Stop Wasting Your Money on Down Jackets

if you're looking for an affordable down jacket to keep you warm when temperatures drop there's really only two affordable quality options out there these jackets are as good or in some cases better when compared to jackets from Brands like arterics or Patagonia but cost half as much but which is the better budget down jacket option the REI down hoodie 2.0 or the decathlon Trek 100. at full retail the REI jacket costs 120 dollars whereas the decathlon jacket costs ninety dollars but both go on sale for around 60 to 70 dollars quite often so similar price but are they similar in performance for warmth the decathlon track 100 is the warmer jacket it just has more down in it I can take this down to freezing with just a t-shirt underneath it no problem whereas after you go to about five degrees Celsius 10 degrees Celsius in order to stay warm with the REI jacket both jackets use sew and through baffles so what that means is that wherever you see a seam here that's sewn all the way through the down and at those spots you're going to get some cold coming through the decathlon jacket uses these long horizontal thin baffles whereas the REI jacket has kind of rectangular Square baffles I think that you're going to end up with about the same amount of sewn through area so it's not going to really make a difference in warmth both jackets have hoods but the decathlon one is a little bit more form-fitting it hugs your head and around your face a little bit better and then it has a higher collar as well so when you zip it up fully it really gives you a lot of good coverage and for that reason it keeps your head a lot warmer compared to the REI jacket for weight the jackets actually wait very similar the REI Jackie weighs 315 grams whereas the decathlon jacket weighs 300 grams and the reason for that weight difference comes down to the materials that they're made out of for the decathlon jacket the shell material is a 15 denier to feta nylon with the REI jacket you're getting a little bit of a heavier material 20 denier to feta nylon the decathlon Trek 100 also uses Higher Power Fill down 850 compare that to the 650 power filled down that's in the REI jacket the lighter material and the higher powerful down the decathlon jacket also means that it's going to compress a little bit better compared to the REI jacket while both jackets are well made with the REI jacket you get a one year no questions asked return so if there's anything that you don't like about the jacket you can return it within that one year period whereas with the decathlon jacket you get a two year warranty but it has to be defective in order to be able to return it that decathlon warranty might be different depending on where you are in the world every country that decathlon's in kind of operates on its own rules as far as style goes with the REI jacket you're getting basically two colors orange and blue with the decathlon jacket you get a whole bunch of colors depending on where you are in the world I think UK has the most with about 10 different colors the fit is quite a bit different between the two jackets in the REI jacket I'm wearing a size large right now and it fits me quite well with the decathlon jacket I can squeeze into a size large but the XL gives me a little bit more room to layer underneath and it's just a little bit more comfortable for reference I'm 5 10 180 pounds with a 40 inch chest and 33 inch waist for features both jackets come in the hooded version but the REI also comes in a non-hooded version depending on where you are in the world again you could get the Trek 100 without a hood but not in the US or Canada both jackets have zippered hand Pockets which is really nice to keep your hands warm the zipper is good because you can put things in there zip them up and then you know it's not going to fall out you can also use these pockets in order to stuff the jacket into when you're storing it the REI has two bonus pockets on the inside so you have these two internal Pockets here that you can use for storing things like hats or mitts it's really nice to have this extra storage here the decathlon jacket has a couple features that the REI jacket doesn't one of them being a hem cinch so there's a cinch at the bottom here that you can use to close up the bottom of the jacket this is really nice for locking in heat as well the cuff on the wrist is set back a little bit so you have a little bit of overlap with the jacket and this is really nice just to keep your hands a little bit warmer when talking about down jackets I get asked all the time whether they're waterproof both jackets have a dwr coating on the material which is good for a light misting but that's about it you're not going to be taking these jackets out into a downpour both jackets use RDS certified down which means it's ethically sourced down and then the materials in the REI jacket are also blue side and certified go check out this video if you want to see some more affordable gear there's a lot of really good gear out there that performs way above its price point and has been my goal to find it

Channel: Justin Outdoors

Views: 316,791

Keywords: Backpacking, Hiking, Camping, ultralight, backpacking gear, backpacking gear list, camping gear, hiking gear, ultralight gear, best backpacking gear, best hiking gear, Appalachian Trail, ultralight backpacking, hiking trails, gear review

Id: JDCvbSBPuEc

Length: 4min 31sec (271 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 03 2023