Review desk author

Down Jackets After Two Monsoon Seasons in the Annapurna Foothills

I spent eleven seasons guiding treks out of Pokhara and Syabrubesi before I started repairing the gear that came back from them. Most of what I know about down jackets I learned at a workbench, unpicking baffles and re-stuffing shoulders that had gone flat after a wet October.

The Annapurna foothill test on this page ran across two monsoon seasons. I measured loft before and after each trek, weighed the jackets after damp nights in teahouse rooms, and logged how long they took to dry in open sun versus a stove-warmed common room. One jacket lost enough loft at the shoulders that it needed a re-fill before the next departure. That is the kind of detail I write down, because it is the detail that decides what you pack.

I do not take sponsored gear, and I do not rank jackets by first-impression warmth. If a shell leaked wind on a ridge above Ghorepani, it goes in the notes.