By Michael Lanza
No matter you want an insulated jacket for, there’s a down or artificial puffy to your wants, inside your price range. And whether or not you desire a puffy jacket for out of doors actions like backpacking, tenting, snowboarding, climbing, and hut treks, or simply to maintain you heat round city or at out of doors sporting occasions, this assessment will assist you determine how to decide on the best jacket to your functions, and it spotlights the very best down and artificial insulated jackets obtainable at the moment.
I chosen the jackets coated on this assessment after in depth testing on backpacking, tenting, backcountry ski touring, climbing and different backcountry journeys. I’ve field-tested dozens of insulated jackets over almost three a long time of testing and reviewing gear, previously because the lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine for 10 years and even longer running this blog.
Expertise has blurred the normal traces between down and synthetics, with waterproof down that traps warmth even when moist—all however eliminating the weak point that had lengthy been the Achilles heel of down—and artificial insulation supplies that method the warmth-to-weight ratio and compressibility of down.
When you’d desire, scroll previous my shopping for tricks to dive instantly into the jacket evaluations.
You probably have a query for me or a touch upon this assessment, please go away it within the feedback part on the backside of this story. I attempt to answer all feedback.
Find out how to Select a Artificial or Down Jacket
Insulated jackets at the moment differ not solely in kind and quantity of insulation, but in addition in water resistance, breathability, and as all the time, design options just like the hood and pockets. When selecting between down and artificial fashions, think about the standard circumstances and temperatures by which you’ll use it—in different phrases, how moist and chilly you count on to get, and your physique kind (how simply you get chilly)—in addition to the seasonal and exercise versatility you require. Some questions to think about:
• Would you like one jacket for 4 seasons?
• Would you like it primarily for one or two actions like backpacking, tenting, climbing, or snowboarding?
• Does it must be breathable since you’ll put on it whereas on the transfer at instances, or will you solely put on it whereas comparatively inactive in camp, when breathability doesn’t actually matter?
And maybe the most-important query: How heat an insulated jacket do you want for the way, the place, and when you’ll use it?
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Some efficiency features of puffy jackets it’s best to perceive embody:
• Customary down feathers lose their capability to entice warmth as soon as moist, rendering down much less sensible in moist environments.
• The first benefit of synthetic-insulation jackets is the flexibility to nonetheless entice heat when moist—though the wetter the jacket, the chillier it is going to really feel, particularly as soon as that dampness reaches your pores and skin.
• Nonetheless, some jackets are actually made with waterproof, or hydrophobic down feathers that significantly enhance their capability to repel water, proceed to entice warmth when damp, and dry quicker. And even these jackets that comprise commonplace down typically have a waterproof shell cloth that repels mild precipitation however isn’t designed to face up to a gentle rain. (Learn extra on this under, below Which is Higher, Down or Artificial?)
• The down fill-power ranking is a measure of the amount, in cubic inches, that one ounce of that down fills; in different phrases, an oz. of 800-fill energy down will occupy 800 cubic inches of quantity. Down feathers are separated throughout processing in line with this measure.
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• Increased fill-power rankings translate to extra heat per ounce of down, so if two jackets comprise similar quantities of down by weight, the jacket with the upper fill-power ranking will most likely be hotter and extra compressible (and dearer). That stated, after all, an ultralight 800-fill energy jacket is probably not as heat as a 700-fill energy jacket that incorporates extra down. The worth of down jackets often correlates with the standard of the down.
• Equally, whereas artificial insulation historically was not as light-weight and compressible as down, the very best fashionable synthetics—together with these reviewed under—have a warmth-to-weight ratio and compressibility that compares with mid-grade (700-fill) or higher down.
• Some fashionable artificial insulations are additionally constructed in a means that makes them extra sturdy, though, for essentially the most half, down retains the sting there.
Insulated jackets are often sewn in considered one of two methods:
• So-called “sewn via” building stitches the outer, shell cloth to the internal, liner cloth, creating pockets of down, but in addition potential chilly spots at seams the place there’s successfully no insulation. This technique reduces a jacket’s weight and sometimes its price, and is sensible in ultralight jackets for average temperatures (suppose summer season within the mountains).
• The more-expensive technique of making so-called field baffles eliminates chilly spots and makes a jacket look puffier, however provides weight and often price.
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How Heat a Jacket Do You Want?
As I write in my weblog put up “How You Can Tell How Warm a Down Jacket Is,” an insulated jacket’s complete weight provides a tough thought of how heat it’s. However that’s definitely not exact. Heat (and weight) will differ with components like kind, high quality, and quantity of insulation, the jacket’s building, and whether or not it has a hood.
Nonetheless, with down and artificial jackets, I have a look at the garment’s complete weight as a basic guideline to its heat. Though I encounter exceptions to the next weight classes, they supply a place to begin. These tips and temperature ranges additionally apply to my physique’s metabolism (my tolerance for chilly might be slightly larger than common), they usually presume I’m carrying one or two base layers beneath the puffy which might be acceptable to the season and temperatures.
• Once I’m going ultralight on summer season backcountry journeys, and I count on temps no decrease than round 40° F, I deliver a down or puffy jacket weighing seven to 11 ounces. If the temp drops decrease, I complement with my different layers or get in my sleeping bag when mandatory.
• For journeys when the temp may dip under freezing, I desire a jacket that’s 12 to 16 ounces.
• For colder journeys and in winter within the backcountry, my insulated jacket weighs roughly 16 to 22 ounces.
Having a hood definitely retains you hotter and is well worth the further weight and price. You must think about whether or not different layers in your clothes system have already got a hood, and be sure that any two hoods you’re carrying collectively pair up nicely.
I often think about a hood obligatory in temperatures close to and under freezing, however much less vital on milder journeys, once I’ll pack a hoodless, ultralight puffy jacket to scale back pack weight and since I’m bringing a hat, anyway. Nonetheless, I additionally think about the actions for which I’ll use the jacket; for high-speed actions in chilly temps, I often put on a lighter, hoodless insulated jacket.
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Which is Higher, Down or Artificial?
In my expertise, should you examine a down and artificial insulated jacket of the identical weight and primary design—for instance, assuming each have a hood—I nonetheless discover that down feathers have the sting in pure heat. I believe that evaluation bears out within the merchandise listed under.
To simplify your selection between down and artificial insulation, consider it this manner:
• If you’d like a puffy jacket primarily for heat while you’re inactive (say, in camp), and count on principally dry circumstances or to put on a rain shell over the puffy when wanted, get a down jacket.
• Get waterproof or hydrophobic down if it might often need to endure a lightweight bathe. However many accounts and lab testing, hydrophobic down supplies some water repellency and safety till it will get soaked—and most customers is not going to encounter circumstances the place they might discover any distinction in efficiency between hydrophobic down (whether or not in a jacket or a sleeping bag) and commonplace down. (See way more element on this subject in a remark I posted on the backside of this story, dated Sept. 13, 2022, responding to a reader’s query about hydrophobic down.)
• When you count on to typically put on it in moist circumstances, get an artificial puffy.
• If you’ll put on it whereas energetic in moist circumstances, get an artificial puffy with breathable insulation.
I’ve ranked the next down and artificial puffy jackets roughly so as from lightest to warmest in every of those two classes. Please share what you consider my assessment or any of the jackets coated right here within the feedback part on the backside of this story. I attempt to answer all feedback.
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The Finest Down Jackets
Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer/2 Down Hoody
$360, 8.8 oz./250g (males’s medium)
Sizes: males’s S-XXL, ladies’s XS-XL
moosejaw.com
When my aim is minimizing pack weight on summer season journeys with cool however not freezing nights, I deliver this wispy jacket. The 800-fill goose down delivers beaucoup heat for a puffy jacket that’s barely over a half-pound, and the hood boosts its versatility for nights dipping into the 30s Fahrenheit (for some individuals). It has been my go-to insulation for summer season backpacking in Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness, Nevada’s Ruby Crest Trail, the 96-mile Wind River High Route, and different journeys.
When stuffed into one of many two roomy, zippered hand pockets, the jacket packs all the way down to barely bigger than a liter bottle—and lofts up virtually immediately. Even higher, the 10-denier shell cloth consists of one hundred pc recycled nylon ripstop, and the feathers are RDS-certified down—so this latest iteration of the Ghost Whisperer sequence is as mild on the Earth as it’s in your pack.
Learn my full review of the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer/2 Down Hoody.
Mountain Hardwear’s Ghost Whisperer UL Hoody ($400, 6.7 oz./190g), whacks about two ounces/57 grams off its older sibling’s weight whereas excelling for lots of the similar causes—and nonetheless has the hood and two zippered hand pockets. Learn my review.
BUY IT NOW You may assist my work on this weblog, for free of charge to you, by clicking any of those affiliate hyperlinks to buy a males’s or ladies’s Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer/2 Down Hoody at backcountry.com or moosejaw.com; a males’s Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer UL Hoody at backcountry.com or moosejaw.com; a ladies’s Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer UL Hoody at backcountry.com or moosejaw.com; or different variations of the Ghost Whisperer down jackets at backcountry.com or moosejaw.com.
Get heat that stands as much as winter temps, waterproof insulation, and a match aided by stretch supplies within the Mountain Hardwear StretchDown Jacket ($260, 1 lb. 2 oz.). Hardwear’s 750-fill Q.Protect down repels moisture and retains loft when moist, and the distinctive, stretch-welded channel building strikes with you and traps warmth extra effectively than jackets with commonplace stitching. You may assist my weblog, for free of charge to you, however clicking both of those affiliate hyperlinks to buy a males’s or ladies’s Mountain Hardwear StretchDown Jacket at backcountry.com or moosejaw.com.
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Black Diamond Approach Down Hoody
$380, 10 oz./284g (males’s medium)
Sizes: males’s S-XL, ladies’s XS-XL
moosejaw.com
Carrying BD’s Strategy Down Hoody on cool, very windy evenings and mornings all the way down to the 40s Fahrenheit backpacking in the Grand Canyon and related temps backpacking within the Wind River Range, I stayed each completely heat and completely satisfied that I’d packed a really mild puffy that didn’t compromise on heat or options.
Barely greater than an oz. heavier than Hardwear’s Ghost Whisperer/2, the Strategy bests it with options present in heavier down jackets, like a chest pocket and a hood that adjusts with a one-hand drawcord and stays in place when turning your head facet to facet. Full of 800-fill energy, waterproof goose down, it has excessive heat for its weight and gained’t lose loft when damp—increasing its usefulness from three-season backpacking to energetic insulation in chilly temps. Plus, it boasts inexperienced cred with fluorocarbon-free, RDS-certified down and a PFC-free and water-free DWR that’s extra sturdy than conventional DWRs.
Learn my full review of the Black Diamond Strategy Down Hoody.
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Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket
$409, 11 oz./312g (males’s medium)
Sizes: males’s XS-XXL, ladies’s XS-XL
featheredfriends.com
If it ain’t damaged, don’t repair it. In updating its Eos Down Jacket, Feathered Mates made simply two minor enhancements. Testing the Eos on a windy and chilly June journey in Idaho’s Metropolis of Rocks and on cool, windy evenings and mornings in August on the John Muir Trail, I discovered it simply as heat and comfy as I discovered the earlier model in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, Glacier National Park, and numerous different wild locations.
Full of 900+-fill goose down and weighing simply 11 ounces, the Eos has a warmth-to-weight ratio matched by few opponents. The Pertex Quantum shell sheds mild precipitation. The up to date Eos positioned the zippered chest pocket behind a flap and made the nice and cozy hood adjustable utilizing drawstrings; it nonetheless options two zippered hand pockets, elasticized cuffs, and a drawcord hem. A fantastic match, superior heat and packability make it a wonderful selection for three-season journeys.
Learn my full review of the 2022 Feathered Mates Eos Down Jacket.
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On the lookout for a extra inexpensive down jacket?
Take a look at the REI 650 Down Jacket. Learn my review.
Arc’teryx Cerium Hoody
$400, 12 oz./340g (males’s medium)
Sizes: males’s XS-XXXL, ladies’s XXS-XXL
arcteryx.com
From unseasonably chilly and windy mornings close to freezing in southern Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon in mid-April to September campsites in Wyoming’s Wind River Vary and mornings within the mid-20s within the first week of March in The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, the Cerium Hoody has instantly warmed me in circumstances that push three-season circumstances. Whereas barely edged out solely by the Feathered Mates Eos and Helios and Mammut Meron in warmth-to-weight ratio, the Cerium provides one other dimension of efficiency: It marries the excessive warmth-per-ounce and packability of 850-fill energy down within the hood, sleeves, and torso, with light-weight, breathable, and compressible Coreloft artificial insulation in areas just like the shoulders and armpits, to maintain it trapping warmth even when moist.
A detailed-fitting, under-the-helmet, adjustable hood amps up the heat. It has two zippered hand pockets, stuffs right into a zippered inside pocket, and the shell cloth fends off mild precipitation. With a cushty, athletic match that enables layering a few heat base layers beneath, the Cerium Hoody is an efficient selection for any three-season adventures or as a center layer on winter adventures.
Learn my full review of the Arc’teryx Cerium Hoody.
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Mammut Meron IN Hooded Down Jacket
$479, 14 oz./397g (males’s medium)
Sizes: males’s S-XXL, ladies’s XS-XL
backcountry.com
In chilling wind on damp, August and September evenings and mornings backpacking in Wyoming’s Wind River Range and Washington’s Pasayten Wilderness, the Meron IN Hooded Down Jacket instantly surrounded me with heat as quickly as I pulled it on. Fats however nonetheless moderately mild and packable, this puffy vaulted to the highest of my record of insulated jackets for pushing the sting of three-season adventures.
Full of 900-fill-power goose down, the Meron’s warmth-to-weight ratio is matched by only a few down jackets. The adjustable, helmet-compatible hood shields your face from wind. The fitleaves room for a few base layers and/or a lightweight insulation piece and the size exceeds most sub-one-pound puffy jackets. Two spacious, heat, zippered hand pockets sit larger than a backpack or climbing harness belt. The jacket stuffs right into a zippered inside pocket, packing all the way down to the dimensions of a small bread loaf.
Learn my full review of the Mammut Meron IN Hooded Down Jacket.
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Keep dry, completely satisfied, and protected.
See my assessment of “The Best Rain Jackets for Hiking and Backpacking.”
Rab Microlight Alpine Down Jacket
$295, 15 oz./425g (males’s medium)
Sizes: males’s XXS-XXL, ladies’s XS-XXL
backcountry.com
When rain and chilly wind whipped via our campsites on evenings and mornings round 40° F in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, in addition to on a late-September backpacking trip in Yosemite, the Microlight Alpine Down Jacket handed the take a look at, due to options designed to fend off moist and uncooked circumstances.
The hydrophobic, 700-fill goose down traps warmth even when damp and dries quicker than commonplace down, whereas the micro and nano stitch-through baffle building helps scale back the jacket’s weight and price. With a stiffened brim and shut match round your head, the adjustable hood boosts heat considerably. The 30-denier Pertex Quantum ripstop nylon shell sheds mild precipitation; paired with the hydrophobic down, it makes this a greater (learn: hotter) selection for moist climate than many down jackets. Inexperienced creds: The Microlight Alpine Jacket has a completely recycled shell, insulation, and lining. At this value, it’s an incredible worth.
Learn my full review of the Rab Microlight Alpine Down Jacket.
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Feathered Friends Helios Hooded Jacket
$469, 1 lb. 1 oz./482g (males’s medium)
Sizes: males’s XS-XXL
featheredfriends.com
On winter nights within the single digits exterior a yurt in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, and uncooked, moist spring mornings camped in Idaho’s Metropolis of Rocks, this fats down jacket felt loopy heat—particularly for its weight and stunning packability, spotlighting its versatility as an impressive down jacket that’s mild and packable sufficient for sub-freezing temps or individuals who simply get chilly extra simply on three-season journeys.
The Helios is stuffed generously with almost eight ounces (males’s medium) of 900+-fill down, the highest-quality down you will discover, which explains its stratospheric warmth-to-weight ratio. The comfy, adjustable hood seals properly across the face to entice warmth and matches over a climbing helmet. The water resistant, 20-denier Pertex Endurance LT shell cloth repels mild rain, and the jacket has two hand pockets with overlapping stretch flaps in lieu of a zipper, plus one small, zippered inside pocket.
Learn my full review of the Feathered Mates Helios Hooded Down Jacket.
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Want final heat? If this record was expanded to incorporate the warmest down jacket reviewed at this weblog, the Black Diamond Vision Down Parka ($465, 1 lb. 4.5 oz.) could be on it. This poofy puffy jacket felt blessedly toasty on an early-March morning with the temperature at 17° F at a campsite on the sting of The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park. Read my review.
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See a menu of all my evaluations and professional shopping for ideas at my Gear Reviews page.
The Finest Artificial Jackets
Patagonia Micro Puff Hoody
$329, 9 oz./255g
Sizes: males’s XS-XXL, ladies’s XXS-XL
backcountry.com
In cool, sturdy wind from Idaho’s Metropolis of Rocks to the Thunder River-Deer Creek Loop off the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, the Micro Puff Hoody delivered extra heat than anticipated, provided that it weighs barely greater than a half-pound. Patagonia’s waterproof PlumaFill insulation matches the warmth-to-weight ratio of high-quality (800-fill energy) down, whereas trapping warmth when moist. That’s as a result of it’s constructed as a steady strand, which, mixed with the jacket’s discontinuous quilting design, creates inside areas that entice warmth—imitating how down delivers a lot heat.
The water resistant, windproof, 10-denier Pertex Quantum shell with a DWR shrugged off a few hours of very mild rain in a single camp. The non-adjustable, elasticized hood clings snugly round your face and matches below a helmet. Interesting to ultralighters and anybody searching for one of many lightest, most packable puffy jackets, the Micro Puff excels for three-season backpacking and tenting in average temps.
Learn my full review of the Patagonia Micro Puff Hoody and Micro Puff Jacket.
BUY IT NOW You may assist my work on this weblog, for free of charge to you, by clicking both of those affiliate hyperlinks to buy a males’s or ladies’s Patagonia Micro Puff Hoody at backcountry.com, patagonia.com, or patagonia.ca in Canada.
Need a artificial puffy that’s hotter than the Micro Puff Hoody? Made with 55 p.c recycled polyester, the Patagonia Nano Puff Hoody ($279, 13 oz.) options waterproof PrimaLoft Gold Insulation Eco, which has a warmth-per-ounce ratio much like mid-grade down, and the jacket zips into its inside chest pocket.
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Outdoor Research Helium Insulated Hoodie
$199, 11 oz./312g
Sizes: males’s S-XXL, ladies’s XS-XL
moosejaw.com
On a late-September backpacking trip in Yosemite, this light-weight and packable puffy jacket stored me heat on evenings and mornings within the 40s Fahrenheit—together with one morning when a gentle, chilly breeze blew via our camp. Whereas backcountry snowboarding in low 20s temps in December, it offered an ideal quantity of insulation for snowboarding downhill and equally for a chilly pores and skin observe on the climb up—and the artificial insulation gained’t lose its heat when damp. The breathable and stretchy VerticalX ECO SR insulation packs a great warmth-to-weight ratio, traps warmth when moist, and derives from Repreve recycled polyester and 37 p.c plant-based Sorona textile. Past inexperienced creds, that mixture of supplies produces an insulation that lofts greater than some synthetics.
The wind- and waterproof, 15- by 30-denier Pertex Quantum shell cloth is made out of 41 p.c recycled supplies and has Diamond Fuse know-how, consisting of yarns with interlocking, diamond-shaped filaments that OR says makes the shell twice as sturdy as materials generally utilized in light-weight insulated jackets. The adjustable hood is helmet-compatible and the jacket stuffs into one of many two spacious zippered pockets. And did you see that value?
Learn my full review of the Out of doors Analysis Helium Insulated Hoodie.
BUY IT NOW You may assist my work on this weblog, for free of charge to you, by clicking any of those affiliate hyperlinks to buy a males’s or a ladies’s Out of doors Analysis Helium Insulated Hoodie at backcountry.com, moosejaw.com, or outdoorresearch.com.
What touches your pores and skin issues, too. See my picks for the best base layers for any season.
The North Face Summit L3 Ventrix Hoodie
$300, 15 oz./425g
Sizes: males’s and girls’s XS-XL
moosejaw.com
From cool summer season evenings and mornings in camp on a six-day backpacking journey in Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness to days of backcountry snowboarding in a full vary of winter climate, The North Face Summit L3 Ventrix Hoodie demonstrated a versatility seen in solely the very best artificial insulated jackets—mild, heat, and breathable sufficient to perform as the one puffy jacket you want year-round.
TNF’s “dynamic” 60g Ventrix polyester stretch insulation breathes nicely sufficient to permit damp base layers to dry out, due to perforated micro vents that open to launch physique warmth with a wearer’s motion and shut with decreased exercise. The stretchy, adjustable hood matches below a helmet, the material simply shed frivolously falling snow, and the jacket has 4 zippered pockets—a rarity. Think about this a quiver-of-one puffy jacket for bridging three-season backpacking and winter days within the mountains.
Learn my full review of The North Face Summit L3 Ventrix Hoodie.
BUY IT NOW You may assist my work on this weblog, for free of charge to you, by clicking this affiliate hyperlink to buy a males’s or ladies’s The North Face Summit L3 Ventrix Hoodie at moosejaw.com.
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Whether or not you’re a newbie or seasoned backpacker, you’ll study new methods for making your whole journeys go higher in my “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you may learn all of these three tales totally free; should you don’t have a subscription, you may obtain the e-guide variations of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”