Last year I bought three different insulated jackets (Steep and Cheap just kept offering them up, yes, and I have since signed up with a 12-step gear addiction program)

I love the lightest jacket of the bunch, but I haven't used it in the mountains yet, It is light and warm, but no hood and really too thin for anything but summer, I think, unless you also bring a fleece to layer with it. It is super light and packs into its own pocket, making it a standard gear item for summer trips.

My redneck office mate said I look like a girl from New Jersey when wearing it... Mine is last year's model, 800 fill, all shiny black, but I got it for less than $100.


For possibly wet and overall not so friendly weather I have a Mammut Stratus synthetic fill belay jacket with hood (also a Steep and cheap steal at about $100). I would probably take this one on a longer ski tour - the risk of down getting wet has me somewhat worried when heading into place where I cannot back out for days when things turn ugly. A bit heavier than your usual down jacket for its level of insulation, but still well under 2 pounds. http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=849


And the third and warmest jacket is a Mountain Hardware sub zero with hood. Just thin enough to still fit below my hardshell, but seriously puffy when worn alone. It's warmer than the Mammut, not much heavier, and has a conduit fabric layer to help keep things dry. I have not had a chance to test how well that actually works.
http://www.backcountry.com/mountain-hardwear-sub-zero-sl-hooded-down-jacket-mens

I had the MHW Sub Zero on Whitney in April - definitely the right amount of insulation for the temps then when in camp. Didn't need it during the day when moving.

Great on those cold Whitney mornings in early April when your Jetboil Helios pot lid takes a frisbee flight down the mountain and you have to get out of the tent to retrieve it from the frozen surface of Frog Pond, 400 feet below:



When shopping for the warm jacket, I was initially looking at the Western Mountaineering Flight jacket (now called the Meltdown Jacket), but it seemed rather expensive for the 6 ounces I could have saved, and the Flight jacket didn't even have a hood. Even the the Patagonia Fitzroy seemed like a better choice at the time, but when the MHW went on sale ($139, I think), I grabbed it. Like it a lot, even if it's just 650 fill - that kep the price down. It's twice as heavy as the North Face Diez but also much warmer.




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