Down Jacket Buying Advice

There are a lot of variables to consider when choosing a down jacket. In our

detailed review of 10 top men's down jackets, we learned a lot about what

features really matter. In this article we have compiled into one place our

overall down jacket buying advice, detailing all the things you should

consider before choosing a jacket.

Synthetic Vs. Down Insulation
The first decision when buying an insulation layer is to decide if you need a

down or synthetic jacket. Down is much warmer for its weight and compresses

better, but when it gets wet, it will lose its loft, meaning it will also lose

its ability to keep you warm. Synthetic insulated jackets are quite a bit

heaver at the same thickness and warmth, and they don't compress and pack down

as well, but they keep much of their loft when wet. This means that even when

wet a syntactic jacket can still retain some of its insulating capability and

thus its warmth.

Down tends to last longer, and the feathers themselves allow for more

breathability than synthetic insulations. Your average synthetic jacket will

lose much of its warmth over 5-7 years, depending on wear, compared with your

average down jacket that with equal care can retain its warmth for10-20 years.

Down also has a higher resiliency after being compressed than synthetic

insulations, so after being unpacked a down jacket will regain its shape more

quickly.

Synthetic jackets are more durable when it comes to abrasion. If you climb

that last chimney pitch in the dark wearing your synthetic puffy coat and put

some holes in it, no big deal. If you put holes in your down jacket, the down

will leak out. Down also tends to be more expensive.