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I agree all the higher end tech clothing companies are good quality and you really can't go wrong with most of it. I have owned a ton of it over the years and I do feel arc'teryx is slightly above the rest. Unfortunately so is their price. Like you said fit is a big part and I have always liked how arc'teryx fit is more athletic without getting too tight and it looks good enough to wear on the streets. I do think most the companies are now going in that direction which I am happy about.
Northface owns mountain hardwear but I thinkI prefer MH over NF. I have had some bad experiences with some northface over the years. Some of the MH lines are very nice. There is a pair of insulated pants that people rave about that are always soldout.
I just got turned off of down when I was younger. I bought a down sleeping bag and was backpacking in Olympic NP. It rained really hard and our tent failed us. The sleeping bag got wet and that night was terrible. It just would not get warm. I also hated everytime I wanted to clean it it was a pain.
I know a lot of companies now are starting to weather treat the down so the wet issue isn't as big of a problem anymore.
as you said there is pros to down as well. Compression, warmth and it is normally lighter than the synthetic comparison.
The companies you mentioned are all really great. I also like the company RAB
Two23 wrote:
I have two "high end" down coats--an Outdoor Research "technical" jacket that is very light and features 800F down in a waterproof breathable covering. It's good 40F to maybe 20F. With good base layer and moderate activity it will work to about zero F. It's very, very light and compresses very compactly. When it starts getting really cold (zero F to -40) that's when I pull out the Mountain Hardwear. It too has a waterproof/breathable shell, but the inner lining is not waterproof. Usually when I'm wearing that there isn't any liquid water around anyway. There are advantages to down to go along with the "downsides." An 800F down remains the warmest insulator per weight out there. It's both warm and very lightweight. A down jacket can be tightly compressed and stored in a smaller space. Since I'm mostly worried about simply staying warm in some pretty harsh winter conditions on the Northern Plains, I've been staying with 800F down. It comes down to personal perference, of course.
As for winter clothing, I think all of the "technical" brands are great--Mountain Hardwear, Arc, Marmot, Fjallraven, Canada Goose, Outdoor Research, etc. are excellent and again it comes down to fit and personal preference. I would include Northface, but after seeing every teenage girl at the mall wearing that brand, I don't know. Last winter I was in downtown Chicago and all the city people wear wearing Northface as well. For fun, I asked them what the "north face" was. Not one of them had any idea. I'm sure they have some nice stuff if you read the specs, but it's not for me.
This is the OR jacket I wear for moderate cold--fully waterproofed down, and it's very thin and warm:
https://www.outdoorresearch.com/en/mens-floodlight-down-jacket.html
Kent in SD ...Show more →
Edited on Nov 23, 2016 at 07:58 PM · View previous versions
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