Down Jackets (3)! Help!!!

Thats - or similar with Western Mountaineering perhaps - is definetly what I'd be likely to do if I was in America. FF do have those mid range jackets of theirs too which might suit better, so well worth asking them which they'd reccomend.

They'll know much more securely than we will!

I do think that small, specalist down folk in general can do the odd thing that commercial people can't but you'd want to be very sure about what you want to put up with importing, the hassle of potential returns etc. 

Not that the Vega is anything other than entirely capable.

I have the Vega, and it's a brilliant jacket. I'm finding it to be durable, and for me (short torso/pro-ape arm length) the fit is perfect. ME's down quality is very high, as well (93% down, 7% feather). I've even washed and re-proofed mine (Nikwax down care products), and it's looking almost good as new.

-Andy

In case it helps for a comparison - the Yukon has the same (sort of) outer fabric but is ~85g lighter (quoted weights at least) while also being non trivially warmer.

From magazine tests etc the PHD minimus stuff is ball park to the Vega warmth wise, and the Yukon is definetly more. There's the alpine ultra too I suppose.

A bit of the warmth/weight comes from the pretty crazy down PHD use on this, some from minimalism (especially perhaps the hood) and a bit from it being a box wall jacket.

Obviously its also a little more expensive, you have to wait for them to make it and the fit is a little bit random as no chance to try it on. Unless you get it custom made which obviously costs a bit more.

Obviously rather impossible to tell someone how they should decide based on this sort of thing The Neutrino Endurance/North star both seem to magazine review about the same as the Vega, so split by fit, personal taste and the like rather than anything else.

Given all the  - not trivial!! - caveats here, it'd be something like -5 centigrade. (as per the minimus). Maybe a little bit lower.

Thats static warmth though - if moving properly it'd be warm down to something rather scarily low.

(with yet another consequent caveat regarding insulation everywhere else of course.).