Puffy Comparison: Tear It Up!

[Jaden Bales]

Had some great feedback from a boot spreadsheet I posted, so here's another one I did for puffy jackets.


Now we aren't talking light puffy jackets like the Kelvin Active Light or Unpronounceable.

This is a comparison of freeze-your-butt-off cold weather puffy jackets you can use from a glassing point when it's 5 degrees out and -15 degree wind chill. In which case, I wouldn't blame you for adding a snow/rain shell over the top.

Tear it up! What do you think? Did I miss any?

 

[ChanceinMN]

I think the Sitka Kalvin ws hoody has a down/synthetic mix. 70/30 maybe? Which is what I believe first lite does also.
Awesome list though. I would add some of outdoor research’s down jackets. They make some great stuff.


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[Trial153]

Add the Filson Down Feather weight to the mix...

 

[Jaden Bales]

I think the Sitka Kalvin ws hoody has a down/synthetic mix. 70/30 maybe? Which is what I believe first lite does also.
Awesome list though. I would add some of outdoor research’s down jackets. They make some great stuff.


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Sure enough, Sitka's and First Lite's down are 70% goose down 30% synthetic. I missed that part. That's sweet!

Do you like the Transcendent Hoody from OR for this list? I love OR stuff - been running their Foray rain jacket in Coyote Brown for like 5 years and it's arguably my favorite piece of gear I've ever bought.

 

[ChrisAU]

I can tell you this, if I was freezing I'd trade 3 Kuiu Super Downs for 1 FL Chamberlin.

 

[MuleyFever]

Fill weights?

 

[Jaden Bales]

I can tell you this, if I was freezing I'd trade 3 Kuiu Super Downs for 1 FL Chamberlin.

Hahah. Why do you say that? Serious question because they're dang close on the specs and I've never held the Kuiu Super Down.

 

[ChanceinMN]

Sure enough, Sitka's and First Lite's down are 70% goose down 30% synthetic. I missed that part. That's sweet!

Do you like the Transcendent Hoody from OR for this list? I love OR stuff - been running their Foray rain jacket in Coyote Brown for like 5 years and it's arguably my favorite piece of gear I've ever bought.

I’d add the transcendent. They used to have an ‘Alpine down jacket’ that I think they just took off their website. That was supposed to be their warmest and most durable. Seemed like a sweet jacket.


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[Jaden Bales]

Fill weights?

Not a bad idea. I couldn't find them consistently on each company's websites, so I might have to do some deeper digging to get that info across the board.

 

[MuleyFever]

Hahah. Why do you say that? Serious question because they're dang close on the specs and I've never held the Kuiu Super Down.

They aren’t even close in specs. The FL has about 3 times the fill.

If your talking the ultra. The Pro is closer but still quite a bit less fill.

I see by the weight you have the Pro listed. I think the FL has over 6oz if fill to the 5 the pro has. The KUIU is almost half the weight though.

 

[Jaden Bales]

They aren’t even close in specs. The FL has about 3 times the fill.

If your talking the ultra. The Pro is closer but still quite a bit less fill.

Yeah, that spreadsheet should say "Super Down Pro Hooded Jacket." But you're right! Good catch to you and ChrisAU.

Kuiu's warmest jacket has 5 oz of fill while the Chamberlin has 11oz of fill weight. FL should post that figure in their specs, because I had to use the Googlizer to find it. Kelvin WS has 9 oz. LPP has like 3.6 oz.

Thanks for tearing it up fellas! Keep it coming.

 

[Lou2]

Anyone have any experience with the SKRE ptarmigan 850? Their site has it at $270.

 

[MuleyFever]

I didn’t think the FL had that much. They say 30% more than the competition which I thought would be the Pro.

One thing I hate about FL is their lack of specs on a lot of stuff.

 

[Dos Perros]

Without the fill weight it's a fairly useless list. I'd also add a column for construction, box baffle vs sewn through.

Some sort of warmth factor could be calculated by (fill weight)*(fill power), and then *1.15 or thereabouts for box baffle. The durability would be directly proportional to the (total weight)-(fill weight), and then probably divided by 1.15 or thereabouts for box baffle since you wouldn't get any durability benefit from interior fabric.

 

[Jaden Bales]

Lou2, I'll check out the SKRE jacket for sure and see if specs fit this profile.

Also, I completely forgot about Fjallraven's... yep I'm going full Donnie on this one.

 

[Jaden Bales]

Without the fill weight it's a fairly useless list. I'd also add a column for construction, box baffle vs sewn through.

Some sort of warmth factor could be calculated by (fill weight)*(fill power), and then *1.15 or thereabouts for box baffle. The durability would be directly proportional to the (total weight)-(fill weight), and then probably divided by 1.15 or thereabouts for box baffle since you wouldn't get any durability benefit from interior fabric.

I'm working on fill weights now.

I am going to make a column for just face fabric since there's no standard, but that's not a bad idea. Maybe I'll run a column with that equation and see if it matched the ranking of durability I am giving based on face fabric.

 

[realunlucky]

Lou2, I'll check out the SKRE jacket for sure and see if specs fit this profile.

Also, I completely forgot about Fjallraven's... yep I'm going full Donnie on this one.

The SKRE ptarmigan has 5oz of treated 850 down its a great piece that will compare well with most of your list.

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[TBHasler]

Hahah. Why do you say that? Serious question because they're dang close on the specs and I've never held the Kuiu Super Down.

This has been addressed a bit, but the fill weight suggestion is key. Using 800 vs 900 down doesn't tell me how much of it they use; fill weight does. I've never used the Kuiu or other 7-10 oz models, but from what I've read, heard and experienced with lighter weight puffys (lighter weight generally means lighter fill rate) these ultra light weight jackets will leave you colder. And at 5 degrees with 15 mph winds...freezing.

 

[sndmn11]

Fill weights?

Agreed, if you can find the fill weight you can do some math to figure out the cubic inch volume of the insulation by multiplying it by the fill power.

 

[TBHasler]

If you're really wanting to be an overachiever, you may want to add in more of the non-hunting technical options. From what I've been reading, lots of folks have moved to technical/mountaineering brands vs hunting brands (including myself). Lots of folks opting for the Gerry brand from Costco, Patagonia, Eddie Bauer, LL Bean. I used one from REI for a few years and found the one i use now at Backcountry.com.
I'd contend the "best" options out there are NOT made by the hunting brands.