850-fill down jacket for $199?! Seems like a joke but it’s not. My Trail Company removes the middleman. Instead of forcing customers to pay a double mark-up, they are the manufacturer and retailer, keeping the customer’s cost low. But did they cut a bunch of corners? Looking at the specs and materials, they didn’t cut any corners.
My Trail Co 850 Fill Hyperlight Hooded Down Jacket features:
- Semi-Trim fit
- Outer Shell: 10-Denier Ripstop Nylon with DWR (durable water repellent) finish
- Lining: 10-denier Ripstop Nylon
- Insulation: 850-fill Power Goose Down Fill weight [Lg]: 130g
- Full-length front zipper with internal storm flap to prevent drafts
- External zipper garage for skin comfort
- Elastic cord hem adjustment
- Low profile elastic cuffs
- Low profile elastic hood
- Zippered handwarmer pockets
- Internal media pocket
- Reflective Logo front & back for safety
- Ethically sourced – Responsible Down Standards (RDS) – Learn more at responsibledown.org
- Weight [Lg]: 11oz
- Price: $199
The deal with 850 fill down
To put it simply, the higher the fill number the better warmth for weight and less bulk. In this case you get a toasty jacket weighing only 11oz without looking like a marshmallow man (No offense Stay Puft). After my months of testing the down still lofts well and is still where it needs to be. The square baffles help keep the down in place. So I haven’t noticed any down drift or settling yet.
My Trail Co encased the down with 10-Denier Ripstop Nylon. You get good strength to weight with that fabric. If you ask around I think the consensus would say that one of the biggest annoyances with down jackets is losing feathers. I haven’t noticed a single feather coming out of the jacket. This is a huge plus. I used this for my daily jacket as well as heading into the mountains. I haven’t experienced a single snag or tear. The seams seem decent (see what I did there). I haven’t noticed any/very few loose threads, even at the cuffs. The jacket is treated with DWR. We’ve seen very little precipitation this winter so I haven’t had a chance to really test this out to see how well it does. You can think of the shell as a complete down protection system.
The handwarmer pockets are roomy but the placement is a little awkward. They are placed almost straight at your sides as opposed to slightly in front like most jackets. You will have to reach back a little to get your hands in. Openings are nice and big so you can still get your hands in with a light (fleece) glove on. One missing feature would be a soft lining. A small media pocket is included on the inside and is only big enough for a small MP3 player. The stuff pocket could also count as a pocket but I’m not sure what you’d use it for beside stuffing the jacket.
The hood is good. No drawstrings but it’s cut well and the elastic hem helps to hold it in place. With the jacket fully zipped it’d take a decent wind to push it off. It’s also sized to be just roomy enough to fit over a beanie.
My one and only complaint is the fit. I’m 6 feet, 185 lbs, and I have a positive ape-index (arm span measures 6’ 3”). Finding jackets that fit my body and my arms is challenging. I typically have to go a size up to find a jacket that fits my arm length. The size large fit my body perfectly, even with a heavier layer on. The arms were super short though. Even putting it on the arms were short and once I reached they really pulled up. I live close to the My Trail Co store so I took it in and exchanged. The XL body is big on me and the arms are still too short! So now I have a jacket that is too big in the body and still too short in the arms.
The jacket is fairly packable. The inner pocket acts as the built-in stuff sack. When stuffing in that pocket it stuffs to about the size of a Nalgene BUT could stuff much smaller. For kicks, I stuffed it into a handwarmer pocket. Not as tall but wider. If you have a small stuff sack, you can stuff it much smaller. With this small size and lighter weight, this would be a good jacket to take as your warm layer when traveling, backpacking, or ski touring.
One last note on the down: My Trail Co uses down that is ethically sourced. If you compare jackets of a similar price ($199) and even budget jackets you likely won’t find ethically sourced down. You can learn more at Responsible Down on their process. This is one more example of the quality going into this jacket and more value for your money.
The Good
- Great price
- Solid construction
- High warmth to weight ratio
- Ethically sourced down
The Bad
- Arms are way too short
- Would like to see the handwarmer pockets lined
The Bottom Line: My Trail Hyperlight Hooded Down Jacket
If you’re looking for bang-for-your-buck this is the jacket for you. You’ll get a lot of warmth, good construction, and quality down for a fraction of the price of other jackets. Watch that sleeve length though.
Buy Now: Available from MyTrailCo.com
