Am feeling the urge to get a warm Gilet, and can’t decide whether to go for the down or synthetic option.
I’ve got a down jacket that I love and gets plenty of use at overnights and on seriously cold days in the winter. I am also fully aware of the falabilities of down, but still wonder about synthetics like Rab Generator.

Any views?

If you plan on getting it mucky or wet then synthetic unless you want to pay lots more for w/proof material for the shell to keep the down clean and dry. Synthetics these days aren’t far off down for warmth, size and weight.

Prancing between the pub and car, either.

I have a RAB downie, a synthetic and a Paramo Torres Gilet.

Paramo gets the most use, and is pretty water resistant too.

Down is useless in Devon where it rains from Sept – May but was great in Korea over the winter 🙂

Much as I like down (I have one of the Alpkit jackets that is wonderful in the depths of winter) I’d be inclined to go synthetic in that case.

I’m thinking synthetic too. It will give more options too for different weather conditions. ie Rain.

Synthetics are great for pack and forget negligent garment use – stick it in your pack and don’t fret if it gets damp. Put on over damp tops, no problem. Easy to wash, unlike down. For most UK use, Primaloft and similar synthetics make lots more sense than down, even shelled down for those reasons, but down out-sells synthetics by a way because mostly people just wear them to the pub. Over winter, I always carry a lightweight synthetic jacket in my pack along with a superlightweight survival bag. It’s saved my shivering butt on numerous occasions – usually someone else’s endless mechanical in the middle of nowhere. No way would I treat a down jacket the same way unless it was consistently dry and probably sub-zero too.

So, personally, I’d say get one, but I’d go for a jacket rather than a gilet. The idea of a ‘warm gilet’ is a bit of a pipedream ime, simply because you lose a lot of heat from your forearms in particular.

I would go synthetic. I have both and spend so much time “worrying” about damaging the down that it rarely gets used compared to the synthetic.

49er_Jerry

Without doubt i would recommend one of these, one of the best “downs” money can buy : http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/index.php

The only time you need Down is when it’s too cold to rain anyway.

Synthetic ftw. Less cruel to ducks and chickens.

i have a generator vest and it is ace. never had a down one to compare though…

I would go for down. Lighter, and will pack down to a singularity.
Any time I’m going to wear it I always have a waterproof shell layer.

I have one of these – weighs naff all and amazingly warm:

Finisterre Bise

Good for the environment too.

Synthetic – prima loft or something simillar. Down is great but modern syntheic jackets pack quite small, a gillet even more so. Got a RAB photon jacket – use it most hill days during the winter. Carry a down if its really cold but it rarely gets taken out and used in anger. Been thinking of getting a generator vest to carry when riding.

That finisterre is a fine retro piece, very shiny.

I would go for down. Lighter, and will pack down to a singularity.
Any time I’m going to wear it I always have a waterproof shell layer.

That’s kind of the nice thing about synthetic stuff, it’s not going to become useless if you don’t have a waterproof with you. Or if it gets damp in your pack. Warmth to weight and bulk ration won’t be quite as good, but knockaboutability is exponentially better. Using a fearsomely expensive Rab Xenon Primaloft jacket at the moment, it’s tiny, not super warm, but enough.