Hi, I was freezing cold on a wild camp this weekend and so had to get into my sleeping bag at 4pm! I am alergic to down and am also not convinced I would be able to keep it dry in our wonderful climate. Does anyone know of a decent synthetic jacket that would be good to use to keep warm once stopped. Ideally with a small pack size as I'd only be looking to use it at the end of the day. Cheers, Dave
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 Hi Dave, I have a Rab Belay jacket, that seems pretty good. Its warm and functional, has a good hood and is highly water resistant and works when wet anyway. Theyre typically about £130 or so.
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 Primaloft is a good synthetic insulation, and various makers do jackets with Primaloft fillings so have a hunt around for one that fits you nicely. Because the market tends to be for only /moderatley/ cold, where rain is a big issue, it's hard to find anything that is designed for the sort of cold the fluffier downies are for, so you may want to look at extra layers. A gilet as well as a jacket will keep your core warm without too much extra weight., and again Primaloft is a good insulation flavour to look for. Pete.
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 I'd have said something like the Rab Belay Jacket, or the equivalent from Mountain Equipment. Primaloft works well generally, the heavier the jacket - generally - the more insulatio. With the Rab you might want to go up a size for layering over stuff.
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Thanks all. Looks like a good jacket, but way out of my price range! I'll have to keep my fingers crossed for something to come up in the Jan sales!
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 They're not the most packable but I've been using a Snugpak Sleeka for the last couple of winters. Very warm and can be had for around £50.
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 Berghaus Infinity jacket uses 133g Primaloft 1, so is warmer than a lot of the 'for the moderately cold' jackets Pete mentions.
At the other end of the Price specturm, I spotted some very cheap (£9) synthetics in Primark. They used a fairly stiff insulation, so should trap quite a bit of warm air. At £9 it might just be worth a try.
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 I use a Montbell Flatiron Parka which is very warm. I ordered it from their Switzerland shop through their website. It cost 230 Swiss francs and 12 Swiss francs postage. £104 total at the time. It is very water resistant and i would definately buy one again. http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?cat_id=73&p_id=2301324 I also use a Rab Photon hoody but that is nothing like as warm for winter.
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 mountain equipment how about this for half price? i got the rab jacket similar to this last year and i am warm in it down to -4.havnt had any worse weather to try it in yet.
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 Haglofs Barrier Jacket, light,packs down into its own pocket,windproof,water resistant and just chuck it in the washing machine with a normal wash and it restores the DWR,Love mine too bits and never have it off my back ..and they do one with a hood! Barrier jacket....
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 Yup... somewhere in that mess of broken links is my link to the Haglof's Barrier!
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OOPS sorry John . Tiz a fine jacket if i might say so,Fine indeedy.
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 Another vote here for the Berghaus Infinity. More filling than most of the other Primaloft offerings, warm and well designed. Harder to find but worth the effort.
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> I found a Keela Belay jacket in there for under £20 (133g PL-One).
I found two, but I'm not sure they're 133g (cf the Infinity). More than 60g, but I never managed to find a proper spec on them.
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 Another Another vote for the Haglofs Barrier, they also I noticed they happed to do a hooded version as well I think in 150g fill. This time in thermolite a dupont filling, carackin quality & a beltin price to boot.
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Cheers all.
Loads to look at there. Haglofs Barrier looks nice!
I think I need to try a couple on as I'm not sure what the different fills mean in terms of size / weight / warmth etc.
I think its strange that they are nearly as expensive as their down equivalents!
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 Aye, what everybody says above. The barrier Hoody is a great jacket with a heavier fill. This winter there's another version with a WindStopper outer shell that's rated as a little warmer again. A bit heavy in grams and £'s though.
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 I use a Rab Generator jacket, they are fantastic and even lighter than there specified weight which is a great surprise, I've been gobsmacked at how strong the material is, it looks thin but hell has it taken some beating from me, I actually wear this every single day of my life! Get the actual jacket version and a decent colour like black and you can make the expense worth while as it will become a regularly used jacket especially this time of year! You won't believ how versitile and warm this jacket is for its weight!
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