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My TBF Thermoball has lost a lot of loft after 6 years. Given I expect to be socialising more outdoors this winter I'm thinking of something a bit warmer but not full on arctic. Anything slim fit worth going for? Synthetic preferred.
I went into Cotswold Outdoors and they were £2-300, TKMaxx seemed a bit rubbish and £30-60. Somewhere in between would be great.
Uniqlo.
SportPursuit.
Decathlon had a tonne of them on the sales rails last week in Warrington (big reductions down to about £30 I think). Might not be full on winter thickness though.
Decathlon, GO Outdoors or Mountain Warehouse.
Sprayway Agan; I've got the previous version and it's perfect; not nice enough to worry about, can get wet, can get dirty and does a good job.
Sprayway Rador is the one, still available for £80ish.
Montane Prism or Flux?
Not quite quilted, but insulated and waterproof. I've been eyeing up a Marmot ski jacket. Seems overkill, but at the price...
https://www.sportpursuit.com/catalog/product/view/id/1896727
Decathlon have their Trek 100 on sale at £19.99 at the moment, I have one which I use bikepacking & it’s fine.
A bit more than you want to spend at £80 the Fjern Husley from Sportspursuit might be worth considering.
I can recommend the Montane Icarus jacket, synthetic fill, and slightly fitted.
@Drac - that appears to be the SportShoes outlet. I thought Montane had their own eBay outlet?
https://outlet.arcteryx.com/gb/en/shop/mens/atom-lt-hoody
Bought this a few weeks ago, very impressed.
The fjern jackets on sport pursuit are awesome for the price.
I think I got the super husly for after winter swimming and it is ridiculously warm.
Rab outlet store is open a couple of days a week. Last week most of the stuff was at 50% or more off. Loads of bargains, no body else in when we were in
Uniqlo. They do a collarless gilet now too that folds down really small.
My down one came from Superdry for £60 and was by far the best out of the awful lot I tried.
Great thing and packs to nothing.
SportPursuit is worth checking - Scandinavian brands on there are good quality. eg. kilpi, 2117
This might be a bit 'high street'.
https://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10701_10001_092010670265_-1
I bought one earlier in the year, first thing I have bought in Debenhams for years and I was really surprised by how good it is.
Very light to wear, not 'in your face', warm, showerproof (not tested) and packs up into its own chest pocket.
In the spirit of recommend what you've got I got a Decathlon one a couple of years ago (they don't seems to make quite the same design now) but it is relatively light and fairly packable and warm, if a bit sweaty. Even better is the basic down jacket I got from them which packs tiny and is plenty warm and quite cheap.
I've also recently got a Craghoppers padded gilet (expolite version) to wear when working from home in the back room which is always cold. It was a good price from their outlet, is warm and packs fairly well. They also do a jacket version that could be worth a look. Referral or cashback discounts are often available from them to reduce prices.
Can I ask why you would prefer synthetic? Serious question. I would understand having to go for synthetic based on price, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. I’m wondering what the advantages are.
I did my research before buying a quilted jacket, and concluded that down was the only way to go. But I am assuming I’m wrong now.
In the end, incidentally, I got a Jack Wolfskin from Best Secret discounted from £300 to about £180, and I love it. Wearable here in the UK pretty much all the time. On a trip to Canada in winter, though, I needed a fleece underneath.
Just got a haglofs lim Essen down jacket for 100 quid (1/2 RRP) from Gaynor's. Dwr, packs small, actually weighs less than a ls Merino baselayer if you can believe it! Lovely.
Craghoppers had a variety of stuff heavily discounted recently
SaxonRider
Can I ask why you would prefer synthetic? Serious question. I would understand having to go for synthetic based on price, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. I’m wondering what the advantages are
Interesting question...20yrs or so ago outers were so poor that if it got wet a down jacket was a problem in damp conditions and synthetics didn't pack down but worked in the wet...anyway reading this thread as want a jacket for overnight near zero degree bike packing but works if wet
Can I ask why you would prefer synthetic?
Down is just a PITA in the UK, hard to wash, doesn't like getting wet. If you're doing an Alpine North face where every gram counts, then great, its performance is unbeatable. For bimpling around town, walking the dog, walking in the hills in the UK, synthetic is a much better choice. I only use my down jackets skiing in January in the high alpine resorts where its -20C and dry.
Down is just a PITA in the UK, hard to wash, doesn’t like getting wet. If you’re doing an Alpine North face where every gram counts, then great, its performance is unbeatable. For bimpling around town, walking the dog, walking in the hills in the UK, synthetic is a much better choice. I only use my down jackets skiing in January in the high alpine resorts where its -20C and dry.
I'd agree with this, apart from the washing bit. Down is great when it's bone dry and I'll pack/wear one on a crisp, clear day. For the other 99% of the time (living in Scotland) I'll use synthetic jackets.
I’d agree with this, apart from the washing bit
Yes, easy to wash, but hard to dry properly 😉
Chuck some tennis balls in the dryer to loosen the clumps of down
I can recommend the Montane Icarus jacket, synthetic fill, and slightly fitted.
+1. Lovely and warm and a nice slim fit. Got mine for 79 quid from Blacks.
Synthetic you can stick in the washer, down should be hand washed, you're not even supposed to spin it, don't know why anyone would disagree with footflaps on the washing bit. I suppose you could buy a black down jacket so the collars and cuffs don't show the dirt as soon as you wear it once.
I've got a really warm, Canadian, synthetic fill jacket here in a S/M size anyone can have for £12 posted. My son's grown out of it. We bought it a few years ago in Banff.
I thought Montane had their own eBay outlet?
They do but I’ve clearly linked the wrong one, sorry.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/mountain-kit/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=
Synthetic you can stick in the washer, down should be hand washed, you’re not even supposed to spin it, don’t know why anyone would disagree with footflaps on the washing bit.
Eh? I've got ME, Arcteryx and Jottnar down jackets and every washing instruction tab states machine wash, as does the down care info on the manufacturers websites.
ME:
Down clothing is more difficult than most clothing to wash, but the task can be managed at home. The difficult part is not actually the washing, but the drying. The washing cycle can be done in most large household washing machines but the process of drying, which can take several hours, requires a tumble dryer. Do not dry clean your down clothing.
Jottnar:
Ideally keep to one item per wash.
First remove any loose dirt by giving your jacket a quick brush over. Close zips.
Rinse your detergent drawer clean of old powder or liquid.
Follow the temperature instructions on the garment care label.
You can use any standard non-biological soap to wash your down jacket. Specific down wash detergents from Nikwax, Grangers or Storm are also available.
Once the wash has finished, run a few spin cycles whilst slowly increasing the speed. The jacket will exit the machine looking flat and sorry. Don’t worry, drying will revive it
My wife’s just bought me a nice Rab one to replace my tired Ayacucho one that I wear absolutely everywhere.
I reckon that buying from any of the known brands is a safe bet, just get one that fits well. I tried a Salomon and a Montane one too but the Rab won on fit.
I noticed a lot of the down ones did claim to be water resistant now so probably not as much of an issue as it used to be but I wear mine in any weather without having to worry about looking after it too much.
TK Maxx have got loads of these kinds of jackets in just now.
Synthetic ones around £30 and down ones (Trespass etc) ~£50
What are you going to be using it for OP? If it’s for sitting around outside, down works better for retaining heat when static and just feels nicer than synthetic.
As other have said synthetic works better in changeable and crappy weather, particularly if a active / semi active.
The hydrophobic downs and improved dwr’s on down jackets still wet out fairly easily. A few brands do downs with proper hardshell outers so far more weather proof, but they cost a fortune, are heavy and too warm when moving unless really cold weather.
If your looking at synthetic i think it’s pretty hard to beat primaloft fills, especially the gold prima loft (although silver isn’t a mile off). Hagloffs own synthetic fill is pretty good too. I’d look at something with 100gsm fill upwards. Things like the montane prism are c 50gsm so makes them great versatile jackets when moving, but isnt warm enough when static for any legnth of time if it’s cold
Having owned many synthetic jackets of different weights, brands and intended uses, my favourite by far for general outdoor mooching / camping / sitting around / semi active is my mountain equipment Fitzroy. Good balance of warmth, weight, pacability and the dry-lite outer works well in the rain
Outdoor kit prices seem to of got silly in recent years, although I suspect they’ll be some decent retailer discounts about if you shop around. Other option is try outdoor gear exchange group on Facebook or e bay for second hand. Most outdoorists look after their kit well and have jacket habits so some decent prices to be had when people having clear outs
I bought a Fohn gilet from Wiggle and have been happy with it, plenty warm enough for the 2-mile school walk in the mornings. I will be looking at the jacket when my next one is completely had it, got one more winter yet! Worth noting the orange is ORANGE!
Though I only went with it as I wanted the Alpkit but missed out in the sale....
Also, Jack Wolfskin's in the Outlet villages had some in at £40 the other week.
Go to decathlon, at least it'll be cheap n cheerful, and you'll know it's proper outdoor stuff, unlike the tkmaxx stuff.
I used to know a lass that worked in a place that made Armani jeans for the likes of tkmaxx, paid a fee to use the name.
My decathlon 30 quid number has been great, only really comes out for summit eating duties, and descending in colder weather. I'll be replacing it with a Rab synthetic shortly though.
For standing around pitches etc, synthetic is much better than down. Won't be impacted by drizzle/rain
Still prefer it to hydrodown for dreich conditions. Only take down if I know I'm confident I can mostly protect it. Mountain walking in this country involves synthetic fill jackets for me
https://www.sportpursuit.com/catalog/product/view/id/1848548
Really fancy one of these, for general 3 season colder hiking, used with Rab windproof hoody or hard shell, anyone used alpha stuff?
anyone used alpha stuff?
Yes, its light, compressible and works well keeping you warm. Rapha use it in their insulated Gillets & jackets. I have a DHB Alpha gillet, which is very warm.
Guid, think I'll give it a punt.
Alpha isn't really cut out for static warmth. It's great on the move but to get the best out of it you need breathable shells over the top. So it's not as windproof because it's designed to be more air permeable.
I have synthetic (primaloft and own brand), polartec alpha (rapha, and a couple of rabs) and down
Everyday coats are synthetic (although I do have a hydrodown jacket I wear if I reckon it'll be clear)