down jacket reviews

Featured Friends Eos Down Jacket.

Review: Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket

by

Down Jacket
Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket
$409, 11 oz./312g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XXL, women’s XS-XL
featheredfriends.com

When you have something that works, the worst thing you can do is change it much. Feathered Friends stuck with a winning formula when updating its popular Eos Down Jacket, making just two minor improvements. Testing the updated Eos on adventures ranging from a windy and chilly June camping and climbing trip in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve to nine days backpacking through the High Sierra in August, I found it just as warm and comfortable as I have found the previous iteration of this poofy puffy in the backcountry of Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, Glacier National Park, and countless other wild places.

Read on

The Black Diamond Approach Down Hoody.

Review: Black Diamond Approach Down Hoody

by

Water-Resistant Down Jacket
Black Diamond Approach Down Hoody
$380, 10 oz./284g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XL, women’s XS-XL
blackdiamondequipment.com

Sometimes it’s hard to anticipate how much warmth you’ll need from your insulation, especially on a multi-day backcountry trip—and you may be tempted to go with an ultralight puffy jacket and hope for the best. If your choice is BD’s Approach Down Hoody, you’ll achieve the ultralight objective with little risk of feeling under-dressed. Wearing it on cool, very windy evenings and mornings down to the 40s Fahrenheit on a six-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon in early April and in similar temps on a five-day, late-summer hike in the Wind River Range, I stayed both perfectly warm and happy that I’d avoided adding more ballast to a pack already encumbered with substantial food and water weight.

Read on

The Black Diamond Vision Down Parka.

Review: Black Diamond Vision Down Parka

by

Down Jacket
Black Diamond Vision Down Parka
$465, 1 lb. 4.5 oz./581g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XL, women’s XS-XL
blackdiamondequipment.com

On a morning in the first week of March, with the temperature a blood-thickening 17° F at a campsite on the edge of The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, this fat down parka felt like my best friend. That followed a night in the teens spent inside a sleeping bag not rated for temps that low, when I spread the parka over my torso and hips inside my bag and felt an immediate infusion of warmth that enabled me to enjoy a comfortable night of sleep.

Read on

Rab Microlight Alpine Down Jacket.

Review: Rab Microlight Alpine Down Jacket

by

Water-Resistant Down Jacket
Rab Microlight Alpine Down Jacket
$295, 15 oz./425g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XXS-XXL, women’s XS-XXL
backcountry.com

Although it wasn’t the weather we’d hoped for in the Wind River Range, the rain and chilly wind whipping through our campsites seemed like the perfect testing conditions for Rab’s Microlight Alpine Down Jacket. And it passed the test, thanks to features designed to fend off wet and raw conditions—giving this puffy jacket strong appeal to backpackers, climbers, and others with a knack for getting themselves into that kind of weather in any season.

Read on

Outdoor Research Helium Insulated Hoodie.

Review: Outdoor Research Helium Insulated Hoodie

by

Breathable Insulated Jacket
Outdoor Research Helium Insulated Hoodie
$199, 11 oz./312g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
backcountry.com

On a late-September backpacking trip in Yosemite, this lightweight and packable puffy jacket kept me warm on evenings and mornings in the 40s Fahrenheit—including one morning when a steady, chilly breeze blew through our camp beside Yosemite Creek, even though I wore it over just one midweight, long-sleeve base layer. But the story only begins there. The Helium’s breathable synthetic insulation greatly expands its versatility to four seasons, wet weather, and wearing it while hiking, climbing, or pursuing backcountry snow sports in cool to cold temps. And it’s made from partly recycled materials.

Read on