Need a new insulated jacket - reccomendations?

Bryguy wrote:Thanks for all the recommendations. I decided to go with the RAB Neutrino Endurance. Based on all my research it seems like will be about as warm as my MH Sub Zero, but lighter and slightly more water resistant. I still can't get over my fear of synthetic insulation not being warm enough. If anyone is interested, I will post a review once I get it and use it a bit.

I will post a review of the jacket when I get it in.

Here we go getting dorky. The loft and density of down determines its clo value. Primaloft One (clo .92/oz) and Sport (.79/oz) are indeed better insulators than an industry-average packed 550 FP down (.70 clo) garment, but 800+ fill down comes in at 1.68 clo/oz or so in most quality manufacturer's garments. The nerds over at Backpacking Light do a great job comparing synthetic and natural insulation. Some of their data is way off from what you would expect. Materials seem way more important than relative loft. I guess that's why the new DAS can be so much thinner and more packable than previous models.

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backpackinglight.com/cgi-bi…

Here is my two cents based soley from my experience...

Arcteryx Fission LT Hoody: Freaking awesome. Warm and bomber. I sold mine a couple years ago and been regretting it since. Try to find one on ebay or some one's FS post. Packs up to loaf of bread size ish.

Patagonia DAS: Have used a couple of friends. Super warm but a little too bulky for my taste and doesn't stuff down all that small. Think small turkey.

Montbell Belay Parka: Forget the exact name, but used my friends in Canada during some cold day because my NF parka sucked. I really liked it, worked well..

Cloudveil Enclosure Hoody: Good jacket, didn't have a lot of climber refinements (adjustable arm cuff, two way zipper). With that being said it was always warm and suprisingly durable. I've used it in -4F temps in Wyoming and During bivys in Washington Winters (cold and wet), always excelling.

With that being said, I have been extremely impressed with my Rab gear, Latok jacket and glove, fusion pants and ice gaunlet glove. I would not hesistate to use any of their gear.

Reviews of several heavy weight belay jackets here:

coldthistle.blogspot.com/20…

and more here:

More here but you have to run through several pages to find all the jacket reviews

coldthistle.blogspot.com/se…

I didn't pull any punches..some of the favorites everyone mentions (here or in general) sucked imo.

Get a feathered friends volant jacket (with the hood). You'll thank me later.