Best Puffer Pants | Outdoor Life

If you happen to’re struggling to remain heat in even the heaviest down jackets, you would possibly want so as to add one other layer to your arsenal: puffer pants. After spending a whole bunch of nights within the backcountry, from summer season alpine to the deep winter, I’ve realized that my legs are sometimes leaking simply as a lot warmth as my core if I’m not cautious. Packing a pair of down pants to make use of when the temperature drops has made an enormous distinction in my consolation, and I commonly suggest them to individuals who battle with staying heat whereas tenting or backpacking. To seek out these suggestions, I checked out down-filled fashions from Mountain Hardwear, Rab, Stone Glacier, Montbell, Goosefeet Gear, and KUIU out into the sphere to place them to the check.

How I Examined Puffer Pants

Puffer pants had been examined in a lot of environments, together with by members of the Outside Life staff throughout a December deer hunt in Missouri. We wore the puffy pants on mile-long scouting treks on public land, on the gun vary throughout goal observe, and whereas sitting in deer stands in each late afternoon and early morning hours, when temperatures dipped effectively beneath freezing. Insulated pants had been evaluated on their consolation, match, heat, and general performance. 

As well as, I additionally thought of how the fill energy and fill weight of every pair of down pants balanced heat with layerability, in addition to different options, corresponding to closure mechanisms and facet zippers. Lastly, I seemed on the packed dimension and weight of every pair. 

The Greatest Puffer Pants: Critiques & Suggestions

Greatest General: Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer Pant

Buy from Amazon

Professionals

• Totally different inseam measurements obtainable
• Solely down pants in my check with pockets
• Light-weight
• Could be taken on and off with out eradicating sneakers

Cons

• Costly
• Not as heat as different puffer pants in my check

Key Options

• Obtainable Sizes:
  Males’s S-XXL; girls’s XS-XL
• Weight:
  9.6 ounces
• Fill Energy:
  800fp
• Fill Weight:
  Unavailable
• Shell Materials:
  15D ripstop nylon

The corollary to the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer—one of many best puffer jackets round—is that this pair of deceptively easy puffer pants. Whereas at first look, they seemed like nothing greater than a pair of puffy tubes, this one excels within the particulars. With an elastic waist and a snap-button and zip closure, this one pulls on extra like a typical pair of pants than others I checked out. The Ghost Whisperer was additionally the one pair to incorporate pockets—helpful in case you are pulling it on straight over your different clothes because the night temps drop. Zips on the cuff that run midway up the calf aid you to drag it on over (some) boots with out having to take them off. 

Just like the jacket it will get its title from, this isn’t an exceptionally heat pair of insulated pants—it’s a center of the street puffer, greatest fitted to summer season alpine or early shoulder season actions until you propose to put on it solely whereas climbing or run particularly heat. What it’s, nonetheless, is light-weight—solely a few ounces greater than my greatest ultralight choose, the Montbell Gentle Down Pants, which has far fewer options. 

Greatest Ultralight: Montbell Light Down Pants

Buy from Montbell

Professionals

• Light-weight however sturdy
• Small packed dimension
• Slim profile layers effectively underneath shell pants

Cons

• Run small
• Not heat sufficient for winter situations

Key Options

• Obtainable Sizes:
  Males’s S-XXL; girls’s S-XL
• Weight:
  7.1 ounces
• Fill Energy:
  850fp
• Fill Weight:
  3 ounces
• Shell Materials:
  10D ripstop nylon

At 7.1 ounces, the Montbell Light Down Pants are the right match for early-season backpackers and alpine adventurers. I’ve carried earlier variations of the Montbell Gentle Down Pants all over the place from the Excessive Sierras to the North Cascades and by no means as soon as regretted the additional weight in my pack. The three ounces of 800 fill energy down is sufficient to hold you heat in 30-degree temps within the night (or 20-degree temps in case you’re on the go), whereas nonetheless compressing right down to concerning the dimension of a pair of socks in your bag when not in use. 

Whereas I checked out a pair of the latest mannequin of the Montbell Gentle Down Pants for this story, I’ve a pair in my gear closet that I’ve had for near a decade—it’s picked up precisely one tiny rip in that point, testifying to those puffers’ general sturdiness. 

Buy from Kuiu

Professionals

• Light-weight
• Simple to tackle and off
• Bolstered on the seat, knees, and cuffs
• Constructed-in stuff pocket

Cons

• Not sufficient insulation for excessive temperatures, or for sitting nonetheless
• Costly

Key Options

• Obtainable Sizes:
  Males’s M-XXXL
• Weight:
  8 ounces
• Fill Energy:
  850fp
• Fill Weight:
  1.7 ounces
• Shell Materials:
  12D ripstop

The issue with the very best puffer pants is that generally they work somewhat too effectively—in case you’re persistently taking off your down pants three minutes into climbing, it is likely to be time to change to one thing with rather less fill.

The Kuiu Super Down Ultra Pant hits the candy spot of efficiency: higher heat for weight than you’d get out of even the best base layers for hunting (and extra packable than fleece) however not a lot heat that you just’ll be soaking the down with sweat ten minutes into an uphill climb. It had the bottom fill content material of any puffer I checked out (1.7 ounces for an 8-ounce pair), making it applicable for both early shoulder season situations or thirty-degree temps when you find yourself on the transfer. Whereas at first look it seems like facet zips imply you can placed on or pull off these puffers with out having to take off your sneakers, they solely unzip from the highest to the underside—you’ll need to unzip these into two separate items to take them off within the subject with out eradicating your sneakers. 

Whereas most individuals select to put on their puffy pants underneath different layers of clothes, the KUIU Tremendous Down ULTRA Pant incorporates a thicker 30D nylon on the cuff, knee, and seat for added sturdiness within the occasion you make this your outer layer. 

Greatest Customization: Goosefeet Gear Down Pants

Buy from Goosefeet Gear

Professionals

• Snug
• Capacity to customise nearly every thing
• Comparatively cheap

Cons

• Easy drawstring closure versus the elastic band of different fashions
• 5-week lead time

Key Options

• Obtainable Sizes:
  Nearly any you possibly can dream of
• Weight:
  Will depend on your chosen specs
• Fill Energy:
  850fp
• Fill Weight:
  Customizable
• Shell Materials:
  8D or 20D

The extra time you spend outdoor, the extra attuned you get to your precise wants. For a pair of puffer pants, you might need a way of the precise width and inseam, the precise temperature ranking, the options you need, and those you don’t. (This goes double for backpack hunters and backpackers.) So in case you’ve been scouring this listing for a pair of down pants that match what’s in your thoughts’s eye, then you possibly can cease scrolling right here.

Whereas the Goosefeet Gear staff despatched me a pair of insulated pants to check out—Assistant Editor Ashley Thess took them out into the sphere and was impressed by how sturdy and cozy the 20D nylon was, in addition to how heat they had been for the load. Nevertheless, this configuration isn’t what I’d design if I had been planning a backpacking journey. For that, I’d select a 20D shell with an 8D liner to save lots of on weight. Subsequent, I’d add a pair of 18-inch zips on the facet of every leg (Different choices embody: 24-inch, 30-inch, 36-inch, full-size zips, or full two-way zips, just like the Stone Glacier Grumman).

Then you possibly can select your 850 down fill energy weight from 2.5 ounces (early alpine mornings) as much as 8.5 ounces (expedition weight). Subsequent, choose your waist, hips, inseam (between 20” and 38”), thigh circumference, and calf circumference.

This degree of customization just isn’t for everybody, however for severe, weight-conscious adventurers, it’s a should. 

Buy from Amazon

Professionals

• Severely heat
• Comparatively inexpensive

Cons

• Tough to layer beneath shell layers
• Must take away sneakers to take off

Key Options

• Obtainable Sizes:
  Males’s XS-XXL
• Weight:
  13.2 ounces
• Fill Energy:
  800fp
• Fill Weight:
  13.2 ounces
• Shell Materials:
  Pertex

When looking plans known as for getting up effectively earlier than daybreak to take a seat in a deer blind in 28-degree climate, there was no query which puffer I used to be going to check: the Rab Argon Down Pants. At 800fp, it didn’t have the very best fill energy of the puffers I checked out, however what it lacked in high quality, it made up for in sheer amount. With 5.6 ounces of down packed into its 13.2 ounces, the Rab Argon Down Pants had a little bit of the normal “sausage” look that the puffers of yore had been identified for. And I used to be glad of it. With nothing greater than a base layer beneath these insulated pants, my legs had been truthfully hotter than my double-base-layer, down-layer, shell-layer-clad torso. 

Whereas the Rab Argon aren’t precisely UL, they’re extraordinarily light-weight for his or her efficiency. The draw back of that’s that these lacked among the performance of different puffers, just like the Stone Glacier Grumman. The one on-off-mechanism is a zipper, snap-button, and belt on the waist, making it troublesome to each reasonable your temperature or take away the pants with out first taking off your sneakers. Snag a pair of those in case you plan to be primarily stationary or in case you count on unusually chilly temperatures. 

Buy from Stone Glacier

Professionals

• Heat sufficient for late shoulder season situations
• Facet zips imply you possibly can take off the Grummans with out eradicating your sneakers

Cons

• Heaviest puffer pant I checked out

Key Options

• Obtainable Sizes:
  Males’s S-XXL
• Weight:
  16 ounces
• Fill Energy:
  800fp
• Fill Weight:
  4.2 ounces
• Shell Materials:
  15D Pertex

If you happen to spend sufficient time open air, you ultimately get used to all of the outfit modifications. You begin the day, frost on the bottom, air steaming with breath, carrying principally every thing you’ve gotten with you: base layers, midlayers, insulation layers—possibly even a shell layer. Because the solar rises within the sky, you begin to peel off the layers till you’re right down to your base layer, every thing else dumped into your pack. This will get fairly previous after some time, particularly if it’s a must to take off your sneakers every time you need to shed a layer. 

Whereas different puffy pants I checked out integrated some facet zip component, the Stone Glacier Grumman took it one step additional: Two zips on all sides meant that I may pull down the zips on the prime so far as I needed to simply pull the puffer pants up, whereas zips on the cuffs made it simple to drag the pants on over my sneakers. (The truth is, it was really easy that after I did lastly begin overheating at deer camp, I used to be capable of simply discreetly pull them off proper the place I used to be sitting). Even higher, the Grumman stayed heat even after I wasn’t doing something extra bodily exerting than sitting completely nonetheless in a deer blind, offering loads of warmth for this cold-blooded author throughout low-40 temps. 

Best Bib: Cotopaxi Fuego Down Overall

Buy from Amazon

Professionals

• Heat
• Adjustable shoulder straps
• Cellphone pocket

Cons

• Full facet zip solely alongside one facet
• Looser match felt unnecessarily saggy

Key Options

• Obtainable Sizes:
  Males’s S-XXL; girls’s S-XL
• Weight:
  14 ounces
• Fill Energy:
  800fp
• Fill Weight:
  Unavailable
• Shell Materials:
  20D nylon

I used to be excited to check these down overalls within the runup to ski season. I’m a kind of folks whose extremities are sometimes heat so long as my core is heat, however maintaining my core heat is typically difficult in sub-freezing temps when the wind is whipping. Cotopaxi Fuego overalls gave the impression of simply the ticket to create a fair stronger buffer towards the chilly outdoors air.

And it did just do that. Pulling on these overalls noticeably elevated my general heat past what I’d count on from typical puffer pants. The one draw back was that pulling them on was a bit extra of a chore than I’d have preferred. Whereas most puffer pants you possibly can merely pull on like common pants, the Fuego overalls have a zipper working alongside one leg. To place these on, it’s a must to pull the zip down after which form of step sideways into them. It’s a little bit of a clumsy maneuver. And, in contrast to the Stone Glacier Grummen, the full-length zip was just one facet of the pants, so that you aren’t capable of take away these pants with out taking off your boots generally. Nevertheless, that’s a minor ding. If the concept of down overalls appeals to you, you then gained’t be upset on this buy.

What to Take into account Earlier than Shopping for Puffer Pants

Insulation within the Greatest Puffer Pants

The 2 foremost forms of insulation are down (sourced from geese, or much less generally, geese) and artificial. Every has their very own execs and cons. 

Down is definitely the higher insulator and offers extra heat for weight than simply about every other materials utilized in out of doors gear. If you happen to have a look at a down feather, you’ll see that it’s made up of innumerable wisps related to a brief shaft. The dearth of construction to those feathers creates small air pockets, which lure warmth out of your physique and insulate it from the chilly outdoors air. Down-feather high quality is measured by fill energy (fp), or how a lot down it takes to fill one cubic inch of area. As an illustration, one ounce of 550fp down will fill about 9 liters, whereas one ounce of 900fp will fill virtually 15 liters. The Achilles heel of down feathers has all the time been moisture. When down will get moist, the pockets of air disappear, eliminating nearly all of its insulating properties. Lately, producers have began utilizing down feathers handled with a water resistant coating, generally known as DownTek, however there are a number of completely different names. Whereas the waterproof coating offers some safety, a soaking-wet down coat is not going to present anyplace close to the identical insulation as a dry one. With down merchandise, it’s additionally price checking whether or not the product is RDS (Responsible Down Standard) licensed, which helps make sure that no geese or geese had been unnecessarily harmed (corresponding to dwell plucking). 

The sleeping luggage of slumber events are instance of artificial fill. Excessive-end artificial fill mimics the qualities of down by utilizing quick filaments to create pockets that lure physique warmth. Additional, artificial fill retains warmth whereas moist with out the necessity for extra remedy. The best high quality artificial fills can strategy the insulation-to-weight ratio of 550fp down, however these synthetics additionally strategy the price of decrease high quality down. Because of the decrease warmth-to-weight-or-size ratio, we didn’t have a look at any artificial puffer pants on this check.

Whereas the fill energy measurement is one consideration when searching for the warmest (or lightest) down pants, one other is the load of the fill. The extra fill you’ve gotten, sometimes the hotter a pair can be. Though, in case you are layering your puffers underneath a tight-fitting shell layer, it could possibly cut back the variety of heat air pockets in comparison with if it was unimpeded. 

Shell Materials of the Puffer Pants

Down and synthetics are sometimes encased by nylon of various thicknesses, which is measured in denier (D). Most insulated pants use materials between 10D and 30D.

Closure Mechanisms of the Puffer Pants

There was a shocking quantity of variation in how the puffer pants match on the waist, from an ordinary zip and button closure, to nothing greater than an elastic waist or drawstring closure, to facet zips with velcro tabs. Which one is best for you will rely in your wants. If all you care about is the warmth-to-weight ratio, go along with the elastic waist or drawstring closure, whereas in case you want your puffers to be simple to take off within the subject, select a mannequin that means that you can zip alongside the perimeters to cut back the necessity to take off the best hiking boots within the subject.  

Ultimate Ideas on the Greatest Puffer Pants

After testing six pairs of the very best puffer pants in a lot of environments, together with a December Missouri deer hunt and in a single day snowshoe journey, the Outside Life gear staff was capable of determine a lot of wonderful choices for various out of doors situations. Anybody trying to hold the load down of their pack ought to choose up a pair of both the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer or the ultralight Montbell Gentle Down Pants. Conversely, people dealing with the coldest situations (or who simply run chilly) ought to snag a pair of both the Rab Argon or Stone Glacier Grumman or customise a pair from Goosefeet Gear to satisfy their wants.

 

The Greatest Offers on Outside Gear Items

After field-testing the very best gear all yr lengthy, we all know precisely what must be in your procuring listing. Take a look at the highest performing open air merchandise and the very best offers obtainable.