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How to choose the right down jacket?

As soon as the mercury drops, we start to see it on every street corner. In all colors, with or without a hood, a jacket or a parka, the down jacket has become widely popular. It must be said that it has many advantages: it is extremely light, compacts easily and it provides a lot of heat.

While some wear it as soon as the mercury drops below 15 ° C, others prefer to keep it for days at -15 ° C. Large variations in temperature, but also large variations in “quality”.
So here are some tips for your next purchase of a down jacket.
1. Determine what type of insulation is best for you. There are in fact 2 main categories of insulation: synthetic and down. A synthetic down jacket keeps you warm and wicks away moisture from the body very well. It is also less expensive and easier to maintain. The down jacket will bring you instant warmth for minimal weight. As soon as you are too active, it becomes very poorly breathable.

blog-duvets12. Look at the composition of the mantle and understand it. On synthetic insulations, you will find a number indicating a weight (the higher the weight, the warmer it is) while on down insulations, it will be an index informing you about the density of the down . For example, an 800 down may not necessarily be warmer than a 650 down; it will just take more 650 down to achieve the warmth of the 800 and you increase the weight of your down jacket.
In the composition of the down jacket you want, you will find other numbers like the percentage of down vs feather. The higher the percentage of down, the more you will gain in heat, lightness and compression. Conversely, the main effect of the feather is to make the coat lofty.

3. Look at the type of nylon, ie the outer fabric of the down jacket. The thinner this nylon, the lighter and more compact it is. This is a way to save a few more grams on your down jacket.
4. Check the different water-repellent treatments or to counter humidity. The nylons of down jackets are generally treated to be water-repellent in the event of rain or snow. On the other hand, only certain manufacturers are developing water-repellent treatments specific to duvets. This greatly increases the effectiveness of their down jacket because the down is much more resistant to moisture.
Even if these few points should enlighten you as to the choice of your next jacket, you must think about the uses you will want to make of it (in multilayer in winter, when hiking, traveling or camping ...)
Finally, the choice of your down jacket should also depend on your resistance to the cold and your level of activity when you wear it.
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