Do you want to stay warm? The Marmot Guides Down Hoody doubles down on the insulation for this jacket and added a hood that will certainly keep you toasty on the mountain or at the bus stop. The trend in down jackets has been to go smaller, making them more useful as an insulating mid-layer to be topped with a shell. The Marmot Guides Down Hoody is without a doubt an outer layer_you'd need to go up three sizes to find a shell that fits over it.
The 100 percent polyester ripstop that makes up the outer material is tough, and the 700 fill power down certainly does its job in keeping all that body heat in. You'd be hard pressed to find a better down jacket at this price point. All that insulation means the jacket is a bit bulky and heavy compared to others in this category (it weights in at 1 pound, 7 ounces), so it's not the choice for aerobic winter pursuits. But the fleece-lined hand pockets, Velcro wrist enclosures and dual draw cords for the hood enable you to hunker down outside and keep warm in almost any conditions.
$250, marmot.com
