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Lifetime. My big winter down jacket is at least 12 years old, still in fine shape. I’ve been using my Montbell UL down jacket for 4 years now and it’s still going strong. I figure I can get another 2-3 years out of it.If you have had the jacket for a few seasons/years and you notice the compression is an issue and/or the dryer trick doesn’t work, it may be time to replace your jacket. Down is organic and does break down over time. Long periods of compression do accelerate this.”Down jackets are one of the more expensive parts of any layering system and typically will last you for many years. This makes choosing the right one all the more important.
Contents
When should I replace my down jacket?
If you have had the jacket for a few seasons/years and you notice the compression is an issue and/or the dryer trick doesn’t work, it may be time to replace your jacket. Down is organic and does break down over time. Long periods of compression do accelerate this.”
How many years do down jackets last?
Down jackets are one of the more expensive parts of any layering system and typically will last you for many years. This makes choosing the right one all the more important.
How long should winter coats last?
Whether you look forward to being able to wear your winter clothes or are still mourning the end of summer, we can all agree that a good winter coat is one of the most important items in your wardrobe. The right one will keep you looking stylish, feeling cosy and — if treated right — can last a good five years.
Do down jackets get less warm over time?
Like we mentioned above, no insulating material beats down in terms of warmth per ounce. Additionally, down is very resilient, and unlike other fabrics or insulators, it will not thin or wear if cared for properly. Fleece and synthetic insulation will lose loft over time, thereby decreasing their insulating qualities.
Is it normal for down jackets to lose feathers?
It is normal for down jackets to lose feathers, and it will continue to do so periodically throughout the lifetime of the jacket. The shedding of down will be more prolific on a new jacket, and it will lose what seems to be a large amount of down in the beginning. This is normal and is nothing to be alarmed about.
Do Puffer Jackets lose their puff?
While the jacket dries, the tennis balls will bounce around the machine, constantly hitting the jacket like you would fluff a pillow back into shape. Your puffer coat will come out of the dryer looking fluffy and new, in perfect condition to be stored away for the winter.
How long does a goose down jacket last?
Lifetime. My big winter down jacket is at least 12 years old, still in fine shape. I’ve been using my Montbell UL down jacket for 4 years now and it’s still going strong. I figure I can get another 2-3 years out of it.
How often should you wash a down jacket?
Wool coats, leather jackets and down jackets: Try to clean them once a season if you have worn them less often. If you wear them regularly, try to clean them twice a season. Fleece jackets: Clean them after wearing 6 to 7 times. Blazers and suits: Wash them after wearing 4 to 5 times.
Are expensive down jackets worth it?
Ultimately, down is worth the cost if you’ll be in weather that’s cold but not super wet. Some of the warmest coats can cost well over $1,000, but Jordan Wand, vice president of product and marketing for Outdoor Research, assured ABC News, “There’s no silver bullet” when it comes to getting the right down coat.
How do you make a down jacket fluffy again?
Tumble Dryer
The balls bounce around the drum along with the puffer and help to fluff it back to shape. If you find yourself unable to get hold of dryer balls, or you just want to save a bit of money, then tennis balls are a great alternative. They do a perfectly good job of giving the puff back to your puffer jacket.
Is a down coat warmer than a wool coat?
Down is natural insulation (from duck or goose feathers), it holds heat better than most other organic materials, it’s lightweight, and it’s breathable. But even though down is warmer than wool, that doesn’t mean you should skip a wool coat and go right for down. Wool has one big advantage over down — it can get wet.
Why is my down coat not warm?
The bottom line is, if your jacket isn’t as warm as you had hoped, the simplest explanation could be because it isn’t using down as an insulator. Synthetic insulators have their time and place of course, but when it comes to warmth-to-weight ratios and thermal efficiency, they just aren’t as good as down.
Can I wear down coat in rain?
Don’t wear a down jacket during rains
Remember, down jackets are not waterproof. They are only splashproof. If they are exposed to water for a long time, they will lose their fluffiness. They are made of feathers, after all.
Is it bad to get a down jacket wet?
Down is remarkably tough stuff and though wet down has virtually zero insulation properties, getting it wet doesn’t hurt it in the least. Washing a down jacket is not much harder than washing a pair of jeans.
Are down jackets worth it?
Ultimately, down is worth the cost if you’ll be in weather that’s cold but not super wet. Some of the warmest coats can cost well over $1,000, but Jordan Wand, vice president of product and marketing for Outdoor Research, assured ABC News, “There’s no silver bullet” when it comes to getting the right down coat.
How To Care For A Down Jacket
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How to Choose a Down Jacket – GearLab
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- Most searched keywords: Whether you are looking for How to Choose a Down Jacket – GearLab Updating Starting the hunt for a new down jacket is without a doubt one of the most overwhelming endeavors you can experience when it comes to shopping for…buying advice for down jacket, buyer’s guide, buying advice
- Table of Contents:
What Is Down
Synthetic vs Down Insulation
Hydrophobic Down vs Regular Down
Down Fill Power
Traceable or Certified Down
Construction
Materials
Stuffable Clipable
Features
Best Jackets for An Intended Use
Conclusion
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Clean your winter coat – what you need to know!
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How do I clean a down parka or puffa jacket
The best way to look after a wool wool blend or cashmere coat
How to clean a faux-fur and faux-shearling coat
Other handy coat care tips
Clothes care products
5 Reasons to Ditch Your Puffy – Therm-a-Rest Blog
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Make It Last: Down Jackets – Campman
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- Summary of article content: Articles about Make It Last: Down Jackets – Campman Down jackets typically get worn most days throughout the winter for everything from skiing to shoveling, and they’re a lifesaver for summer … …
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Make It Last is dedicated to getting the most out of your gear. This is our place to share knowledge acquired over years of abusing outdoor equipment, so you can learn from our experience and our mistakes. We want you to use your gear, patch it up until you can’t anymore, and enjoy it to the fullest. And when you finally need a new piece, we can help you with that too.If you ask anyone who spends time outdoors what their most used piece of gear is, there’s a good chance that the answer is going to be their down jacket.
Especially in cold climates, there’s arguably no piece of gear that you’ll wear as often. As an insulating material, down does a remarkable job of keeping you warm, plus it’s light and packable. Although it loses loft when wet, the advent of waterproof down, as well as hybrid down jackets that mix synthetic and down insulation, have made one of nature’s most efficient insulators even more versatile.
Down jackets typically get worn most days throughout the winter for everything from skiing to shoveling, and they’re a lifesaver for summer camping at elevation. Yet, for a piece of gear that’s generally built from lightweight materials, down jackets get put through the wringer.
They’re also expensive, which makes it painful to replace one prematurely.
Like any piece of gear, down jackets need care and maintenance to last. However, the abundance of well-loved down jackets you’ll find at any outdoor recreation hub points to the fact that you can easily get years of faithful service out of your own with proper care.
Washing
Washing your down jacket is important, and not just to keep you smelling and looking fresh. A shocking number of down jackets get destroyed not by rips and tears, but by being washed the wrong way.
Nikwax recommends wearing rubber gloves when washing down gear, as Down Wash Direct can be harsh on the hands, especially for those with sensitive skin. Once the detergent has been massaged into the garment and left to soak, make sure to rinse the garment using cool water before drying.
One of the easiest ways to destroy your down jacket is to wash it using the wrong detergent. Conventional detergents can and will permanently strip down feathers of their natural oils. This causes the individual strands of the down feathers to stick together, compressing the down and destroying its loft, which is the characteristic that gives down its warmth.
The key is to use a dedicated down cleaning detergent. There are plenty of great options out there. We’re partial to the Storm Down Care Kit because it includes a secondary treatment that improves down’s water resistance. However, we also recommend Nikwax Down Wash Direct , which has an unimpeachable track record and is widely available.
Down is delicate, so it’s best to avoid washing your jacket in a top loading washing machine. Use a front loader and a cold wash cycle, or if you don’t have access to one, you can also wash it in the sink in cool water, giving it time to soak and gently working the detergent into the jacket.
Drying
The drying process contributes to the loftiness of your newly washed down jacket, and doing it correctly takes a day or two. Don’t rush it.
First, you’ll want to remove your jacket from the washing machine or the sink and place it flat on a drying rack. You can gently squeeze water out of the jacket, but do not wring out the jacket.
Your jacket will be wet at this point, and it will need to air dry. Depending on humidity, air drying a down coat typically takes one to two days.
You can air dry the jacket completely, and when it’s done, gently compress and expand the jacket a few times to fully restore its loft. Or, if you have a drying machine and some tennis balls that aren’t dog toys, you can toss the mostly dry jacket into the dryer on a low heat cycle. The tennis balls will also restore down’s loft. The bonus is that the heat from the dryer will help to reactivate your jacket’s DWR coating, which allows water to bead off the jacket’s surface.
Patching
The delicate face fabric of a down jacket is vulnerable to snags, tears, burns, and cuts. Any opening in the face fabric presents an opportunity for down to escape, robbing you of precious warmth.
More often than not, by the time you realize you have a hole, there will already be down starting to escape. We’ve found that using a pen or pencil is the easiest way to push down back into the hole without making a mess.
There are plenty of ways to patch holes. We like Gear Aid’s Tenacious Tape because it’s available in clear, making it a great choice if you’re repairing a brightly colored jacket.
However, if you don't have any Tenacious Tape handy, duct tape will do just fine. Most of us carry some in our emergency kits, and effective, long lasting repairs can be made in just a minute or two, even in the field. If you have access to rubbing alcohol, use it to clean the area where the patch will be applied, as dirt or grime on the fabric will make the patch less effective. Use scissors to round off the square edges of the tape patch, as it will also help to keep the patch from peeling. For best results, start by applying pressure to the middle of the patch and massage outward to smooth out any wrinkles.
If you’re a perfectionist and the hole is small, either a minor cut or a burn hole from a stray ember, use Seam Grip. This waterproof sealing adhesive is designed for repairing tents, so it’s extremely durable, and it’s made from urethane, so it stays flexible in the cold. Plus it’s clear, so as long as you’re careful with your repair, it should be all but invisible once you’re done.
However, getting a good result with Seam Grip requires a steady hand, a clean workspace, and plenty of time to cure and reapply as necessary, so this repair is best handled after you get home after a trip. Additionally, it can be difficult to get good results on bigger cuts. For those, we recommend using tape tape.
In researching this article, we attempted this ambitious cross-baffle Seam Grip repair. Although the result looked passable, the size and location of the hole made a future failure likely, so we ultimately opted to tape it for peace of mind. If there’s any doubt about the durability of your own repair, we suggest you do the same.
Finally, don’t bother with your sewing kit to make a repair. The lightweight face fabrics found on most down jackets are not suited to hand mending, and even tidy stitching will pull out, leaving you with a bigger hole than you started with.
Storage
There’s nothing wrong with compressing your down jacket for a few days in a pack, but storing it for months at a time in a compressed state will reduce the down’s loft. When it’s not in use, hang your down jacket in a closet or on a coat rack. In addition to protecting the insulation, it also gives your jacket a chance to dry and air out, which will help to keep it smelling fresh.
Conclusion
The lifespan of your down jacket is determined by how you treat it. Don’t treat it like it’s disposable. Care for it correctly and you’ll enjoy years of comfort in a piece of gear that will gain character as the miles and stories add up.
About Campman
Campman is an outdoor retail store located in Salt Lake City, Utah, that specializes in gear and equipment for camping, skiing, backpacking, climbing, and everything in between. We understand that the difference between a bad memory and the adventure of a lifetime can come down to the gear you take with you when you head outdoors, and we want our customers to have the best experiences possible. When it comes to getting outside, we get it, and we’ll get you the gear you need to get there.
Questions? Feel free to contact us by phone at (801) 999-8117 or by email at [email protected].
- Table of Contents:
Make It Last Down Jackets
Washing
Drying
Patching
Storage
Conclusion
About Campman
Error 403 (Forbidden)
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How To Care For A Down Jacket
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When To Replace Your Insulated Jacket | Cotswold Outdoor
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When to wash your insulated jacket
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Which Should I Buy? | Pros and Cons of Down Versus Synthetic | Jöttnar – Jottnar US
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So should you choose Down or Synthetic
How Much Should You Really Spend On A Winter Coat? | Chatelaine
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What should you look for in a quality coat
Buy a classic jacket that won’t go out of style
Shop the sales
how long do you expect a winter coat to last in years? | Mumsnet
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How To Care For A Down Jacket
It’s a universal symbol of outdoor lovers: the greasy blackened sleeves and duct tape patches on a well used down jacket. It stands for nights around the campfire, scenic belay perches. A dirty down jacket is a badge of honor. Some of us love to hold onto our beloved grungy puffies until they’re nearly in tatters. So we asked Outdoor Research product manager Alex Lauver for the inside scoop on how to extend the life of a down jacket. Because it’s one item that seems to always love us back.
How often should I wash my down jacket?
“That’s tough to answer. It depends how much you wear it and what you’re doing in it. The average lifestyle wearer/commuter/weekend warrior probably ought to think about washing it once or twice a year. Someone LIVING in it might consider a few times a season. It also depends on the jacket construction. I’d always refer people to the care labels on down garments. Excessive washing can cause wear and tear and stress seams.
Down jackets can start to compress and get clumpy after repeated stuffings in packs, bags, etc., but a quick tumble in a dryer on low heat can fluff all that down back up. If they get wet and start to smell—an odor that is unmistakable—it’s definitely time to wash it. Follow care labels.”
RELATED: How to Wash your Down Jacket
Sometimes my puffy winds up compressed in the bottom of my backpack for days at a time, stashed for an emergency. How long can it stay compressed before its insulating properties get damaged?
“It’s hard to actually “damage” the insulating properties. It’s more of an issue of efficiency. The longer it stays compressed, the longer it will take to re-loft and fully insulate. It you have it crammed in there for a full three-day weekend and never need it, just hang it when you get home and it should be good a few hours later. Again, a quick tumble in the dryer makes a big difference.
If you have had the jacket for a few seasons/years and you notice the compression is an issue and/or the dryer trick doesn’t work, it may be time to replace your jacket. Down is organic and does break down over time. Long periods of compression do accelerate this.”
If I spill something like coffee on it, should I wash the whole thing or is it best to try to spot treat it?
“I’d spot treat to the best of your ability. Excessive washing accelerates wear and tear on the garment.”
For the few weeks a year when I don’t carry it everywhere with me, what’s the best way to store it?
“Ensure its 100 percent dry and hang it in the back of your closet. Easy as could be.”
RELATED: Demystifying Down Fill Power
Any tips for the inevitable patch job?
“DON’T PULL FEATHERS!!! Push them back in. The old standby is duct tape, but unless you plan to leave it permanently, that will make it worse when you try to patch it with something else. (It pulls feathers, stresses fabric, and can make the hole worse.) Some companies sell precut patches and adhesive stickers. I have a roll in my gear repair kit that I got 10+ years ago and have only had to use once.
Some people say alcohol wipes help adhesive stick, but who has those laying around? The best way to temporarily patch—if you’ll give it a better long-term patch later—is using a tape with less “tack.” Plain old Scotch tape or painter’s tape works for a few hours while you figure out what to do next.
Cut your patches in ovals or with curved edges. Points and sharp edges can peel and catch. And don’t patch too big—just enough to fully cover and seal is enough. I know a guy that temporally patched his belay parka with bandaids!”
Any other secret tricks?
“Treat it how you’d treat your sleeping bag. Take care of it—they are an investment. My biggest tip is keep it from getting soaked. That’s really hard on the down and getting it fully dry is tough. LOTS of drying time. If there is a decent chance of precip, think through your insulation system. I’d recommend people wash and dry their jackets at the end of a season so they go away clean and nice and dry. I’m also a fan of the wash-in cleaners and such for outerwear.”
Thanks, Alex! Your advice comes just in time—I pulled out my oldest, beloved puffy and realized it’s disgustingly overdue for a good wash—and I also just invested in a newer, beefier weather-resistant down jacket. So I’m glad to know how to treat it in the future.
SHOP WOMEN’S DOWN COLLECTION
SHOP MEN’S DOWN COLLECTION
How to Choose a Down Jacket
Starting the hunt for a new down jacket is without a doubt one of the most overwhelming endeavors you can experience when it comes to shopping for outerwear. Down jackets are one of the more expensive parts of any layering system and typically will last you for many years. This makes choosing the right one all the more important. Down is the lightest and warmest insulator you can find, but not all down jackets are created equal. If you’re not sure where to begin your search, our buying advice article will break down the different features of down jackets and will help teach you what to look for based on your specific needs.
What Is Down?
Every duck and goose has a soft layer of down located under their main flight feathers that help insulate the animal from the cold and wet conditions they find themselves in. The down layer is what makes it possible for them to exist in such harsh conditions. The thicker feathers on the outside provide a waterproof seal to protect the down underneath from getting soaked. The highest quality down feathers don’t show an obvious “quill” but instead have a spherical appearance that provides a large amount of loft.
These down clusters create millions of tiny air pockets. Your body heat warms up the air, which is then held in place by the down. When the down around you is thicker, you can trap more warm air around yourself, creating a warmer layer. That is why thick jackets, blankets, socks, sleeping bags, etc., are warmer than thin ones. No insulator is more effective than down, even in the lab. No synthetic fill can touch its warmth, weight savings, compressibility, or longevity. Synthetic fill breaks down and loses some loft every time you stuff it into a tight stuff sack.
Testing down jackets and the strength of the sea ice, Bay of Sails, Antarctica.
Synthetic vs. Down Insulation
While you might assume that in this modern age, a synthetic option would greatly outperform anything found in the wild, that just isn’t true when it comes to insulation. There are some vast differences between the two, and each one has its specific benefits. It’s not as easy as saying which one is better because each one excels where the other does not. Down-filled insulation is considerably warmer for its weight and compresses into a smaller package. Unfortunately, down has one huge drawback – it loses its insulating properties when wet. If you get caught in a downpour for an extended period of time, the average down jacket will completely lose its loft, becoming a flat and soggy sack of feathers that can take days to fully dry out. Modern synthetics, however, will retain the majority of their puffiness, even in super wet conditions.
Having the right insulation in the mountains is imperative to having a good time and sometimes survival, and a good jacket can be the difference between the summit and surrender. Down is the most efficient insulator, with a warmth-to-weight ratio yet to be surpassed by synthetic technology. Here we test on sea ice in Antarctica. Credit: Thomas Greene
In addition to performing better in wet conditions, synthetic insulators stand up to punctures better. The continuous nature of filament insulation keeps it in place and continuing to insulate, while down jackets will often leak significant amounts of feathers through even small holes.
Most down garments cost more than their synthetic counterparts, although the added expense will be offset in the long run due to the increased lifespan of the product. If you do see a few feathers poking through the fabric occasionally, don’t worry, there are hundreds of thousands of them in each garment.
The Montbell Superior Parka uses square baffles whereas many of the others in our test have horizontal baffles. Credit: Elizabeth Paashaus
Products that use down will generally last longer than their synthetic counterparts. Stuffing a synthetic jacket into the bottom of your pack over and over will cause it to reduce the total loft, and in the process, lose much of its original warmth. Some of our testers still love their down sleeping bags that are almost 20 years old, which are still lighter than the newest synthetic bags. Down jackets may lose some loft after years of use, but with proper washing and storage, but even after hundreds of compressions, they last years longer than any comparable synthetic version.
Down Insulation
Best warmth to-weight ratio
Longer lasting
Super compressible
Very warm
More expensive than synthetics
Loses loft when saturated
Can lose a fair amount of feathers through even small tears
Animal by-product
Quills can stick you in the back where you cant reach
Synthetic Insulation
Significantly less expensive than down
Insulate when wet
Doesn’t leak out of small tears
Not an animal byproduct
Not as durable in the long run.
Doesn’t compress as easily or as small as down
Lower warmth-to-weight-ratio than down
Hydrophobic Down vs. Regular Down
Hydrophobic down is down that has been treated with a DWR coating, similar to what companies apply to the outside of jackets to repel water. The hope is that these coatings will allow the down to repel water as well as synthetic insulation, thereby eliminating (or at least alleviating) the main drawback to down — its inability to maintain loft, and therefore warmth retention, when saturated with water. Companies have developed proprietary hydrophobic down, and many jackets in our review feature it.
The TNF Summit has hydrophobic down, so even if the impressive DWR were to wear out, the down should continue to keep its loft.
We will admit that we found it difficult to successfully verify the claims made about hydrophobic down compared to regular down. We wore the hydrophobic down jackets into the shower for minutes at a time, getting them fully and completely soaked with water, and did indeed find that they seemed to lose little to no loft due to the soaking; this would suggest that the claims are mostly accurate. That said, some jackets that did not have the treated down also performed equally as well when doused and lost very little loft. The DWR face fabric could be part of that reason. We also know that even regular non-treated down is somewhat hydrophobic by nature. Down has natural oils that resist water. While it’s likely the newer type is better in wet environments, we don’t feel it’s a deal-breaker, and we would take great care to protect any down from a downpour.
There is a lot we don’t know about the durability of hydrophobic down. DWR finishes have been notorious for wearing off of shell fabrics, and determining the lifespan of a DWR coating on a down feather would be virtually impossible.
Down Fill Power
Down fill-power has been one of the more confusing metrics for those looking for their first down jacket or sleeping bag. Most initially think a higher fill-power automatically refers to a warmer garment. However, the fill-power just refers to how much a certain weight of down lofts. To keep things as simple as possible, let us pretend that 1 ounce of 600 fill down will loft up to fill six two-liter bottles, then 1 ounce of 900 fill down will loft up to fill nine two-liter bottles. Basically, a jacket with a higher fill power will use less weight of down to accomplish the same amount of loft/warmth.
Various samples of down with identical weight show that as fill power increases from left to right the down lofts higher, increasing the amount of dead air space available to insulate and trap your body heat.
Fill-power also refers to how compressible a jacket is. A higher fill-power jacket that uses less weight of the filling will in-turn compress smaller than a jacket of the same warmth that uses more of a lesser quality down fill.
Traceable or Certified Down
To address concerns about where the down in their products comes from, and to assure buyers that the animals were well treated before “donating” their down to your jacket or sleeping bag, most companies are using “traceable down,” or “certified responsibly sourced down,” which essentially means that they disclose their sources and the harvesting practices of the down used.
A close up of the fabric of the Down Sweater Hoody. The 800 fill power down really lofts out these thin sewn through baffles, making this one of the puffier jackets in the review. What we really liked about it is Patagonia’s commitment to tracing and using only the most responsibly sourced down. Credit: Elizabeth RIley
Companies that trace their down ensure that it is solely the product of the food industry and that animals were never live-plucked just for their down. They take significant measures to ensure that the humanely treated animal down does not mix with other down from animals that were not humanely treated (some of the worst practices involve live-plucking the birds as well as force-feeding). People who are concerned about the welfare of the duck and geese are encouraged to purchase down jackets from companies that trace their down or use only responsibly sourced down. While we did not reduce the performance metric score for any company or jacket that didn’t disclose the down harvesting practices, we encourage you to consider this important aspect of your jacket before making a purchase.
Construction
There are two methods predominantly used when constructing down jackets. Box-baffling and sewn-through baffling. Either can be welded or stitched.
Box-Baffling
Box-baffling is when small “boxes” or pockets of down are created between the inner and outer layers. This technique is more expensive and time-intensive and is typically reserved for the most expensive options. The main advantage to this is that it creates more room for the down to loft and reduces cold spots where each baffle meets at the stitching.
Sewn-Through
This method is most common. It is easier, less time-consuming, and therefore cheaper for manufacturers than any other form of baffle construction. The outer material is stitched directly into the inner lining, separating the down into different baffles, which are usually horizontally, rectangle or occasionally, diagonally oriented. This method uses less fabric and is lighter than more complicated box baffle construction, and is less costly. Because of weight, simplicity, and cost, most of the lightweight jackets, and many of the heavier ones utilize this construction. Although sewn-through construction saves weight via the use of less material, it is less warm than box baffle construction because the down is pinched at the seams of the sewn-through baffles, and thus loft is reduced to zero at each point of baffle stitching. The sewn-through baffling prevents the migration of the down, but due to the simple construction, it also reduces the optimum loft of the down, creating “cold spots” at each baffle seam.
With its very high quality 850-fill power down, the Cerium LT Hoody has a great warmth-to-weight ratio. It uses sewn-through baffles to keep the jacket light.
Welded or Bonded Baffles
Welded or bonded baffles are essentially the same thing, described with different verbiage. This construction technique fuses the inner and outer pieces of fabric together using heat, chemicals, glue, or a combination of all three, creating baffles. There is one major benefit to these techniques: since there are no holes in the outer fabric from sewing the baffles, they are more wind impermeable and water-resistant. However, the bonded section of the seam is wider than a single-threaded stitch, so the “cold-spot” created is therefore slightly larger. We have reviewed welded baffle jackets in the past, but this year, all of the products have the standard sewn-through type.
Materials
The main outer shell and lining fabrics affect a jacket’s performance in three primary ways: durability, weight, and water resistance. A lightweight model that weighs about nine ounces will usually have only an estimated three ounces of down fill. The remainder of the garment weight comes from the fabric, zippers, and other features like cinch cords. Jackets with lighter materials are obviously more compressible and will weigh less.
Different fabrics have different levels of durability. Thinner and lighter materials are usually more vulnerable to abrasion and snagging. Many super-light shell fabrics on the market are rather impressive; they allow for the construction of jackets with a phenomenal warmth-to-weight ratio while still offering an acceptable level of down proofing and durability. You can tell a lot about the durability and weight savings of a shell fabric when manufacturers list the denier, the unit of measurement for the linear mass density of fibers.
The Rab Microlight Alpine is great for wet weather because it has a number of features designed to keep your down dry. Here you can see the combination of the Pertex Quantum Microlight fabric and the DWR coating working to prevent water from absorbing into the fabric and the down underneath.
If owning a lightweight and extra packable jacket is your primary goal, consider one with a super-light shell material like the Arc’teryx Cerium SL or the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer 2 Hoody. If durability is your primary concern, consider a jacket with a heavier (higher denier) shell fabric like the Outdoor Research Illuminate Hoody.
Stuffable / Clipable
One of the great advantages of down is its compressibility. Many jackets either come with a stuff sack or compress into their own pocket. A stuffable jacket that has a clip-able carabiner loop is advantageous for climbing because it can easily be clipped to the back of your harness. This is particularly nice when climbing multi-pitch routes where you only have one small pack the follower carries, as it allows the leader to lead with the jacket on their harness and thus have it at the belay above.
Side by side you can see the differences in packed size. From left to right we have, The North Face Summit L3 Hoody, Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer 2 Hoody, The North Face Sierra Peak Hoody (previously tested), Rab Microlight Alpine Hoody, Patagonia Down Sweater Hoody, Arc’teryx Cerium SL Hoody, Feathered Friends Eos Hoody.
Features
Besides the obvious differences in warmth, lighter jackets also differ quite a bit in terms of pockets and features. Several of the light-down jackets in our test go light on features as a means of saving weight. The first features to be cut include drawcords on the hood and waist and having fewer pockets. Below we briefly make mention of the common features found on the jackets in our roundup, and what styles worked well, and what didn’t.
Pockets
These are the two front pockets designed for keeping your hands warm or stowing your snacks in. Every external handwarmer pocket in this review was zippered, which we love for keeping your valuables safe while out and about. Some had thin fleece linings, which felt nice, but most are just light nylon to keep the weight down. We also pay attention to where the handwarmer pockets are located. A well-designed pocket will be high enough to be used even with a backpack waist belt or harness on.
Every jacket in our roundup has two zippered handwarmer pockets, the Ghost Whisperer 2 included. Credit: Elizabeth Paashaus
Many jackets have this handy feature, although some do not. These pockets are great for storing items like a smartphone, sunglasses, or chapstick close at hand. Internal pockets are generally better insulated, a nice feature for keeping a phone’s battery alive in the cold, while external pockets are, without a doubt, easier to access quickly.
The Rab’s external chest pocket was a great spot to stash our phone where it would stay warmer so the cold wouldn’t zap the battery life.
These pockets seem so simple but can be some of the most useful pockets. These are large, drop-in un-zippered pockets on the inside of the jacket. They are great for storing hats, gloves, warm water bottles, batteries, or even rock climbing shoes on the inside of your jacket, where they can stay toasty warm within your heat envelope.
The internal stash pockets of the TNF Summit were perfect for keeping our shoes warm between burns on the boulders.
Hem Drawcords
It is common to have a drawcord pull (or two) on the hem to tighten the jacket around the waist and hips. We very much appreciated this feature, a couple of jackets in our selection didn’t have them, and they allowed cold air to flow up into our jacket. The location of the pull cords, as well as the type of buckles used, made a big difference in how much we liked these features.
We greatly welcomed drawcord tails that are housed inside the handwarmer pockets, as the alternative is a dangling loop of elastic hanging down from the waist when tightened that could catch on sticks or bushes along the trail or even on our crampon points when ice climbing. Rarely but occasionally, a jacket with a cinch located on the hem would incorporate a place to clip the dangling cord up into the inside of the jacket.
A hem-cinch that dangles to the side is susceptible to getting caught on carabiners if warn with a harness and just generally feels less “finished”. Credit: Elizabeth Paashaus
Hood Drawcords and Elastic
The jackets in this review used four separate methods of securing and tightening the hood: simple elastic, a single drawcord in the back, dual drawcords on the side of the face, and a combination of dual drawcord and a rear adjustment. While elastic was the least adjustable (in fact, it’s not adjustable at all). Our favorite method was the single drawcord that tightens at the back of the head. These cords were both easy to use and held the hood in place very well. However, some tend to lay the internal elastic cord right across the ears, which can be quite uncomfortable when worn tight or for long periods of time. While they are our preferred method for adjusting a hood on a shell jacket, in the case of these down jackets, we didn’t really enjoy the dual side-of-the-face drawcords. We found them to be more finicky to find the proper adjustment, annoying to loosen, and uncomfortable where they rest against the side of the face.
These dual drawcords inside the collar of the Rab Microlight Alpine offer a fine-tuning ability for the fit of the hood, and also do a great job of sealing off the face enclosure if it is really cold. They are relatively easy to use with one hand. You can also see the wire brim of the hood.
Best Jackets for An Intended Use
The best way to approach buying a lightweight down jacket is to first consider what you intend to use it for; this holds true for just about any piece of equipment. Carefully considering how and where it will be used will help you to understand what sorts of conditions it will need to protect you from. It will also help you to paint a picture in your mind about what characteristics are top priorities, and tailor your ultimate choice based on those desires. Below we pick out a few of the most common uses for a lightweight down jacket and offer our opinions on what to look for in a jacket for that purpose, as well as some specific product recommendations.
Climbing
There are many different scenarios where you might be climbing and want a down jacket, broken down a bit more detailed below.
If you’re wearing down in the alpine, be careful not rip it open on sharp rocks. We suggest wearing it as a midlayer under a more durable hardshell, or going with a more durable (but likely heavier) synthetic jacket.
It’s useful to have a midweight down jacket that can be used as mid-layer under a hardshell or as a terminal layer to throw on top of everything at belays. The North Face Summit Down Hoody and the Arc’teryx Cerium LT Hoody both fit the bill nicely.
Max Neale on the Evolution Traverse (bottom center) in the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer down jacket. Credit: Matt Wilhelm
Down jackets make great belay jackets while hanging out at the crag in ideal sending temps. Features we like for this purpose are internal stash pockets, where we keep our thermos, gloves, and even our shoes toasty warm in between burns on the project. The Rab Microlight Alpine, Arc’teryx Cerium LT Hoody, Patagonia Fitz Roy, and the The Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer 2 Hoody are our favorite down jackets for rock climbing.
In our experience with winter and ice climbing, it is important to sacrifice a bit of weight in favor of serious warmth, as we are generally willing to do anything to stay warm, keep having fun, and keep blood flowing from our torso to our extremities. In these scenarios, we would be more likely to wear one of these down jackets as a mid-layer under our hard shell to keep us warm all day and to keep it dry and protected.
Skiing
For backcountry skiers, a lightweight down jacket will serve primarily as a mid-layer to be thrown on to ward off chill on the downhills. Typically a person will generate way too much heat on the skin track to consider wearing a down jacket while moving uphill, but will usually want to trap that warmth as the sweat cools for the chilly downhill. In these circumstances, light is certainly right. A thin down mid-layer to go underneath a hard or soft shell that keeps the powder and moisture off is the way that we typically layer. Great options are the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer 2, the Rab Microlight Alpine, or the Arc’teryx Cerium SL.
Mountaineering Expeditions
Generally speaking, the lightweight down jackets in this review are not going to be sufficient for high altitude mountaineering expeditions. For hanging out in glacier camp on Denali, or battling your way up to 8,000m on Cho Oyu, you are going to need a dedicated expedition parka or 8,000-meter suit. In general, these parkas are far thicker, heavier, warmer, have more features, and are more expensive than the jackets we tested here.
Wearing lightweight down jackets to fend off the cold and wind on a mountaineering expedition in Argentina.
Mountain Hardwear Hooded Ghost Whisperer in Champagne Slot, East fork Hyalite Canyon, MT. Credit: Chris Simrell
Wet Climates
Down has long been shunned in wet climates because it shrinks up like a ball of cellophane when it gets soaked with water. However, recent advances in technology are making it so that you need not automatically dismiss down if you live in, say, Portland. If you’re traveling to a wet area, make sure you bring a down jacket that at least has a DWR treatment on its face fabric, or even better, double down on your moisture insurance with hydrophobic down. Our favorite down jacket for backpacking or climbing when there might be cold rain is the Rab Microlight Alpine. This jacket has a very effective DWR treatment, Nikwax hydrophobic down, and it even has a wire brimmed hood to keep the rain off your face. However, it is important to remember that this jacket isn’t waterproof and is no substitution for a rain jacket.
Everyday Life/Around Town
If the primary reason for buying a warm down jacket is simply to keep you warm as you live your life in your cold winter town, then you are probably like most people. For you, weight and compressibility presumably have far less importance in your selection than warmth, fit, and style. We typically throw one of these jackets on over the top of whatever normal human clothes we are wearing for the day, so it is important that the jacket is large enough to be worn as an outer layer. When it comes to style, we typically shy away from overly technical garments and instead gravitate toward what matches our regular wardrobe, and perhaps more importantly, doesn’t make us look like a weirdo. In our test, we enjoyed hanging out in public with the Patagonia Down Sweater Hoody and the Arc’teryx Cerium SL.
Despite the Cerium LT being one of the most expensive jackets in this review, we think that it is well worth the money, and loved how warm it kept us pretty much all the time while camping.
Conclusion
We hope that our research, in-depth reviews, and recommendations above have helped you to narrow down and effectively choose the best down jacket for your adventures. As with most pieces of equipment, the process begins with identifying the conditions you will likely face and then finding the product that best handles those circumstances. While we have ranked all the jackets we tested and given awards to our favorites, the reality is that all of these jackets have their pros and cons, and each one has a purpose that may fit your use perfectly.
Clean your winter coat
Whether you look forward to being able to wear your winter clothes or are still mourning the end of summer, we can all agree that a good winter coat is one of the most important items in your wardrobe. The right one will keep you looking stylish, feeling cosy and — if treated right — can last a good five years.
No matter the style, we’ve got tips to get your winter coat clean and help it last another season.
How do I clean a down, parka or puffa jacket?
Check the label first but these are usually machine washable. Set your washing machine to a delicate cycle, and make sure the water is cold. Use a non-bio or specialist laundry detergent to clean, like .
After the cycle is completed, put it in the tumble dryer, making sure it’s at a low heat and tumble. It sounds odd, but adding a couple of tennis balls will stop the filling clumping. Alternatively, try this that comes with specialist detergent and tumble dryer balls.
Fiordaliso Getty Images
The best way to look after a wool, wool blend or cashmere coat
For a really thorough clean, a tailored wool, wool blend or cashmere coat needs specialist attention – but there’s still plenty you can do to keep it in good shape between visits to the dry cleaner.
Never rub fresh stains as this can push liquid further in to the fabric and can cause the surface to felt.
If it’s looking crumpled, use a damp tea towel to cover one section of the coat at a time and use an iron on a low heat to press out creases. Any bobbles that form on the surface of the coat over time can be removed gently using a razor or a fine toothed comb.
How to clean a faux-fur and faux-shearling coat
A faux-fur coat never goes out of style. They’re also wonderfully cosy, and with a little know-how you can maintain that just-bought fluffiness. If the coat can be machine washed, turn it inside out and run a 30°C wool wash using a mild detergent, such as
Remove excess moisture from the coat by rolling it up between two thick towels and reshape before allowing it to dry naturally on a broad clothes hanger.
Once it’s dry, fluff up the pile using a soft natural bristle brush or pet brush. If areas of the faux fur or faux shearling have become flattened, spray with a solution of one tablespoon hair conditioner to two cups warm water then brush.
Kateryna Soroka Getty Images
Other handy coat care tips
Use a or to tidy your coat up and keep the fabric looking its best.
Before stowing your coat away for the summer, invest in a set of sturdy hangers. We like Heavy coats need their weight fully supported, otherwise the shoulders can stretch.
You don’t need to take your coat to the dry cleaners for every little stain that appears. For a simple home remedy, gently blot the stain with a little bit of cold water or soda water.
It’s important that your coat gets as much fresh air as possible to keep the material looking crisp and new, so a good habit to get into is hanging it out whenever you have some other washing to dry. Try to do this regularly throughout the summer.
Empty out your coat pockets before retiring it to the wardrobe to keep them their shape.
Although companies like Barbour recommend that you send your wax jackets away to be re-waxed, you can do it yourself and save some money. We recommend .
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