yes they are worth it. I’ve got 3 different down jackets.
1 I bought in Costco for £30. 800fill Hungarian goose down. comfy warm and light, very understated.
2 North face Nuptse 2 jacket. another 800 fill down, uber warm, and fantastic. downside, they are like specialised, and dog sh#t. they are everywhere.
3 rab microlight. got it from sportspursuit for £90 delivered. only 600 fill I think. opinion was reserved until today. it’s not as warm as the north face, but that’s the point, it packs down really small.
today I was hiking in the Brecon beacons, on kit testing day. just trying out combinations, of jackets and baselayers etc. that I own.
whilst everyone else was making their way up the granny path to summit pen y fan, we were on the other hillside, enjoying the snow.
I started off wearing my smartwool merino baselayer, and a craghoppers corey2 midlayer. my outer layer was a mountain equipment thermal pro polartec fleece. it was plenty warm, not too bulky. but as the windchill picked up, once sweaty, I could feel the cold enough. temperature was hovering about 0 degrees to -6 degrees.
then I swapped the mountain equipment for the rab microlight, and it regulated my temperature far better, for the next 5 hours.
verdict.
if you can afford a few outer layer jackets, then a down jacket is a good investment, for dry conditions. they don’t like the wet much, or at all.
synthetics are good, as mentioned above, as they manage better when wet. but if you want a warm, wet weather jacket. have a look at a 3 in 1 jacket. preferably a goretex outer, with a polartec fleece inner. I’ve seen berghaus now do, goretex jackets with primaloft (synthetic)liners. now they’d deffo be worth a look.
hope this helps.
