Down vests for winter trips

Not really a good idea to use down for active use.

Down is great for sleeping and dry conditions. Here in the Eastern US we are rarely dry and humidity can swing widely. For anything other than sleeping, IE your bag or quilt, and hood, I always recommend synthetic. I was a long time proponent of down and have been through my share of Western Mountaineering, Montbell, RAB, and Mountain Hardwear jackets and vests, but now I layer a merino wool hoodie as a base layer, a wind shirt, then a synthetic vest, followed by a synthetic jacket if needed and then a WPB shell over that. Synthetics will dry better, keep you dry longer when wet, and are typically cheaper. Downsides of course being weight, bulk, and their lifespan as continued stuffing and packing can break down the fibers.

I only use my down vest or sweater when I am stopped for an extended period of time, lounging around camp, or sleeping. Though I do use my down vest on my walk to work from train station to my building..but that's just a 2 mile walk to and from work..or even around town on cold nights.. Depending on temperature I could pair it with a patagonia cap 1, my patagonia R1, houdini, smartwool midweight or just a t shirt.

Just to clarify, I only use the down vest for long breaks or camp.

I like vests in general– you get the core heat with lest bulk and weight. I do wear a vest with long sleeve base or mid layer. That allows adding a shell over and the cold sleeve fabric is still off your arms. But for cold winter trips, I would have a full jacket. A vest is a good way to squeak in another layer and perfect for cool rest stops, mornings and evenings. If I were going to use a down vest, I would have long sleeve base and mid layers to mix with it and my shell(s) should be large enough to fit loosely and not compress the down too much. If you really want to do the winter thing with a vest, look for loft.

Like others, I like a vest for shoulder season and a full jacket for winter. I use a Nunatak Skaha vest I scored on the gear swap through about October in the North Cascades. Mine is the men's XL and is a bit too big, Nunatak is pretty true to size. It weights about 6.5 ounces and has 4.75oz of 900pf down, the thing is a loft monster.

How low have you been able to wear the Skaha vest to comfortably? I like that vest but its about $100 more than the Helios.

I run warm and have been warm and comfortable in the Skaha vest in the upper 20's wearing a merino undershirt and mid-weight fleece, but have not had to push any lower yet. I had a Hyperion vest but sold it on Gear Swap after I bought the Skaha vest and compared them. I liked the Hyperion, but the Skaha is superior; lighter, a lot more down and loft, warmer. If you are going w/FF I would certainly look at that Helios vest. My daughter has the Helios jacket and loves it. FF stuff pops up on Ebay with some regularity and I got my daughter's Helios on Seattle Craigslist.