[Closed] Decathlon Down Jackets - Any Good?

Of course not - any fule nose that the measure of a down jacket is how expensive the logo looks!

remember the mantra.

[b]Decathlon is good[/b].

That's all

I have one of [url= https://www.decathlon.co.uk/full-down-xwarm-mens-black-id_8317724.html ]these[/url], and it's very good indeed. Compared with the normal TNF etc, it's a third of the price, and as well made, if not better. Usual two year guarantee as well

I bought a decathlon down jacket for £8 last summer - it's been brilliant.

Yep, me. And unsurprisingly, it's very good and cracking value.

I bloody love Decathlon.

DezB

Of course not - any fule nose that the measure of a down jacket is how expensive the logo looks!

This. Remember, for pub beer garden attire this time of year the discerning STW'er shouldn't get out of his A4 Avant S-Line in anything less than some little known but reassuringly expensive Scandinavian boutique brands. Flårnyaårven, Jürnenføfflj, Guünnhjhærgnör...etc.

Anything below £700 is frankly embarrassing.

Do any of you have a Quechua Down Jacket and would you recommend it?

My wife has some of that stuff and it seems fine. [s]Cotswold house brand.[/s] A few people I spoke to who really put it to use rated it higher than some of the fancier brands.

Brain fart. I was thinking of Ayacuucho.

Have several of different manufacturers right uo to the Artic ME one.
The one that gets grabbed the most is [url= https://www.decathlon.co.uk/x-light-mens-down-jacket-black-id_8318546.html ]THIS[/url]

I like the light one,
Very decent for £30.

The bottom of the range synthetic jacket I got last year (£12?) has been excellent, although it's picked up a couple of small tears on gates and stiles.

The sailing softshells and hunting fleeces always seem to be really good value to me.

Sailing softshell with the hood and three pockets is excellent for winter walking when it's genuinely cold.
Use it for everyday stuff too.
Long, so ok on the bike, but very warm.

Quechua Down Jacket

Cotswold house brand

Eh?

Its Decathlon's home brand.. 😉

Ayacucho is Cotswolds'

Do any of you have a Quechua Down Jacket and would you recommend it?

My wife has some of that stuff and it seems fine. Cotswold house brand. A few people I spoke to who really put it to use rated it higher than some of the fancier brands.

Ayacucho is Cotswolds own brand you doofus :-). Did the 'Decathlon' in the title not give you a hint.

See my edit. Pffft.

Kind of serves you right for trying to be clever doesn't it 😆

And second the suggestion of the X-light version too, I wear mine a lot, arguably too much... Worth noting they both wash well too, after a fluff up in the tumble drier both are spot on.

Most decathlon stuff is good. For short walks it may be a bit too warm.
I've got the ultralight £30 job and that's fine with a tshirt or thin jumper in this weather.
I've got an Alpkit down jacket and find that I get too warm when walking in it. It's great to put on when you stop though.

angeldust - Member

Kind of serves you right for trying to be clever doesn't it

Nobody saw nuthin.

Thanks for the replies - i will get one ordered.

I am seeing a lot of Moncler Down Jackets around where i live. Not sure why anyone would pay >£700 for something that looks like a boiler cylinder cover.

Yep, I had one, used it for skiing. Excellent value and decent quality; no real difference to the premium brands.

FYI - they have just bought out a new hiking jumper designed to go with their light weight downs.
£4.99 - I got one to try.
Now got 4!
[url= https://www.decathlon.co.uk/arpenaz-50-mens-walking-jumper-black-id_8342221.html ]Arpenez 50[/url]

Any reasonably strenuous activity in a down jacket isn't advised! I wouldn't wear one going fell walking for example, you'll just boil. Fine for a stroll around the park on a frosty morning but mostly they are about keeping you warm hanging around camp or the pub beer garden.

For general use the Decathlon jacket looks fine. It's at the lower end of specifications but then for the price you wouldn't expect anything else. 85/15 down to feather ratio is OK(ish) but the fill power of 600 is low. The latter's only a problem if you are wanting to pack the jacket - a higher fill power means less down for the same warmth so you can compress it better. The higher fill powers also tend to have better down to feather ratios. If I didn't already have a down jacket (Alpkit Filo) then I'd get one.

i bought the 27 quid one at the weekend wore it saturday to the football with a skin and a sweatshirt.. toasty wore it on the fells sunday in hail and sleet toasty wore it to a bonfire sunday with two t shirts underneath toasty.. not much to say only fools go anywhere other than decalthlon.. they had snoods at 99p.. 99p not 14.99 like most places.. got gloves at 3.99 and a bobble hat for 3 quid as well.. whats not to like..

I had a look at them last week in store, I was interested in the light weight one. My wife has one from 2 years ago and it's been great. However, this years batch felt a bit "cheap" when I tried it on so I didn't bother.

I really rate Decathlon's stuff, but the quality does go up and down so I always like to get it from the store.

I have the cheap 30 quid orange one, it's ace.

Just realised - I actually have three of them - one here, one in france and one in italy

how does decathlon stuff size up? I'm at the top end of medium in north face and rab

Between me, the Mrs and kids we must have about 7 of 'em. In fact I wore my nice big red 'un to work this morning as it was Brass Monkeys out. We rate 'em.
As to size - I'm on the small side of medium and their small fits me fine. Hth.

Ive got one of the slightly more expensive ones, cant see it on the site anymore but its brilliant.

It's lightweight, and obviously designed as a mid layer so not as tough as a propper jacket. But its still survived a couple of winters so far as my everyday coat.

Anyone know what the sizing is like on the X-Light (compared to Berghaus/Rab/TNF, where I tend to be the same size)?

As to size - I'm on the small side of medium and their small fits me fine. Hth.

Cool i'll go for a medium then

Cheap down?

I work in the outdoors industry (on the shells side though so I dont know a huge amount about down) and I was on a course with one of the aforementioned Scandinavian brands a couple of weeks ago and they covered live plucked down a lot, its a nasty business.
I really didnt know much about it.
Down is a funny one anyway, a lot of down comes as a by product from the food industry, some of that is from foie gras, thats a nasty business too, will the French stop making foie gras - no, should the down then go to waste?.

it can't see the video being at work but can guess the content. Are you actually aware of Decathlons ethics on sourcing down or just pointlessly trolling?

I'm one size bigger in decathlon's uk sizes compared toRab stuff, so I guess it's a bit smaller made.

it can't see the video being at work but can guess the content. Are you actually aware of Decathlons ethics on sourcing down or just pointlessly trolling?

[url=http://] http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/companystories.aspx?CompanyId=79672&CategoryId=341 [/url]

Hey jamiep, na I wasnt trolling at all, I really didnt know much about all that until the other week and I was pretty shocked. I think its good people are aware such abhorrent practices go on.
Although in my experience in the outdoors industry brands are pretty mindful of ethics, more so than in other trades and Decathlon are huge so I reckon theirs will be sound, their buying power will be enormous too. the furniture, bedding industry etc etc is supposed to be another thing altogether though 🙁

on the decathlon website

* Our feathers come from Chinese ducks reared for their meat; we remove their feathers after slaughter. We hold the death certificates for these ducks

it can't see the video being at work but can guess the content. Are you actually aware of Decathlons ethics on sourcing down or just pointlessly trolling?

We hold the death certificates for these ducks

[img] [/img]

Nice one petec, I thought Decathlon would be very careful! Bad ethics can kill an outdoors company pretty quickly

Have you actually watched the video or are you just dismissing it out of hand? It points out that as ethical as many companies claim to be they cannot be totally sure of the source of their materials. I'd imagine a "death certificate" would be easy to forge or obtain corruptly.
Man made alternatives are available, and don't get totally effed by a bit of unexpected drizzle.

I can't imagine a chinese meat gooses life is much fun either...

(Why is it that some people, if confronted with an opinion that offends them, can only see it as trolling? Narrow mindedness?)

because instead of making a lazy link to an irrelevant video, implying that Decathlon used unethical down, I actually looked up their policy. Ergo, trolling. Nothing to do with not agreeing with different opinions

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/14/winter-coat-ethically-produced-down-goose-feathers

Interesting grauniad article on ethics of down sourcing. Looks like a few big names were caught unawares and have changed their sourcing. Having looked at the ethical consumer report on decathlon for their down their policy looks a little bit meh, but not horrendous

because instead of making a lazy link to an irrelevant video, implying that Decathlon used unethical down, I actually looked up their policy.

I haven't accused Decathlon of anything. If you're happy that they are fully in control of their supply chain, then that's fine and dandy. If you're happy in the knowledge that your down came from geese raised on an industrial scale primarily for their meat, then you go for it.

 

since the ethics question has already been raised, i'll go for the practicality question:

why down?

if you're not going to take advantage of it's packability, and carry it up a cold (and so dry) mountain, it's largely pointless, especially here where it's likely to get wet.

I need a new insulated jacket but I doubt there's any chance those ducks have had anything but a horrendous life, what are their synthetic ones like?

eg https://www.decathlon.co.uk/arpenaz-100-rain-mens-waterproof-insulated-jacket-blue-id_8343501.html

I'm a Haglofs shape sadly, the picture looks a bit short in the body in the rab style.

@awhiles It's been a while since I looked a synthetic jacket but certainly the earlier ones didn't fit particularly well since the insulation was basically sheets of material.

Quality down lasts much longer than synthetic though things are improving but the difference is still significant. The insulation in synthetic garments breaks down much quicker than down escapes.

The dampness bit is largely irrelevant as you are only going to be wearing a duvet close to or below freezing. The material used in down jackets tends to be moisture resistant, it certainly isn't going to handle a thunderstorm but a short light shower won't have much impact. Also hydrophobic down is common in higher end garments and sleeping bags, this isn't so much for weather resistance but dealing with the moisture in the user's perspiration and respiration.