Down Coats

who makes the best down coats for someone on a budget.

Thanks Dave

I've been real happy with my $70 650 fill Cabellas jacket.

EMS makes their Glacier Down jacket for $99. Is on sale for $70 quite often. I have one, and it is quite warm and well-made. Not as nice as some, but for $70 it will do the job. It stuffs into its own inside pocket and makes a perfect pillow for winter camping. If you cinch it down with a compression strap and throw it in your pack as a camp jacket, it will compress down to about the size of a 1L Nalgene bottle.

http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_detail_square.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442598109&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=282574488338501&emssrclnk=staffpicks

I've found many in thrift stores. Sometimes Lands End has good prices and reasonable quality. Look on the outlet sections of REI and the like for more bargains.

REI garage sales FTW.

Here in the SFBay Area (and from what I remember from living there years ago), GoodWill and other thrift shops have all sorts of excellent "specialized sports" gear in great condition really cheap. People buy this stuff with big plans, then use it once or twice and get rid of it. We see men, especially, who have hit one of the magic ages (40 or 50), suddenly realize that they need to go on that Grand Adventure (climb the 7 Summits, compete in the Iditarod, heliski, or for non-snow, kayak Class 5+ rapids, trek through the Amazon/Congo/other river), get the gear, get into the training, and discover that the past 2 or 3 decades of sitting at a desk just don't cut it. They might get dragged up Rainier, or Mont Blanc, or an Andean peak, then realize they aren't going to make all 7 Summits (or maybe even just 1). So the gear shows up at GoodWill, or sometimes in the guide service shops (these shops rent gear and sell the rental gear each season).

So you can go for the most expensive (new price), top of the line gear, and find it such places for 10 cents on the new price in dollars - worn once or twice. Of course, you do have to inspect it - people like that often do not know how to care for their gear. I got my wet suit for $15 in virtually brand new condition, for example - which is good, since I rarely use it.

I have the Mountain Hardwear SubZero which I really like. I got it on a similar sale as per the link and it has proven to be really durable.

It lofts very nice (comes with a stuff sack - although never tried it) and has additional water proof fabric over the shoulders (the black strip).

http://www.backcountry.com/store/MHW0946/Mountain-Hardwear-Sub-Zero-Down-Jacket-Mens.html?CMP_ID=SH_FRO001&CMP_SKU=MHW0946&mv_pc=r126