More Puffer Jackets We Recommend

Our top six picks are tried and true puffer jackets for a range of activities. But don’t miss our full list: We’ve got a handful of excellent men’s puffer jackets that maintain important spots in our gear closet. Check out the rest of our recommendations below.

Best Long Puffer Jacket

Helly Hansen Active Long Winter Parka ($350)

Category: Heavyweight
Insulation: Primaloft synthetic insulation
Weight: 49 oz

Pros: Super warm and cozy with a knee-length cut and style for days
Cons: Heavy and doesn’t pack down well due to the synthetic insulation

If you’re looking to stay warm and toasty in truly cold conditions, Helly Hansen has got your back (and butt) covered with the Active Long Winter Parka. Stuffed with Primaloft insulation, and sporting a knee-length cut, as long as your feet and calves are warm, the rest of your body has very little to worry about.

A full-coverage and adjustable hood completes the fit, as well as low-profile wrist gaiters to keep out snow and drafts, and a solid selection of pockets including two zippered handwarmer pockets, a hidden external chest pocket, and an internal mesh drop-in pocket for bulkier items. A two-way zipper is a matter of course for a jacket of this length, letting you keep the body zipped but free up the legs for easier movement.

The only downside to this awesome puffer is the bulk – because the insulation is synthetic, it doesn’t pack small as well as down insulation, and because of the length and heft of the jacket this is not an item you’re going to be able to stuff in a backpack when you get too warm – unless you’ve got a really big backpack.

Warm and Storm Ready

Rab Neutrino Pro ($400)

Category: Heavyweight
Insulation: 800 fill-power goose down
Weight: 21.3 ounces

Pros: Comfortable and ultra-warm puffer with a Pertex Quantum Pro outer shell for water-resistance and durability
Cons: No interior drop-in pockets

Rab’s Neutrino Pro is a top pick in many winter jacket and puffer jacket reviews, and deservedly so. With plenty of toasty 800 fill-power down, this jacket is a true heavyweight puffer, made to keep you warm in the coldest of conditions. The special sauce, however, lies in the Pertex Quantum Pro outer shell, a windproof and highly water-resistant material, that also adds a touch of durability in comparison to most puffer jacket face fabrics.

The jacket has a bit of a looser fit as well for easy layering underneath, and is fully capable of layering over a ski jacket to stay warm while taking a break out in the backcountry, and packs down well to fit in a backpack when it’s time to get moving again. Also of note is the price point, while $400 isn’t cheap, this jacket presents an awesome value at that price, with sufficient warmth and layering capability to replace a bulkier winter jacket in all but the wettest of conditions. If it’s truly raining, though, you’ll certainly be better served with a jacket that is actually waterproof.

In comparison to the Mythic Ultra, also from Rab, above, the Neutrino Pro offers the aforementioned looser fit for easier layering underneath, a touch less warmth, and that more durable outer shell which presents more of a robust jacket, similar to options like The North Face Retro Nuptse, below (though the Neutrino Pro is much more mobile, presenting a best-of-both-worlds puffer/winter jacket combo).

Runner-Up Best Budget Puffer Jacket

REI Co-op 650 Down Jacket ($129)

Category: Lightweight+
Insulation: 650 fill-power of RDS-certified down
Weight: 10.9 oz

Pros: Incredible value for price, full suite of features
Cons: Boxy fit

Decathlon may win the “best budget” game by hitting the golden mark of a $100 down jacket, But for only $30 more ($50 more if you want the hooded version), REI Co-op’s 650 Down Jacket packs a punch with slightly warmer insulation, a full suite of premium features, and recycled materials.

While the popular outdoor retailer carries plenty of premium brands, with price tags to match, its own line of clothing and equipment can go toe-to-toe with the big boys, while maintaining a staggeringly low price point.

The 650 Down Jacket 2.0 is no exception, with a decently warm 3.0 oz of 650 fill-power down, and features like zippered hand pockets, and interior drop-in pockets, and it can be packed into the left-hand pocket for easy storage. The downsides include the fact that it’s certainly not a leader in warmth and has a bit of a boxier fit (a pro for layering but a con if used by itself).

Best Down Alternative Puffer Jacket

Ibex Wool Aire ($285)

Category: Lightweight
Insulation: 2.82 oz of merino wool
Weight: 11.4 oz

Pros: Merino wool insulation provides comparable warmth and loft to down, with the insulating-when-wet performance of synthetic materials
Cons: Merino insulation is a bit heavier/not as lofty as down

Last year, Ibex debuted the Wool Aire Hoodie, a lightweight puffer jacket that uses merino wool instead of down or polyester as insulation. The merino wool tufts loft in a way similar to down (with a bit of added weight), but like synthetics still insulates when wet, and is quite breathable to boot.

While not a true “ultralight” jacket with the slight uptick in weight from the merino wool insulation, this jacket is a great insulator for active pursuits like skiing and hiking, or as a light insulating layer for warmer climates.

The jacket sports an athletic fit, three zippered pockets (it stuffs into the chest pocket for packability), a cozy hood and elastic cuffs and hem. Bluesign certified, it’s made with PFC-free materials, and there’s no doubt that shearing a sheep is less harmful to the animal than taking the feathers from a goose. Responsible Down Standard (RDS) insulation means the geese from which the down came were treated humanely, in other words not live-plucked or force-fed, but the geese are still being slaughtered (for their meat as well as their feathers) to produce the fluffy material.

Retro (And Now Popular) Style

The North Face 1996 Retro Nuptse ($330)

Category: Heavyweight
Insulation: 700 fill-power down
Weight: 27.34 oz

Pros: Warm, with lasting “retro” style that is all the rage this winter
Cons: On the heavier side, boxy, overstuffed fit places an emphasis on style over functionality for outdoors activities

No puffer jacket review would be complete without The North Face, which has been a leader in the space for decades. Its 1996 Retro Nuptse jacket is a classic, having perfected the boxy, oversized puffer look that has seen a recent resurgence in popularity.

While the jacket isn’t necessarily geared towards high-performance or active pursuits, if the puffer you’re looking for will do most of its work looking good and keeping you warm around town or in the city, look no further. The jacket is available in a wide variety of colors from the classic blue/black to neon yellow and has a robust feature set, including zippered hand-pockets (it packs into the right-hand one to a surprisingly small size), a thin, uninsulated hood that packs into the collar, and an inside zippered chest pocket.

CHECK PRICE ON REI Check Price on Backcountry

Comfortable Heavyweight Puffer

Mountain Hardwear Stretchdown Parka ($350)

Category: Heavyweight
Insulation: 700 fill-power goose down
Weight: 27.3 oz

Pros: Stretchy outer fabric provides comfortable ease of movement and durability
Cons: Boxy fit

While we can’t say who started the stretch-puffer movement, it’s safe to say that Mountain Hardwear has helped push this category to the forefront with its series of Stretchdown jackets, vests, and more.

The Stretchdown Parka is the warmest Stretchdown offering, with solid 700-fill-power down insulation, a longer hem that extends past the hips, and a cozy hood and collar with full wrap-around coverage that fits perfectly just under the chin for max warmth without being too cumbersome. The fit is a bit on the boxy side, reducing warmth potential as a stand-alone piece, but allowing for better layering underneath.

The stretch shell fabric is the most notable feature of this jacket, allowing the jacket to move with you in a way that puffer jackets are rarely able to accomplish. The stretch fabric is also more durable than the classic “ripstop” puffer material and will help keep this item looking new far longer than your average puffer.

CHECK PRICE ON REI Check Price on Backcountry

A small selection of jackets we tested. These were some of our favorites. Photo: Will Sileo//The Inertia

Men’s Puffer Jackets Comparison Table

We examined all the features and considered all the details when testing puffer jackets. Photo: Ella Boyd//The Inertia

How We Tested Men’s Puffer Jackets

Puffer jackets are an interesting category because the term in fact covers many different options. Down jackets, synthetic-insulated jackets, lightweight puffers made for high-output activities, heavyweights for snow camping and staying warm while stationary, and stylish parkas made for the city. And now, there are merino wool and even alpaca wool puffer jackets as well, pushing the boundaries of sustainability in puffy insulation.

For this review, lead tester Will Sileo has spent the last three years keeping a close eye on the puffer jacket market and getting hands on the latest and greatest for testing. Based in San Francisco, and with frequent trips to Lake Tahoe, the frigid Northeast, and the Pacific Northwest, Sileo has the perfect varied testing environment to determine the best all-around puffer jackets for a variety of temperatures and conditions. We first published this review in the winter of 2022, and since then have continued to keep the article regularly updated as new products hit the market.

Nathan Lemin, our other gear editor, also contributed testing to this guide. An experienced backpacker, hiker, and snowboarder, Lemin tested puffer jackets in a range of conditions, from sub-freezing nights in the backcountry to high-elevation expeditions in Northern Arizona.

We updated this guide in January 2024 with four new jackets, updated the listings for the Jones and REI puffers which received big improvements in the fall of 2023, and adjusted our rankings based on our continued testing. Then we recalibrated in November 2024 with a couple of new picks (the incredible Arc’teryx Cerium Hoody and Rab Neutrino Pro), and removed some that no longer represented the top options.

From the slopes to the ski town, puffer jackets are our go-to winter wear. Photo: Ella Boyd//The Inertia

Men’s Puffer Jackets Buyer’s Guide

When it comes to buying a jacket, not all puffers are created equal. Since the puffy jacket will be your warmest outer layer, you want to make sure you’re purchasing one that’s going to get the job done.

For ease of comparison, we divided this review into three categories: lightweight, midweight, and heavyweight puffer jackets. Lightweight puffers are best for high-output activities like backcountry skiing, and winter trail running, or as a light outer layer for spring, summer, and fall depending on where you live. We find ourselves reaching for a midweight puffer to layer over a sweatshirt or fleece for nights that get down to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit or as a main insulating layer for colder resort-skiing days. Heavyweight puffers truly shine in low-output activities in the cold, like snow or winter camping, belaying, and exploring colder cities like New York or Chicago, but our favorite use for them is for post-surf warmth when we need some insane insulation to stop the shivers.

The Ibex Wool Aire Jacket features wool insulation rather than down or synthetic. Photo: Skyler Fitzmaurice//The Inertia

Down, Synthetic, or Merino Wool Insulation?

Puffer jackets used to be available in just two options: down or synthetic insulation. Down simply refers to the duck or goose feathers that provide the thermal insulation, which is an incredible insulator, effectively trapping heat while remaining lightweight, and extremely packable. Down is also an extremely long-lasting material, rebounding back into shape after being packed down to provide the same warmth on day 300 of use as it did on day one.

Synthetic insulation is made with polyester fibers that are designed to mimic the qualities of down. Although heavier and not quite as good of an insulator as down (which also translates to increased breathability), synthetic retains heat even when wet and dries much faster as well. However, it tends to pack down and lose its shape much quicker than down insulation.

Our favorite innovation for technical puffer jackets is found in the Arc’teryx Cerium Hoody, which combines down insulation with strategically located synthetic insulation in wet-prone areas. This brings you the best of both worlds, and it’s a fantastic option for high-output activities.

Merino wool is a new fill material that just hit the market in the past couple of years, to incredible success. The most popular merino wool puffer, the Ibex Wool Aire Hoodie, was our top pick for down-alternative puffer jackets, packing plenty of warmth into a relatively lightweight construction. Merino wool insulation seeks to bridge the gap between down and synthetic options, bringing a similar use of natural materials as down as well as the warm-when-wet performance of synthetic materials.

A longer puffer jacket like the Helly Hansen is great for apres and around town. Photo: Ella Boyd//The Inertia

Another recent innovation is “hydrophobic” down, where the feathers themselves (rather than the shell of the jacket) are treated with a water-repellent finish that is treated to stand up to wetness. The jury is still out on how beneficial hydrophobic down treatment is, and indeed some brands actively push against it as helpful.

It’s also worth noting that most down and synthetic jackets have some amount of water repellence in terms of a DWR coating on the face fabric up to a full-blown waterproof membrane like what you might find in a ski or rain jacket to keep that insulation dry in all but the most extreme of circumstances. But in those extreme circumstances, synthetic takes the cake.

For those looking to shop responsibly, down vs. synthetic is a tough call. Down, being made of feathers has to come from a bird, usually geese or ducks, which are sometimes raised and slaughtered in horrible circumstances for their feathers. Responsible Down Standard (RDS)-Certified down like that found in the Patagonia Down Sweater is something to look for here, meaning the down has come from sources that treated the animals which the feathers came from as humanely as possible.

Synthetic fills (polyester is a popular choice) are almost always based on fossil fuels, making them not a super sustainable option. However, the use of recycled materials can reduce synthetics’ impact on the environment. This is a big selling point for alternative insulation like Merino wool, as it doesn’t fall prey to either of these pitfalls.

The Decathlon Forclaz MT100. Photo: Skyler Fitzmaurice//The Inertia

Fill Power vs. Fill Weight

As with most outdoor gear, the devil is in the details, and when it comes to puffer jackets, especially down puffers, that could not be more true. Fill power is perhaps the most touted number when it comes to down insulation, but probably the least useful. Fill power speaks to the quality of the down inside the jacket. Higher fill-power down stays lofted better than lower fill-power down, meaning it takes up more room and insulates better than the same weight of lower-quality down.

Fill weight refers to how much of said down is stuffed into the jacket by weight, but is often not listed. If it is listed, be sure to take a look at both numbers to get a sense of the relative warmth of the jacket. For example, the 850-fill down in the Arc’teryx Cerium Hoody doesn’t necessarily make that jacket warmer than the 700-fill down Mountain Hardwear Stretchdown Parka, because the latter has a higher fill weight.

Fit is also an important consideration for warmth, a boxier fit will allow for easier layering but can be a bit drafty if worn by itself, while a jacket with a more streamlined fit will keep you warmer, but can be more difficult to layer underneath. Overall weight is another good number to look at, but this can be skewed by heavier or lighter-weight shell and lining materials as well as features like hoods or zippered pockets.

Roomy drop-in pockets are a top feature on the Jones Re-Up Recycled Puffer. Photo: Ryan Salm//The Inertia

Other Features to Look For in Puffer Jackets

If you’re spending 200+ on a jacket, it’s worth taking a second to decide what features matter to you, and how you plan on using the jacket. Packability is a big one, if you’re looking for a puffer for any sort of technical application like backpacking or backcountry skiing where space in your pack matters, you’re going to want a jacket that packs down small.

Pockets are another consideration. We’re huge fans of jackets with internal drop-in pockets for stashing hats and other items, but that’s certainly not a deal-breaker for everyone. Skiers and snowboarders probably don’t care about hoods, and might explicitly be looking for a jacket without one for easy layering under a shell, but campers, climbers who will be standing and belaying, as well as those looking for an around-town puffer jacket, will certainly appreciate the uptick in warmth a hood provides.

Return To: Top Picks | Comparison Table

Editor’s Note: Also check out our Best Women’s Puffer Jackets. For more gear reviews and features on The Inertia, click here.

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