At the same time, environmental restrictions, self-mandated and industry-driven, are creating pressure on companies to be more transparent in how they source down. Marmot’s broad product line tends to hamper their ability to champion one product over another, but the company’s use of 3M Thinsulate Featherless insulation earned it high marks from a tester who was surprised at the material’s quick-dry characteristics.Īs evidenced by this test, brands continue to push fabric companies like Polartec, 3M, and Schoeller to invent tougher, lighter, and higher performing fabrics. Competition aside, there isn’t a “bad” jacket in the bunch, only products that testers found better in one way or another. However, if not for the extra $50, the Arc’teryx Cerium LT would give it a worthy match in terms of warmth and weight. Patagonia’s most celebrated product of 2018, the Micro Puff jacket, performed well in terms of packability and comfort. There’s a range of insulation types found in this test, and when it comes to features, expect to pay more for a hood and sacrifice weight if you want drawcords and extra pockets. It appears manufacturers are shooting for warmth-to-weight ratios, as many of the subjects in this test are well under a pound and pack snugly into pockets and included stuff sacks. These jackets have become de-facto mid-layers under hardshells, and as DWR coatings and insulation materials become heartier testers found them adequate temporary protection against summer afternoon rain or quick winter squalls. Lightweight insulated jackets boast a heavy share of the market, as they provide those who recreate outdoors a wide range of uses, from an outer layer at the resort to morning warmth on cool summer backpacking trips. But we all know these jackets can also serve in our daily lifestyle activities, from shoveling snow to running to the grocery store-we tested in those contexts as well. Testers put the jackets through their intended outdoor uses, such as snowshoe treks, ski coaching, backcountry touring, backpacking, and resort days. To the reasonable buyer, it’s easy to choose between a jacket meant for 60✯ fall mornings and one designed to protect when the temps hit the negatives. There were some questions about what constitutes a “lightweight” insulated jacket, and we landed, obviously, on its general weight, fill power, and marketed intent. Ten testers were used to put all of the jackets through their paces. In the end, the items chosen for full reviews offer buyers a cross section of what they’ll find on store shelves and online storefronts. Dozens of jackets were researched and over 15 individual jackets were received for field testing.
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