The 8 Best Down Jackets of 2025

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Top pick

This jacket is the best at providing ample warmth for most outdoor excursions, and it has enough pockets to comfortably tote the necessities of daily life. It’s our go-to insulator for commuting or backcountry adventuring.

Matching the quality and performance of the women’s model, in a taller and slightly broader version, this highly packable go-to insulator continually rose to the task, no matter the context.

As of January 2025, PFAS-treated apparel is banned from sale in some states, including California and New York. Because of that ban, the Montbell Alpine Light Down Jacket is not available in those states. Montbell has told us that a PFAS-free version of the vest will be available starting in the fall or winter of 2025–26. To learn more about PFAS in apparel, read our related coverage.

The lightweight and warm Montbell Alpine Light Down Jacket (available in women’s and men’s sizes) is our choice for the best down jacket.

The Alpine jacket has the right fit for layering. Over the years, Montbell has updated the fit of its jackets. In 2023, it changed the baffles on the women’s model to be fully horizontal, rather than diamond-shaped (the men’s have always been horizontal), but we found that the warmth and comfort were just as good as before. That said, the women’s model is now slightly more fitted than it was in the past. But compared with many of the other models we tried, the Alpine jacket still has a boxier fit, which makes layering easy. The adjustable cords around the waist allow you to cinch the jacket to keep cold air from getting between your layers.

It has high-quality extras, including terrific storage features. The Alpine jacket has many features we loved, including two large inner pockets, two microfleece-lined hand-warmer pockets, a microfleece-lined collar, YKK zippers of appropriate sizing to the jacket, high-quality elastic cuffs, a DWR coating that actually keeps out some moisture, and a drop-back, drawcord hem. It packs down to fit into a cinch sack or its own pocket. It was also soft enough to comfortably sleep in.

It’s suitable for trips of many kinds. We liked the Alpine jacket for trips around town, but it also met and exceeded our expectations as an insulator to take into the backcountry, keeping us warm at night. This coat was also soft enough to comfortably sleep in. And it impressed us as we walked through late-fall rain clouds—the moisture beaded off the surface, keeping the down inside from getting matted.

It’s durable (and repairable). We also put it through rock scrambles, contact with pack straps and grabby undergrowth, and, on one memorable occasion, hugging a scraggly pine tree to avoid falling into a stream. Throughout our adventures, we didn’t notice any glaring signs of wear and tear.

In fact, over multiple seasons of long-term testing during the winter months, the Alpine jacket has held up beautifully—far more durably than almost any other jacket we tried. But if you do end up needing to repair your coat, Montbell offers “reasonable rates” for repairs; it will also fix manufacturing errors for free, for the lifetime of the jacket.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It’s not the most durable of our picks. The Alpine jacket has held up well for us throughout multiple winters, so we continue to recommend it. We like this jacket’s exceedingly soft feel, but it doesn’t match the durability of the fabric on our also-great pick, the Arc’teryx Atom Jacket.

The down that Montbell uses in its jackets is not certified by RDS. The company does pledge on its website to avoid live-plucking methods and to use only feathers that are collected as a by-product of waterfowl raised for the food industry.

We wish this jacket came in plus sizes, like the REI Co-op 650 Down Jacket. Instead, the men’s runs from S–XXL, and the women’s sizing ranges from S–XL.