UKH

Have been a Black Diamond fan for as long as I can remember, their stuff has always been a good benchmark. Often recommended their Stance Belay Parka - I bought the first gen one, it was the perfect balance of quality and reasonable price (I paid £180 for mine), soft feel, super puffy and warm. With that in mind I ordered my girlfriend one. I had seen they had changed from Primaloft Silver to 'Thermolite' but I figured it was still 180g/sqm and couldn't be so bad.

Just received the new version and the thing is garbage. Cheaply made, about half the loft of the original, badly stitched together, cheap zippers, the insulation feels like that cheap wadding they put in £20 sleeping bags... So disappointed, I love my version but Black Diamond clearly sold out their standards.

See some loft comparisons here:
https://ibb.co/gXMTxG
https://ibb.co/nmP3Wb

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Where did you buy the newest one from? Any chance at all that it might be a fake?

In reply to Sean_J:

https://www.trekkinn.com/

The thought crossed my mind but from what I know they are an established retailer and with BD changing the factory/insulation on their website I think it's pretty unlikely.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Cut and paste your first post and mail it to BAD - if they get enough they might decide to turn their focus a bit. I've stopped buying their kit, quality being one reason

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

BD response:

"Thank you for your review. Sorry to hear you're not satisfied with the updates to the Parka. I'll be sure to pass your feedback along in any case. Worth noting that the changes we made to the piece brought the cost to the consumer down considerably while retaining a similar level of performance. In addition, the Parka still comes with our 100% satisfaction guarantee on apparel, should you run into any problems with the general construction or are just not satisfied with the piece. You can find our warranty portal here: https://warranty.bdel.com/CreateCase/StepOne/ if you'd like to look into this"

Out of all the things to cost cut I'd say a belay parka is the last place I'd start. "At least I saved £30" is what you won't be saying when the zip jams and the deep cold creeps in..."

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

That's quite a difference!

Send it back

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Just spoke to a BD rep on the phone as I was hoping perhaps I could get hold of an old version of their parka (vague hope with time running out for my trip), he explained that for expedition use Black Diamond stuff is not really what I'm after as it's more for skiiers and hikers and I should probably look to other companies.

Absolutely stunned!

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:



Blimey! Suspect BD may be a little surprised themselves. From their website "We spend our workdays designing and building the world’s best climbing, skiing and mountain gear."

The rep is just fobbing you off to try and get an easy life. Not in the least bit acceptable as a customer, and doubt it would be as a BD manager!

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant: Well I would say that was a friendly steer from a rep who knows his latest batch of gear isn't up to the mark for anything outside the resort. Bit like taking a Oxbow/Fat Face jacket up a mountain.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant: btw it's quite sickening how you and your missus have his&her matching jackets.

In reply to ColdWill:

Haha, well she hates shopping and knows I put a lot of research into what I get so often she just buys what I buy. It's not like we're buying 'couple on tour' shirts or anything! Though now you mention it...