/5 stars
- Comfort: 4.5/5 stars
- Weight: 4/5 stars
- Packed Size: 4.25/5 stars
After revealing that the Storm Cruiser “actually keeps you dry,” mentioning the effectiveness of its waterproofing, the Montbell review continued:
“The trip started with a week of nearly nonstop rain and the Storm Cruiser kept me dry. I typically only wear my rain jacket if it’s really raining, so I was happy that this jacket did what it promised to.”
This review helps us understand how thoughtfully Montbell’s outdoor gear is made. Equipped with smart features like adjustment cords inside the deep hand pockets, the Storm Cruiser proved to be a valuable tool in wet weather.
Our final bit of feedback comes from a Montbell review on The Trek. Testing out the Plasma 1000 Down Jacket on cold, windy camp nights, the author concluded that it was “the warmest down jacket” they have ever worn. The review goes on to reveal why that’s so impressive:
“I have worn down jackets by Patagonia in regular life (the Micro Puff and old UL Down Jacket) and took an Arc’teryx Cerium SL on the PCT…at this point it’s coming up impressive.”
Writing that the jacket weighs as much as “an empty grocery bag” yet “makes a substantial difference” in the cold, we feel confident in saying that Montbell makes incredibly useful outdoor gear. A jacket that’s light in weight but packs a punch in warmth is an asset to have on the trail.
Overall, the feedback for Montbell is very positive. Though the brand can come off as simple from its no-fuss website, there is a lot of tech and thought that goes into the construction of its products. Treasured amongst the outdoor community, its jackets come highly recommended.
Is Montbell Legit?
Try as we might, we couldn’t find much negative feedback for this brand. Shoppers are pleased with the quality of the gear they receive as well as the customer service and speed of shipping when ordering online. From what we can see on our end, Montbell is 100% legit.
Is Montbell Worth It?
Montbell’s outdoor apparel and gear are highly rated and perform extremely well when put to the test. Though you’ll get lower prices with this brand than you would with its competitors, the feedback we found suggests that its gear is equal to, if not better than, other options on the market.
If you’re looking for quality outdoor apparel with features to make your journey more comfortable, then we’d definitely suggest giving Montbell a try.
Montbell Promotions & Discounts
While we made our way through the brand’s website for this Montbell review, we spotted a few different ways it helps customers save. Take a look at what we discovered:
- Seasonal Closeout Sale: 20-40% off select items
- Free US shipping for orders over $50
- Free International shipping for orders over $200
Where to Buy Montbell
Over the 40 years that this company has been in business, it’s made its way into outdoor gear stores like Trekkkinn.com, Outsiders Store, and Basecamp Shop. To access its entire collection, the best place to shop is right from Montbell.com.
FAQ
Who owns Montbell?
Isamu Tatsuno founded Montbell in 1975 and still serves as the company’s CEO. From the information available online, it appears he still owns the popular outdoor brand.
Does Montbell ship internationally?
Yes, Montbell ships to most countries around the world. For the select locations the brand doesn’t ship to from its website, you can find it at one of its partner retailers.
International shipping costs $20-$40 and is free for orders over $200.
What is Montbell’s Shipping Policy?
For US customers, shipping is free on orders over $50. Montbell processes orders within 1-2 days from the time you place yours online. When you make it to checkout and your order is under $50, you’ll have three options:
- Standard (UPS Ground): 3-6 business days $6
- Economy (UPS 2nd Day): 2-3 business days $15
- Express (UPS Next-Day): 1-2 business days $30
Once you place your order online, Montbell will send you a confirmation email with a tracking link. Use the link to keep an eye on where your package is on its way to you.
What is Montbell’s Return Policy?
Montbell offers returns for both domestic and international shoppers. See below for the requirements of each:
- US customers have 30 days to make a return
- International customers have 60 days to make a return
- All items you wish to return must be in new, unworn condition with all hang tags attached
- Customers are responsible for all return fees
To make a domestic (US) return, follow these steps:
- Locate your packing list from your original purchase
- Complete the return form
- Package your items securely and include the packing list & return form inside
- Drop off at your local post office and choose a traceable method of shipping
International returns follow the same process, but the return form will be slightly different. If you’ve lost your form, you can download it from the brand’s website and print it out.
How to Contact Montbell
If you need any other information not included in this Montbell review, you can get in touch with the brand via:
- Phone: 1-877-666-8235
- Website contact form
The company’s customer service team is available Monday through Friday, from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm MST.
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