Need probably the most heat for the least weight? Judy Armstrong and Alex Roddie take a look at the most recent down jackets, and offer you some basic shopping for recommendation.
Most important picture: Hannah Roddie
Testing down jackets is an actual perk of the job: there may be nothing so luxurious as feeling that puffy heat encompass your physique. And it will get higher each time: whereas innovation in lots of product areas can really feel stagnant, down clothes stay on the leading edge, primarily in development methods and fibre administration.
The proscribing consider using down jackets, in Britain not less than, is the local weather. Damp days, with temperatures above freezing, are why artificial insulation was invented. However enhancements in DWR (sturdy water repellent) coatings for the outer shells, and hydrophobic (water-repelling) remedies for the down itself have made these beautiful clothes simpler to put on. After all, when situations are dry and chilly, reminiscent of within the traditional alpine environments, down is the apparent selection.
In its pure state on a goose or duck, down is already hydrophobic; these feathers bead brilliantly. Nevertheless it additionally smells, so the oils are cleaned off and changed by chemical compounds to realize the identical outcome. Generally, the extra environmentally-friendly the coating expertise, the much less time it lasts; conversely, the extra environmentally-harmful remedies last more. It’s a bit just like the light-weight precept: you commerce longevity and sturdiness for decrease weight, to satisfy particular targets or finish objectives.
The choice, which is extra widespread, is to deal with the shell cloth, so the down stays drier for longer. A totally waterproof coating inhibits breathability, so once more you need to compromise: this time between your garment permitting air move and moisture administration. Therefore DWR for repellency, fairly than waterproofing, as a result of sweat from the within could make as a lot of a multitude of these delicate down plumes as rain can.
The opposite factor to contemplate is the place these feathers are sourced from. Again in 2012, animal welfare charities challenged out of doors firms to show their down’s provenance, together with how and the place the geese and geese have been raised and whether or not they have been plucked alive. As we speak, most manufacturers make it attainable to hint your jacket’s down, both by means of the Accountable Down Normal (RDS, responsibledown.org) and Allied Feather + Down’s Observe My Down (trackmydown.com) or own-brand initiatives like Patagonia’s World Traceable Down Normal (patagonia.com) and Mountain Gear’s Down Codex (thedowncodex.co.uk).
Options
Match
You’ll often need a unfastened match in order that it might probably go over a number of layers. If it’s marketed as an ‘athletic’ match then you definately’ll have to dimension up. Typically, nonetheless, down jackets are sized accurately to suit over layers. It’s at all times finest to strive before you purchase.
Fill
Down’s insulating means is measured in fill energy, describing how a lot the down will loft when uncompressed; the upper the fill energy, the hotter it’ll be for the burden. Hydrophobic down makes your jacket way more proof against moisture, though it nonetheless gained’t be waterproof! Historically, down is held in place by baffles, however some newer applied sciences mix artificial fibres in high-wear areas (such because the shoulders) or can maintain the down in place with out the necessity for baffles.
Shell cloth
The aim of a down jacket’s outer shell is to maintain the down in, the chilly wind out, and to let your physique’s moisture escape. A DWR remedy will assist moisture to bead on the floor when new, serving to to maintain the down dry in damp situations, however gained’t hold out regular rain. Shell materials are sometimes ultralight however might have a micro-ripstop sample for sturdiness. Pertex is the main model. The inside shell cloth is often even lighter and needs to be very breathable.
Hood
Though ultralight down jackets usually include minimalist hoods, these are much less helpful in poor climate whenever you simply wish to chuck a down jacket on high of all of your layers at a relaxation cease. A great hood can have a very good degree of adjustment and a broad peak that may protect your face from snow. For winter use, search for a hood large enough to go over your waterproof’s hood plus a woolly hat or balaclava.
Pockets
Pockets are much less important than on a water-resistant jacket, however handwarmer pockets are at all times welcome – ideally large enough for shoving hats and gloves in. Inside pockets are helpful electronics, whose battery life tends to undergo within the chilly, in addition to for drying gloves and socks!
Weight
Light-weight down jackets are perfect for chilly nights in summer time or long-distance strolling in huge European mountain ranges, whereas heavier fashions (with extra down) are higher suited to the British mountains in winter or colder situations elsewhere.
5 girls’s down jackets for 2021 reviewed
Judy’s testing notes: Judy packed her down jackets off to the French Alps. Early snowfall, excessive altitude hikes and a chilly camp on the foot of a (quickly receding) glacier helped put the ladies’s gear by means of its paces. All weights are from her digital scales.
BEST BUY: Mountain Gear Baltoro Girls’s Jacket (RRP: £230)
Ranking: 5/5
Likes: development, traceability, heat, reduce, options
Dislikes: nothing
Weight: 448g (UK 12) | Shell: Drilite Loft 20D nylon, PFC free DWR. Lining: recycled downproof nylon | Insulation: duck, 90/10, 700 fill, 148g. Down Codex | Sizes: 8-16 (males S-XXL)
Mountain Gear are kings of down, by means of their pioneering Down Codex programme and ongoing innovation in product design. The massive shout right here, with the fresh-to-the-range Baltoro, is a brand new (and distinctive to ME) development approach developed particularly for down clothes. It’s a double layer, offset baffle development with reflective inside scrim, and is extra wind resistant and hotter than stitch-through development however much less cumbersome than field wall, thereby providing an excellent compromise between the 2. The scrim has a coating which displays physique warmth and varieties a part of the baffle construction.
Learn extra: Mountain Gear Baltoro Girls’s Jacket assessment
RECOMMENDED: Salewa Ortles Gentle 2 Down Girls’s Hooded Jacket (RRP: £225)
Ranking: 5/5
Likes: size, reduce, underarm panel, stuff sack
Dislikes: nothing
Weight: 370g (46/40 = UK 12) | Shell: Nylon ripstop 15D, DWR | Lining: Nylon 20D downproof | Insulation: white duck, 90/10, 750 fill, 100g. Underarm panels: Polartec Alpha (recycled polyester). RDS | Sizes: 6-14 (males XS-XXL)
Over the past couple of years, I’ve turn out to be a agency fan of mountaineering model Salewa. Based mostly within the Italian Dolomites, it has a low key however inspiring environmental and social conscience (try ‘Our Headquarters’ on salewa.com). The clothes ranges are intensive and technical, and now embrace this, the lightest of the Ortles down household.
Learn extra: Salewa Ortles Gentle 2 Down Girls’s Hooded Jacket assessment
RECOMMENDED: Patagonia Girls’s Down Sweater Hoody (RRP: £230)
Ranking: 5/5
Likes: down high quality / fill energy, beneficiant reduce, hood
Dislikes: nothing
Weight: 383g (UK 12) | Shell: 100% recycled polyester ripstop, DWR | Lining: recycled polyester | Insulation: goose, 800 fill, down/feather ratio + down weight not specified. World Traceable Down Normal | Sizes: XS-XL (males XS-XXL)
Patagonia have constructed a robust status for recycling and environmental consciousness. This hoody is a continuation of that: completely recycled polyester outer, with 800-fill-power World Traceable Down (goose down licensed by NSF Worldwide to assist make sure the birds that offer it usually are not force-fed or live-plucked). The down is spectacular – 800 fill is very fascinating, goose trumps duck, and the certification is stable.
Learn extra: Patagonia Girls’s Down Sweater Hoody assessment
RECOMMENDED: Montane Girls’s Featherlite Down Jacket (RRP: £190)
Ranking: 5/5
Likes: heat to weight ratio, hood, reduce, chin and cheekguards, value
Dislikes: nothing
Weight: 377g (UK 12) | Shell: Pertex Quantum Eco 100% recycled nylon, DWR | Lining: PEAQ nylon | Insulation: HyperDRY duck (water-resistant), 90/10, 750+ fill, 120g. RDS + Observe My Down | Sizes: 8-16 (males S-XXL)
This can be a traditional down jacket with the up to date twist of recycled cloth, and water resistance on each down fill and outer shell. The burden for heat ratio is superb: 120g of 750+ down fill offers beneficiant insulation for a pack weight of simply 377g. Micro baffle development retains down in the best locations, with sufficient fill to stop warmth loss by means of seams. Size is cosy, simply protecting my bottom and with area for base plus mid layer.
Learn extra: Montane Girls’s Featherlite Down Jacket assessment
RECOMMENDED: SALOMON OUTLine Down (RRP: £250)
Ranking: 5/5
Likes: weight, heat, artificial panels, reduce
Dislikes: nothing
Weight: 280g (girls’s S) | Shell: Pertex Quantum Eco (100% recycled nylon) outer, DWR | Lining: Nylon | Insulation: gray goose, 90/10, 700 fill, 59g / 100g/m3 polyester panels / stretch hem 73% nylon + 27% elastane. Observe my Down | Sizes: XS-XL (males S-XXL)
Wow. I adore it when a model surprises me. OUTLine Down combines the most effective of down and artificial to make a sensible, luxurious winter jacket. It’s deliciously light-weight courtesy of the Pertex Quantum Eco outer shell, and the strategic use of goose down. It additionally manages energetic use; the areas the place you get sweaty, or the place the down can be compressed by a rucksack are product of light-weight panels of artificial insulation which runs down the perimeters and from armpit to cuff, plus throughout the shoulders, and hood. At a tough guess I’d say 40% of the jacket is artificial, therefore the 59g complete down weight.
Learn extra: SALOMON OUTLine Down assessment
5 males’s down jackets for 2021 reviewed
Alex’s testing notes: Alex has been testing these down jackets all through the autumn and early winter. Regardless of delicate situations, he’s made quite a lot of journeys north to the Scottish Highlands and has been glad of down insulation throughout colder spells – together with an early-winter blast within the Cairngorms. Measurements are for males’s dimension medium. Weights are as measured on Alex’s digital scale.
BEST BUY: Rab Infinity Microlight Down Jacket (RRP: £240)
Ranking: 4.5/5
Likes: very good hood, recycled down, hydrophobic, good pockets
Dislikes: stitched-through development
Weight: 425g | Shell: 13D Gore-Tex Infinium Windstopper | Insulation: 146g of 700fp recycled down with Nikwax hydrophobic end | Sizes: males S–XXL, girls 8–16
Rab’s Microlight sequence has been a mainstay of our down jacket evaluations for years now. This iteration is described because the ‘most protecting model’ of the Microlight vary due to using a Gore-Tex Infinium Windstopper outer shell. This can be a extremely windproof and breathable soft-touch cloth, though it didn’t appear way more windproof than different jackets examined. It repels mild rain for some time however will finally moist out.
Learn extra: Rab Infinity Microlight Down Jacket assessment
RECOMMENDED: Berghaus Finnan 2.0 Mirror Down Jacket (RRP: £190)
Ranking: 4.5/5
Likes: very heat, hydrophobic, good worth, vast dimension vary, size, pocket placement
Dislikes: hood, no girls’s model
Weight: 492g | Shell: bluesign-approved 50% recycled polyamide | Insulation: RDS-certified 700fp Hydrodown hydrophobic down | Sizes: males XS–3XL
That is the heaviest males’s jacket examined, but additionally the warmest. The down is 700fp and hydrophobic, and the jacket makes use of a expertise known as Mirror – an ‘ultra-light inside mesh’ designed to mirror physique warmth again to you and claimed to spice up heat by as much as 20%. I’ve seen comparable applied sciences on different jackets, and it may be exhausting to inform if the impact is something greater than placebo, however on this case it’s definitive: this can be a very heat jacket. It’s a lot hotter than the Rab, regardless of solely weighing slightly extra.
Learn extra: Berghaus Finnan 2.0 Mirror Down Jacket assessment
RECOMMENDED: Fjällräven Expedition Pack Down Jacket M (RRP: £255)
Ranking: 4/5
Likes: ethically sourced down, recycled shell cloth, pockets, sturdiness
Dislikes: fairly costly, not hydrophobic
Weight: 418g | Shell: 100% recycled polyamide, fluorocarbon-free | Insulation: 100g of 700fp traceable goose down, artificial insulation over shoulders | Sizes: males XS–XXL, girls XXS–XL
This down jacket has a traditional, minimalist design with old style attractiveness. Like many Fjällräven merchandise, it will get the fundamentals proper and focuses extra on sturdiness and moral manufacturing than being the very lightest possibility. Fjällräven is among the many absolute best manufacturers for moral down due to their Down Promise, guaranteeing that their merchandise comprise solely ethically sourced down of the best high quality. With 100g of 700fp down, on the hill it’s hotter than the Rab however not as heat because the Berghaus. There’s no hood, although.
Learn extra: Fjällräven Expedition Pack Down Jacket M assessment
Arc’teryx Agrium Hoody (RRP: £360)
Ranking: 4/5
Likes: very heat, top-quality down, light-weight, environmental credentials
Dislikes: costly, not hydrophobic
Weight: 360g | Shell: Arato shell colored with dope-dyed course of utilizing minimal assets | Insulation: 116g of RDS-certified 850fp European goose down, bluesign-approved 45% recycled polyester insulation | Sizes: males XS–XXL, girls XS–XL
As light-weight down jackets go, this one is extraordinarily heat. Partly that’s because of the prime quality of the down, but additionally as a result of the match is superb, and the hood is severely snuggly – though it isn’t a hood large enough to go over a number of hats and balaclavas. Recycled polyester insulation is utilized in areas liable to moisture. This course of known as Down Composite Mapping. I haven’t seen this making any distinction, however provided that the down used shouldn’t be hydrophobic, this may’t harm in damp situations.
Learn extra: Arc’teryx Agrium Hoody assessment
Haglöfs Roc Down (RRP: £220)
Ranking: 4/5
Likes: very mild, hydrophobic down
Dislikes: sturdiness, inside shell not as downproof because it could possibly be
Weight: 270g | Shell: 20D Pertex Quantum | Insulation: 88g of Haglöfs H2O Down Gold 800fp, handled with fluorocarbon-free DWR for moisture resistance | Sizes: males S–XXL, girls XS–XXL
This down high is as primary as they arrive, with ultralight shell cloth, top-quality down filling, no hood, and few extra options. It’s marketed as a extremely waterproof down jacket, appropriate to be used as a mid-layer in chilly situations, and because of a very good match, large enough to suit over a skinny fleece, very good freedom of motion, and no faffy exterior cords or toggles to snag inside your jacket, it might probably work effectively on this area of interest.
Learn extra: Haglöfs Roc Down assessment
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