What works
- Warm well past −15 °C with a base layer
- Hydrophobic down handles teahouse humidity
- Packs to about the size of a two-litre bottle
- Helmet-compatible hood that works without one
What does not
- Expensive against a $30 Kathmandu hire
- Shell fabric is light and snags easily
- Slightly athletic cut over mid-layers
Warmth
Rated by Rab for still-air comfort below −15 °C, and that matches field experience: worn over a merino base and grid fleece it was sufficient standing on Kala Patthar at first light in early November, with a hard wind.
Packability
545 grams and roughly two litres packed. That is light for the warmth, and it is the reason this jacket has displaced heavier synthetics in most Himalayan kit lists.
The hire question
Kathmandu's Thamel district rents perfectly serviceable down jackets for about $1.50 a day. Over a fourteen-day trek that is $21 against $400. Unless you will use the jacket at home, hire.
About the author
Tom Eriksen
Gear editor & photographer
Tom tests trekking equipment the only way that produces honest answers: by carrying it for weeks at a time above 4,000 metres. He shoots most of the photography on this site and writes the gear reviews, comparison tables and packing lists.
Writes about: Trekking gear · Photography · Packing and weight
