Down is warmer for its weight; synthetic keeps working when wet. Ingrid Solheim on how to choose between them.
By Ingrid Solheim
Every winter the same question arrives in our inbox: down or synthetic? The honest answer is that both are good, and they are good at different things.
What down does best
Down traps more warm air per gram than anything else we can put in a jacket. A 700-fill parka packs small, weighs little and lasts for a decade or more if you look after it. For dry, deep cold it has no equal.
Where synthetic wins
Down clumps when it gets soaked and takes a long time to dry. Synthetic insulation keeps most of its warmth when damp, dries fast and shrugs off a machine wash. For wet snow, hard effort and stop-start days, it is the safer choice.
Dry cold, choose down. Wet cold, choose synthetic.
Read the numbers
Fill power tells you the quality of the down; fill weight tells you how much of it there is. A higher fill power with a low fill weight is light rather than warm. Synthetic jackets are rated in grams per square metre: 60 for active use, 100 and above for standing still.
Look after it
Wash down with a specialist cleaner and tumble dry low with dryer balls until every clump has gone. When the baffles go flat for good, our Fit & Repair Studio can refill them.
