Looking for a super warm down jacket that keeps you warm in super cold temps and is impervious to water? Then check out the TREW Gear Super Down Jacket. They call it the Super Down for a reason – it is probably the best heavy duty down jacket out there. Many reasons for this claim, it’s not just that it is super warm and stylish. Let me break it down for you in more detail.

Features

The TREW Super Down Jacket is made of high quality 850 fill Polish down (Quix Down from Toray) and there is lots of it – 7.7oz (that is about double most regular down jackets). This puts it up there with heavyweight down contenders like the Patagonia Fitzroy and Mountain Hardwear Phantom Down jackets. Both of those have 800-850 down and similar fill weights (6.5 oz of 850 Q.Shield down for MH and 7oz of 800 fill for Patagonia) but neither have some key features that make the TREW stand out. The Quix Down is not only 850 fill, but it is also treated with a special waterproofing that keeps the down from absorbing water. Wetting out is often the biggest concern when using down and the DWR treatment takes care of that. Sweet!

Next up is the fabric. It is a matte finish, ripstop nylon (no more high sheen look!) and it STRETCHES! The jacket is super comfy and moves with you. There are lots of pockets too – two zippered hands, two additional vertical hand pockets with buttons, one medium size Napoleon pocket and my favorite, two generous internal drop pockets. Why more jacket doesn’t have drop pockets is beyond me….

Performance

I had the wonderful opportunity to put this jacket to test the first day I received it. We went up into the Colorado mountains to do some splitboard testing and winter camping. Temps were only 5° during the day and quickly dropped well below 0° by sunset. With just the Super Down Jacket on over a base layer, I was warm all night. The jacket seriously saved my bacon on the very first day. I compared it to a few other jackets I had with me and kept going back to this one.

After the initial baptizing via super cold winter camping trip, I have relied on this jacket more than I thought I would. It is lightweight (22 oz for XL) stuffs into a pocket (not sure which one, I just cram it in my backpack) and the hood fits just right over a beanie and has a nice high collar. One thing that surprised me, in a good way, was the elasticized cuffs – the elastic is about an inch up from the cuff and creates a perfect seal with gloves on. Little things like that go a long way in my book.

If you are in the market for a serious down jacket or parka, the TREW Super Down needs to be at the top of your list. It over-delivers in a lot of ways. Available in men’s(blue and brown) and women’s(purple and blue) and only direct from TREW.  MSRP $369.