most packable big puffy?

[lorcar]

what do you recommend as big puffy to keep in your bag in case you stop and wait in the shadow, or for overnight emergency? I undestand this will not be used that often, so important to minimize space in the backpack. How is the Pata Macro puff?
also, since i guess it will be used OVER the shell and all your layers, should it be oversized?
thanks

[1000-oaks]

Check out Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends, and Rab. I don't bother looking at Patagonia stuff much, but what little I have seen is nothing like the loft and quality of the other three brands. IMHO, much of the Pata price is for the label, not for the garment.

[lowsparkco]

Most of them pack down pretty small and yes buy at least a 1/2 size up so it will fit over your shell.

[CaliBrit]

Patagonia Fitzroy, often 50% off come sale time. Mine was. Great jacket.

[HHTELE]

Patagonia Fitzroy, often 50% off come sale time. Mine was. Great jacket.

2nd that.
Amazing warmth for weight, as well as a wide temp range in which it is comfortable.

[Bronco]

One consideration is your local climate. If you’re in a maritime area, you should be looking at synthetic insulation and down for high and dry mountains. Are you BC skiing or strictly resort? I believe BC skiers need to have enough gear to keep warm for 6-8 hours in the event there is an injury in their party. Obviously in the resort it’s not as much of a consideration.

I’d suggest starting with a synthetic insulated hoody with 60-80ish grams of insulation and expand the quiver from there.

[rob stokes]

I researched this a few months back. Ended up getting the OR alpine down hoody. Happy with it so far-can’t beat the price.


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[tgapp]

This might be an unconventional recommendation, but I'd keep an eye out for a Brooks Range Alpini or Mojave down jacket. Brooks Range went out of business a year or so ago, but Alpinis and Mojaves come up for sale all the time. The Alpini is a hooded (or hoodless) anorak-style pullover with a ton of 800FP water-resistant down. Packs down super small, is very warm, and is a great "Crisis puffy".

The Mojave is a little more feature-rich, with a full front zip, zippered hand pockets, and a Napolean pocket as well. It's baffled in the front and sewn-thru in the back, but somehow it feels less warm than the Alpini.

Both can be found for super cheap if you keep an eye out for them. Granted, Brooks Range is no longer in business, so you won't be able to warranty anything, but I've found their stuff to be very high quality.

[adrenalated]

2nd that.
Amazing warmth for weight, as well as a wide temp range in which it is comfortable.

3rd the Patagonia Fitz Roy. It packs noticeably smaller than my Rab Neutrino Endurance jacket and is just as warm, although it doesn't have the waterproof shell. I agree that the Western Mountaineering stuff is excellent but I've never had my hands on a Meltdown jacket to compare. Still if you can find a Fitz Roy on sale it's a no brainer.

Down vs. synthetic - down will pack smaller, synthetic stays warm if it gets wet. I'm in the Rockies, down works great.

[Meadow Skipper]

Check out Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends, and Rab.

This. For the best warmth v. packability ratio, it’s hard to beat Western Mountaineering’s Flash or Rab’s Zero G. A side benefit: either one will make your wallet a lot lighter.

Of course I’ve heard great things about FF, but my experience is with Rab and WM. I ended up with Rab over WM because of a slightly more durable shell fabric and slightly warmer.

[riff]

I’ll second the OR Alpine Down, I’m pretty happy with mine. Very warm, reasonably packable. I would probably have gone down one size if I’d been able to try it on.
Inside drop pockets are a bit too low, bulky objects will be in the way a bit.


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[auvgeek]

For best warmth/weight ratio, get something with a low denier face fabric and box baffle construction. For packability, get something with a high fill power, a supple, low denier face fabric, and smaller size. For durability and weatherproof, get something with a high-denier, weatherproof face fabric.

The absolute best warmth/weight I've found is the MontBell Mirage. 900 fp down is 40% of the jacket weight and it uses a 7 denier face fabric. At 13 oz, it's not really a "winter weight" puffy, but it has as much down as many 20 oz parkas. Plus, box construction is hard to find on <20 oz jackets. If you're carrying a shell anyway, just wear the Mirage under a shell. This will be warmer, allow you to size down on the Mirage, and alleivate the durability and weatherproof issues with the 7D nylon fabric.

Or look at some of the other options in the 20-25 oz range: Fitz Roy, Neutrino Pro, etc. I personally would just get the one I could find on sale that fit. I don't think WM or FF are worth the markup when you can find a nice baffled 20 oz jacket on sale for <$300.

For best use: store uncompressed and compress in a waterproof stuff sack in the pack (especially for a maritime climate). Don't leave in your pack compressed for a season.

[XXX-er]

used the Rab Neutrino last week at -32, it really does work and its very packable.

warmer than -10 I use a lighter puffy for touring, colder than -10 I swtich to the heavy puffy

-32 was too cold to tour and I used the big puffy for walking to the bar

[I've seen black diamonds!]

I like my Fitz Roy more than I liked my Rab Neutrino whatever that it replaced. Same weight but warmer. Less feathers poking through the fabric. Better hood. On the other hand, if I were buying a new one I'd still buy the Rab if it were a good deal cheaper. Down jackets aren't that complicated. Some things aren't worth geeking out over.

[skaredshtles]

TNF, of course.

[mtnjam]

I like my MontBell for staying super warm, it packs up pretty small too, but not usually my go to pack puffy.

[Conundrum]

https://www.firstlite.com/products/m...in-down-jacket

Warmest for weight down jacket I've worn and it packs down well. Price isn't terrible. Mags work at the company. It's a hunting oriented brand so probably doesn't get a lot of looks around here. They have a couple solid colors if you don't like camo. PS-I only wear their merino base layers for skiing now and their compression socks make pretty good wool ski socks.