The Best Men's Down Jacket Review

Down Quality
Down fill is measured by placing one ounce of goose down in a graduated cylinder and measuring the volume the down occupies in cubic inches. The number in the hundreds (600, 800, etc) is a measurement of this loft, meaning the puffier one ounce of feathers is, the better quality the down.

Down quality effects three important aspects of a jacket: warmth-to-weight ratio, compressibility, and price. The higher quality of down means that your jacket will be warmer for the weight. This means that if two jackets were identical except that one had 600 fill down and one had 800 fill down, the 800 fill jacket would weigh much less than the 600 fill jacket even though they would provide the same warmth. The higher quality down jackets also compress smaller, but they tend to be much more expensive.

The four jackets in this review with the highest quality down were the Montbell Alpine light, Patagonia Down Sweater, The North Face Catalyst, and the Mountain Hardwear Nitrous. All of these have 800 fill down. The lowest quality down used is 550 fill in The North Face Aconcagua jacket.

Compressibility
The jackets that compress the best are going to be the same jackets with the higher quality down. The main materials that the jackets were made of also affected how well and how small they compress. Jackets like the Nuptse and Aconcagua that have thicker materials end up packing down as the largest bundles. The Nitrous, which is also the lightest and simplest jacket, ends up being the smallest. Check out the photo in the Women's Down Jacket Buying Advice article to see a comparison of the size of each jacket when stuffed.

Water Resistance
It is not the down itself that actually does the insulating, it is the tiny air pockets trapped by the down fibres. Unfortunately, once down gets wet all the feathers stick together, so it loses its loft and thus loses its warmth. If you plan on being in extremely wet conditions, synthetic insulation is preferable because it does not have this same issue. However, if you do have a down jacket, you want it to have some sort of water resistance so that in the event you do get wet you don't freeze.

All the down jackets in this review are treated with some type of DWR (durable water repellent) coating to protect the down from getting wet. The jacket that stood out for being the most water resistant was the Mountain Hardwear Sub Sero ZL, which is made from a material called Conduit, which is a waterproof/breathable membrane.

Durability
The durability of the material is important when spending around $200 on a jacket. With the experience in this review, the lightest fabrics ended up being the most fragile. The Nitrous jacket wore a hole in the sleeve with just normal wear. The Down Sweater snagged on something and easily ripped a hole. Heavier jackets such as the Nuptse and the Aconcagua seemed be very durable and last through rough wear. If it is important to you to have a very lightweight jacket, it might be worth sacrificing a little durability. The North Face Catalyst was a good compromise – it was a lightweight jacket but the material held up better than that of the Nitrous.

Editors' Choice Award
The competition in this review was fierce. Many of the jackets were similar and all performed well. We finally settled on giving the Editors' Choice to The North Face Catalyst Jacket because its combination of features and lack of drawbacks made it the most versatile jacket and the best choice overall. It is a light alpine jacket with high quality down, but its material is more durable and water resistant than similar jackets like the Nitrous and the Down Sweater, both of which tore holes during regular use. It also has the convenient feature of stuffing into a hand pocket instead of a separate stuff sack like the MontBell Alpine Light Parka, so that you don't have to keep track of an extra item. The Catalyst can be taken on climbing and backpacking trips or worn around town or car camping. It is comfortable, warm, and lightweight, making it our top choice.

Best Buy Award
The Best Buy award goes to the MontBell Alpine Light Down Parka because it offers the most for its price. The North Face Aconcagua jacket is less expensive, so even more desirable for people on a budget, but it is not very technical or versatile. At $185 the Alpine Light rivals even synthetic jackets for price. The other similar hooded down jackets in this review were in the $250 range, which is considerably more expensive for essentially the same function.

Best Jackets for Different Applications
If I had the luxury to buy the ideal down jacket for different applications, I would go with this:

Best jacket for mountaineering expeditions: Mountain Hardwear Sub Zero SL Hooded Jacket
Best jacket for packing as an extra layer on long days in the mountains: The North Face Catalyst
Best jacket for wearing around town: North Face Aconcagua Jacket