Patagonia  Micro Puff Insulated Hoodie - Men's

I have a small collection of down and synthetic jackets and parkas. Most are either too warm to wear during activity, and not warm enough to throw on during extended rest breaks. The Patagonia Micro Puff Insulated Hoody is the perfect balance—I can wear it all day. I’m going on three weeks of wearing the jacket. I’ve skied with it twice, worn it on a long hike, and spent 6 days in Iceland wearing the Hoody daily. I’ll start with what I liked about the Hoody. It’s very light and compact. I can stuff in in the back pocket of my jeans or compress the entire jacket into one of the pockets and throw in it my pack. For me, the Hoody is the perfect balance between weight and warmth. The Hoody has a generous fit. I’ve worn it over a base layer and medium weight wool sweater. Length is perfect. I’m 6’2” and the jacket extends a couple inches past my waste line. It’s not constricting and allows for plenty of unrestricted upper body movement. The cuffs on the end of the sleeves are slightly elastic, but don’t stretch enough to fit over the base of gloves. I found that the sleeves form a good seal to keep in heat. The two outside pockets are large and the zippers are easy to use even if wearing gloves. Inside the jacket there are two large pockets which are big enough to hold my ski skins on descents. My dislikes are minor. I wish the Hoody had a napoleon pocket on the chest. I’ve gotten used to those pockets for holding my phone. Lastly, I wish the hood was large enough to fit over a ski helmet. Overall, I love this jacket and highly recommend it.

TLDR lost loft and became useless within six months. I got this jacket in Febuary of 2019. I used it throughout the remainder of winter and spring in the PNW primarily for hiking and backpacking. Because I knew that synthetic puff insulation could degrade with use, I didn't use this for everyday wear and it was only used once a week or so. I wanted to like this jacket- it's lightweight, started out warm, reasonably weather-resistant and, if it gets soaked, will dry using just body heat in a few hours. I used it hiking, camping, and as a skiing midlayer in the rainy northwest. By June I thought it might be less warm than when I bought it, but convinced myself it was my imagination. I was wrong. Over the summer, working as a sea kayaking guide, this jacket came with me and was worn most every day. After two weeks of life in a dry bag (compacted, but not unreasonably so) in the days and wearing it in the evenings and mornings, it was noticeably less lofted and less warm. When I bought the jacket, I was comfortable down to 30F with a midweight baselayer. Now I would rate it down to maybe 50F. I continued to wear it occasionally through the fall but haven't worn it since December as part of my hiking kit as it is now barely warmer than (and heavier and bulkier than) a lightweight fleece, assuming both are under a shell. Essentially all of the loft is gone. I wanted to return this in the spring but the local store was closed from the virus. Now that they are open I will be returning this jacket. Absolutely not worth the price tag. I can't recommend this unless you won't be compacting it AT ALL, which is the whole point of a puffy.