Patagonia Down Sweater Vest - Forge Grey - S - Men

I recently ordered a Patagonia Down Sweater Vest to replace my previous Patagonia Sweater Vest after 8 years of hard use and thought I'd take the time to provide a more detailed review. I have used this vest in the Sierra Nevada, throughout the Colorado Rockies, the Northern Rockies of Montana, and the Green and White Mountains of New England. If I added up all of the days I wore this vest in the field my guess is I would come close to 3 straight years/1100 field days of daily use.Overall this is a great vest ' I would say it sets the industry standard for lightweight down vests. The down is quality, as is the fabric and construction. All down will leak from garments but this is about as good as it gets for down retention with no noticeable loss of fill/loft after ... MoreI recently ordered a Patagonia Down Sweater Vest to replace my previous Patagonia Sweater Vest after 8 years of hard use and thought I'd take the time to provide a more detailed review. I have used this vest in the Sierra Nevada, throughout the Colorado Rockies, the Northern Rockies of Montana, and the Green and White Mountains of New England. If I added up all of the days I wore this vest in the field my guess is I would come close to 3 straight years/1100 field days of daily use.Overall this is a great vest ' I would say it sets the industry standard for lightweight down vests. The down is quality, as is the fabric and construction. All down will leak from garments but this is about as good as it gets for down retention with no noticeable loss of fill/loft after all this use. Patagonia deserves props for their efforts to ethically source and construct their products. A down vest is a great layering piece, and this is more or less an ideal weight for this kind of layer. If I'm snowboarding at a resort I will wear this with an R1 base layer and a shell down to about 15 degrees Fahrenheit without overheating on the runs or getting too cold on the lift. Touring I often just wear this with a base layer. Camping/backpacking I pair this with a down jacket of varying weight depending on the conditions.In the pictures below you can note a couple of changes over the last 8 years, both of which are solid improvements. Patagonia has eliminated vertical upper baffles (these baffles in particular lost loft on my original vest). The have also bucked the industry trend (kudos!) of using ultralight zippers in favor of a slightly heavier, more durable zipper on both the main front zipper as well as the hand pocket zippers. I had to replace the main zipper on my previous vest after 2 years of heavy use and will gladly carry the extra grams to avoid the hassle of finding a seamstress to fix repair this zipper (Patagonia does back their products with an Ironclad guarantee but I needed a weekend fix to head back into the field).The interior pocket, which doubles as a stuffsack, has also improved in size and design, though I wish it were larger to more comfortably accommodate a set of climbing skins. Other improvements I would like to see in the future are more robust elastic around the armholes (suitable enough for occasional use) and fewer, larger baffles on the neck. I also wish Patagonia had a slightly more athletic cut. Finally, it would be nice to see Patagonia provide a heavier weight down vest one day.When all is said and done I've been happy with the 8 years my vest has brought. I could get several more years out of this vest but the amount of stains and duct tape on my vest led me to want to look like less of a dirtbag everywhere I went, hence the recent replacement. If you're looking for a high quality, lightweight down vest - and particularly if you value ethically sourced and produced products from a company with a strong commitment to our public lands - this vest is an easy win. If you are particularly round or particularly thin you may find the fit lacking, but the average person will find this to be a suitable fit.

Originally purchased Medium and exchanged for Large, otherwise it's excellent. This hits all the right technical marks for a down vest. I love the inner chest pocket (which can be used to pack the entire vest!), the hem drawcord, and high-quality build/materials from Patagonia (although the shell DWR provides only limited wind/water resistance, typical for down vests). And the Crater Blue is just beautiful! That all said, it does seem to run a bit small (as many others have noted), which may also depend on how you want it to fit. I am a medium in most Patagonia tops (6' 175lbs), and the medium vest fit like it's advertised, which is pretty snug all-around. Because of that, it only worked over slim/tight underlayers, not anything bulkier like a sweater or fleece or ... MoreOriginally purchased Medium and exchanged for Large, otherwise it's excellent. This hits all the right technical marks for a down vest. I love the inner chest pocket (which can be used to pack the entire vest!), the hem drawcord, and high-quality build/materials from Patagonia (although the shell DWR provides only limited wind/water resistance, typical for down vests). And the Crater Blue is just beautiful! That all said, it does seem to run a bit small (as many others have noted), which may also depend on how you want it to fit. I am a medium in most Patagonia tops (6' 175lbs), and the medium vest fit like it's advertised, which is pretty snug all-around. Because of that, it only worked over slim/tight underlayers, not anything bulkier like a sweater or fleece or even a heavier flannel. After hemming and hawing (and searching high and low), I exchanged the medium for the large which fits much better overall, even if it doesn't hug my body quite as much as the medium.

I ended up buying a Nano Puff vest instead, but I wanted to say something about this vest after trying both a size ‘S’ and ‘M’ extensively (within limits). You can read longer-term reviews from someone else. I like that the chest pocket, and both side pockets are insulated, since the down “compartment” is along the outer fabric, while the pocket is underneath that, against your torso. A nice touch.About fit: I’m 5’9” and 150lbs, with a 31” waist and an athletic build. I was looking at buying a vest one for work in a cold office. I wanted it to fit close to my body. I would wear this over a collared work shirt, plus maybe a thin merino sweater on top. No sweatshirts, hoodies, or thick wool sweaters. The size ‘S’ was perfect for this.I think the ‘S’ is perfect for ... MoreI ended up buying a Nano Puff vest instead, but I wanted to say something about this vest after trying both a size ‘S’ and ‘M’ extensively (within limits). You can read longer-term reviews from someone else. I like that the chest pocket, and both side pockets are insulated, since the down “compartment” is along the outer fabric, while the pocket is underneath that, against your torso. A nice touch.About fit: I’m 5’9” and 150lbs, with a 31” waist and an athletic build. I was looking at buying a vest one for work in a cold office. I wanted it to fit close to my body. I would wear this over a collared work shirt, plus maybe a thin merino sweater on top. No sweatshirts, hoodies, or thick wool sweaters. The size ‘S’ was perfect for this.I think the ‘S’ is perfect for people 5’7” to 5’9”, weighing between 140-155lbs. If you’re 5’9” like me, but weigh over 155lbs, you’re probably too big. Even at 150lbs, there’s not a tonne of extra space with my business shirt and thin merino sweater, or a flannel shirt. The ‘S’ is only long enough in the torso to cover my belt, which I think is good.I tried a size ‘M’, and it was far too roomy in the chest for my needs. For me, regardless of what I’m wearing underneath, a size ‘M’ is too big, so if I needed something bigger, I’d have to look to another brand. I think a ‘M’ is perfect for someone 5’9” to 5’11” and around 165lbs with enough room for a heavy sweatshirt, or 170-175lbs with thinner clothes.Hope that helps.