Waterproof Seams: Even with the best DWR coating, seams and zippers provide opportunities for water to enter. So jackets with heat-sealed seams and waterproof zippers improve a puffer’s weatherproofness considerably.
Congratulations, you’ve just been inundated with big brain-level knowledge on puffer jackets. Whether you choose to use that information is up to you, but you can’t go wrong with any of the below.
The Best Puffer Jacket Overall
The North Face
Retro Nuptse 700 Fill Jacket
When it launched in 1992, the Nuptse was the first puffer to ever use what’s called “baffle construction”—which kept the down in place and made a warm thing exponentially warmer. And while they tweaked it slightly in 1996, it’s basically been King of the Mountain (and the commute) ever since it showed up on racks. Boasting a micro-ripstop nylon outer, 700 fill and a packable hood, you could absolutely try to beat the Nuptse, but your time would be better spent on other things.
The Best Budget Puffer Jacket
Winter jackets can put a big dent in your bank account if you don’t know where to look. But if you’re a GQ reader, you do know where to look: Uniqlo. The ‘Qlo is an old faithful for frugal fashion that actually looks pretty good, so you can reliably default to the brand whether or not you’ve got a tight budget. And if you’re looking for the most bang for your small bucks, the Uniqlo 3D seamless down parka is the best affordable puffer jacket of the bunch. Thanks to its DWR coating, waterproof zippers, knit cuffs and waist, and seamless design, this parka is water-resistant and windproof enough to tackle most winter climates. The fit is generous enough to pile on some thick layers underneath and it comes in a range of colors to match any closet. At about half the price of most other worthy puffers on this list, it’s a no-brainer. (And you don’t have to worry about taking it to the bar.)
The Best Eco-Conscious Puffer Jacket
Patagonia
Reversible Silent Down Fleece Jacket
Patagonia, a.k.a fashion’s preeminent gorp lords, do a lot to make sure their products are as harmless to the environment as possible. Although this jacket uses real down, it gets it from reclaimed down products. Not only that, the fleece shell is made with 100% recycled polyester while the smooth, quilted shell is made with 70% recycled polyester and features a PFC-free DWR coating and four-way stretch. And the fact that you get both a fleece jacket and a puffer jacket in one garment means that it could easily take top honors in the Best Fleece Jackets category, too.
The Best Designer Puffer
As noted above, you don’t have to spend a fortune on a puffer coat to get a great puffer coat. Despite existing at the “Investment” end of the closet spectrum, there are options at basically every pricepoint tranche that punch above their weight and offer those wearing them essentially everything they were hoping for. With that being said, there are few wearable items as luxurious as a Fancy Puffer, and no one does a Fancy Puffer quite like Moncler, known for their glossy outers and oft-duped patch. But in the era of Quiet Luxury, this (relatively) understated bomber-ish jacket—satin-lined with beefy quilt panels—just might be the best of their bunch.
The Best Not-So-Puffy Puffer Jacket
Don’t let that slim, streamlined shell fool you. Veilance’s Node coat is packed with all the cutting-edge, cold-busting technology you’d expect from Arc’teryx’s highest-end division. We’re talking a whole lot of trademarks, people: Down Contour™ technology! Down Composite Mapping™! Insulated StormHood™! WaterTight™ external zippers! Waterproof GORE-TEX® Pro exterior! What does all that really mean for you? It means you’re getting an absurdly warm, absurdly advanced coat that won’t restrict your movement or interfere with your minimalist tech ninja aesthetic.
Plus 18 More Puffer Jackets We Love
Columbia
Delta Ridge Down Hooded Jacket
Come for the lightweight, free-moving design, stay for that thermo-bonded baffling, which is both freaky looking and mad functional.
RRL
Barrett Nylon/Sherpa Jacket
Sure, the tech has gotten better since the trailblazing expeditions in the 1960s that directly inspired this jacket, but those jackets also did their job pretty well and you’re also probably not going to go on expeditions so your priorities are allowed to be a little bit different. And if they are a little different, you can get excited about the faux-fur lining, the thunder-blanket weight and a green pigment-dye that looks like it’s been on a mountain for decades.
Mountain Hardwear
Ghost Whisperer UL Jacket
One of the lightest has improbably got even lighter. Like sure, the sequential naming convention of the previous iteration would imply that this was the goal, but if you felt the Ghost Whisperer 2, it didn’t feel like there was much fat to cut—yet here we are. Oh, it’s also warmer, because of course it is. The super lightweight, super tough, DWR-coated recycled ripstop shell is now filled with 1000-fill down. And if that wasn’t enough, the hooded jacket still fits inside its own pocket, which means that it has a place in any tote bag.
Abercrombie & Fitch
Hooded Ultra Utility Puffer
The suede-y nylon fabric gives this classic puffer a bit of an unexpected workwear vibe—and in the tech’ed out world of puffers it makes for a welcome little curveball.
Rocky Mountain Featherbed
Rocky Mountain Featherbed down jacket
Cowboys get cold, too. Wear this with a solid pair of Wranglers, a flannel shirt, and a ten gallon hat.
Gramicci
Taion Edition Down Jacket
That collarless crewneck design is ideal for making your hoodie or turtleneck the star of the show.
Buck Mason
Buck Mason Coyote Cascade down expedition jacket
Straight out of the pages of a 1970s alpine magazine, Buck Mason’s retro-inspired jacket is made with recycled nylon, 650-fill traceable duck down (+5 points for transparency!), and a water resistant coating, all of which amount to a winter-hardened jacket that will get you through the toughest tundra with ease. All you need now is some raw denim jeans, a cozy beanie, and some hiking boots.
Filson
Lightweight Down Jac-Shirt
Don’t let the shirt-style design fool you—this thing is filled with 650-fill-power goose down which makes it lightweight and mega warm, because some people aren’t down with the bloated Michelin man look.
Montbell
Montbell may be under the radar, but the gear speaks for itself. This pullover anorak is stuffed with 900-fill down for a lightweight piece of outerwear that doesn’t sacrifice warmth.
Thisisneverthat
Pertex Recycled Down Jacket
South Korean label Thisisneverthat pumps out some of the coolest street-influenced goods around (and at some pretty great prices). This super puffy puffer features recycled down and rain-ready Pertex fabric to keep the elements at bay. Wear it with your double-knee pants and beefy boots or some thick corduroy trousers and Birkenstocks—trust us.
The Very Warm
Realtree EDGE Hooded Puffer
True to the name, The Very Warm’s collection of insulated outerwear is toasty. That’s thanks to the REPREVE down-alternative fill which is a water-resistant down-alternative insulation equivalent to 500 fill power. And with a removable hood, chill-blocking knit cuffs and plush fleece hand warmer pockets, you can bet that you’ll stay cozy all winter long.
Prada
Back in the ’80s and ’90s, Miuccia Prada’s pioneering designs helped turn practical, techy nylon into something worth lusting over. Now, she’s pulling the same trick for recycled materials, by fashioning Prada’s iconic nylon goods—like this understated puffer with a cheeky triangle pattern—from repurposed ocean plastics.
Marmot
Guides Down Winter Jacket
Handwarmer pockets, cushy down filling, and a moisture-resistant shell. What more could you need?
Nike
Windrunner PrimaLoft Storm-FIT Hooded Parka Jacket
Bring them inside temps with you everywhere you go.
and wander
Diamond Stitch Packable Down Jacket
The specs on this sound like part of the Bond franchise, but “ALLIED down” and “Pertex® Quantum nylon” are certified bangers in the world of puffer components and everything packs down to a size that seems like it was engineered for a fictitious MI:6 agent, so maybe it’s all kind of appropriate.
Goldwin
An absolute unit of a jacket that’s also packable, making “dressing for the weather” kind of an afterthought.
Patagonia
Diamond-Quilted Bomber Hoody
As much of a zip-hoodie as it is a puffer, but somehow the math comes to well over 50% of each piece. It’s understood that that’s not how math works, but that’s what the scratch pad says and the proofs check out and it’s wind- and waterproof and quilted, yet very low-profile, so ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
Ostrya
Coated with DWR for weather-resistance, outfitted with exactly as many pockets as you need and equipped with a hood that can actually fit over a helmet (if that’s something you need), this two-tone, featherweight jacket also happens to work just as hard in a mid-layer role as it does on the outside.
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