Over three days in the desert around Moab, ACG took us out to put the Lava Flow UL to the test. We were shuttled from the hotel to Moab and then taken off-road by truck to a remote camp above the cliffs. After a quick round of introductions and a short briefing on the jacket from Margaret, we pitched our own tents, and each of us got a heat gun and a logbook to track the warmest and coldest temperatures in the desert. The first day brought an exploratory hike with our first temperature readings and a sunset over the canyon. Dinner followed by the fire in the big group tent, with a local telling us the story of Moab, and a night hike after dark to catch the coldest readings.
Day two started at 5:30 a.m. with a hike toward one of the famous arches, followed by a slower afternoon in camp and an interview with Margaret Mossmann (Apparel Design ACG). That evening we moved to a second spot deep in a canyon, where an astronomer had set up telescopes for us. Saturn at its brightest of the year and the Eagle Nebula were easily the highlight, before we slept under the open sky. The trip wrapped up with a jacket customisation session at breakfast and a sunrise drive back to Grand Junction.
The hard facts: ACG Lava Flow Ultralight Jacket
ACG’s new Lava Flow Ultralight is a puffer built for hiking, and it weighs less than 10 ounces. It’s filled with 1000 fill power ExpeDRY™ Gold down, giving it the best warmth-to-weight ratio ACG has ever made. The down is bonded with recycled gold from e-waste, which keeps it from clumping in wet or sweaty conditions, even after 100 washes. The wavy, lava-inspired quilting keeps the down in place, and the colourways draw on the mountains of Yunnan, China. Once the summit gets windy, the whole jacket packs into its own pocket and ends up smaller than a 32 oz water bottle.
If you're into ACG, you might wanna check out our interview with ACG creative director Aaron Belchere or the Footwear line-line up for 2026.
