I’m about to press the go button on one of these. Does anyone have one? They’re £120 each now, which is a big hike(!) up from the £80 they were not that long ago. Is there anything around for the same price that’s better?

It has to be:

1. Down
2. Warm!!!! None of your ‘microlight’ shenanigans- this will be for sitting around, at night, in the cold!!
3. Reasonable pack size- I’ll be taking it wild camping.
4. Around the £120 mark

There seem to be lots of deals in places like Cotswold Outdoors and the like on down jackets now the winter is over. I’ve got a Mountain Equipment Lightline which may be a bit more (I’ve seen them for £130 but I can’t remember where) and its great – I’ve not worn a Filo but a mate has one (he only paid £80 for his though) and my ME does seem to be of better quality (IMHO).
£120 will give you some choice if you look around – I’m sure the Filo will do the job very well but I think there’ll be better options for the money if you look

I bought Mrs PF one about 18 months ago. She loves it, wears it all the time (not just for popping out to the shops in winter, proper cold stuff).

It feels slightly warmer than my more alpine orientated Montane, but also bulkier and heavier. The materials are a bit less “fancy” and the cut isn’t as nice, but if it’s for wearing while sitting at camp then that shouldn’t matter. It is more shower resistant than I thought it would be.

Go outdoors normally has a decent range of down jackets if you fancy trying a few on? The fit is important if you plan to do anything with it other than sit around in it. I struggled with loads that I tried on (including all the classic/go to styles).

That said, the Filo is an absolute steal at £80, but I think you’ll be happy at £120.

I’ve got one of the mk1 filos. Very warm jacket and quite bulky, certainly not a ‘micro’ jacket. It does not pack down small, but the newer models are supposed to be finer material that gives a smaller pack size. I also have a rab down jacket of similar warmth and its 2 – 3 times smaller pack size than the Filo. The drop tail on the filo is a nice touch though. Keeps you arse toasty.

One thing don’t like about the mk1 filo isthe button on hood. Much rather have a integral hood.

These people are advertising some very good deals on Mountain Equipment down jackets but it looks like they don’t have much stock – might be worth giving them a call. Bought an ME Annapurna jacket from them a couple of years ago and the price was excellent; service was good too, with prompt delivery.

Yes I like Gaynor Sports, I’ve bought a couple of things from them

stevemorg2 can you tell me a bit more about your Lightline? How warm is it and what’s the pack size like, that sort of thing?

Yep got one and so has missus. Warm? – it was at -25C in the USA this winter. A bit bulky and it was great value at £80. My missus (cold blooded as she is) loves hers.

I’m also looking at the Mountain Equipment Lightline now- they look very similar, and the Lightline can be had for a similar price (if you don’t mind some fairly funky colours..)

Like this ‘I’m an angry man’ red

MrsMC and I both have them – great jackets, but bought in the sales.

A mate bought one the week before the sale at £120 as he needed a jacket for proper Scottish mountain hillwalking – he reckons it was still a bargain at the £120

It’s a good budget jacket, and the current season is better finished than last year’s, I like mine a lot. However, the fill is duck and the material is good quality but not as thin as the more technical (and pricier) goose down jackets so the pack size isn’t impressively small if that matters to you – my Large goes down to about 6 litres, it’d be a struggle to get it smaller.

As some of the other posters have said, there are a fair few deals around at this time of year. With that in mind, if the Filo ticks the boxes for you it might be worth getting on the phone to Alpkit and seeing if they’ll help you out a bit with the price, after all it’s only a couple of weeks since they were punting them at £80 and they may not be that keen to sit on stock over the warmer seasons.

THe Lightline is really warm – I’ve worn it at @ -10 sat down with just a thin fleece underneath and I was fine (I do run warm though). It packs down pretty well for such a warm jacket though when I take it up the hills in winter I tend to leave the hood behind

This looks pretty tempting- a Mountain Equipment Xero Hooded jacket, reduced from £240 to £160. It’s a fairly putrid colour again, but then again that’s probably why it’s in the sale..

It’s a fairly putrid colour again

Eh? That’s a perfect;y acceptable colour, why be an eyesore on the hills (unless you’re skiing, in which case it seems to be de rigeur).

Eh? That’s a perfect;y acceptable colour, why be an eyesore on the hills (unless you’re skiing, in which case it seems to be de rigeur).

Because if mountain rescue need to find you in the hills, wearing a jacked the same color as the rocks that surround you will make things very bloody difficult.

Thats why.

Both good points! I’m reading up about the jacket now. It’s looking pretty good, plus I do like to buy British if I can.

OK, I’m pushing the button on the Mountain Equipment Xero Hooded. Whoop whoop!!

I’ve had one for about 4 months now. I paid £120 for it which I thought was great value, but not as good as the sale price of £80. I would say its as good a down jacket as anything out there under £250! It’s light,very warm, and longer at the back to keep your bum warm!

I’ve held off on replacing an old Rab jacket for about a year now, because I believed there wasn’t anything as well made and tough as that old Expedition. And for sub £300 there aren’t. The Alpkit Filo is £120. It won’t last 12-13 yrs like the jacket it replaced, but no one makes coats like that anymore. It makes no business sense to make a product that lasts forever! And apparently we want lighter jackets, not durable jackets!

Alpkit are a small British company who source good quality outdoor kit from all over the world. They make some of their own products too. I’m impressed with the bits n pieces I’ve had from them over the past 6 months. They listen to feedback and act upon them too.

Sorry, going off a tangent there. The Filo jacket is good. It probably won’t last me 10 yrs , but it was half price of the big name cr*p.