>>1420384>>1419943>>1419935>>1420384I say this as someone who has hiked with a synthetic puffy (Patagonia Nano Puff hoody). I ended up leaving my puffy packed into its pocket for the coldest part of the hiking season this year. the only reason to bring a synthetically insulated puffy jacket while backpacking is lack of experience & packing your fears.
you have to be retarded to get your down jacket wet. bring a quality rain layer if you are in a region with a chance of precipitation. one of my biggest gear regrets is buying a synthetic puffy, second only to buying a puffy at all. it is now glorified loungewear and streetwear. yes a puffy is comfy if you are doing nothing, that's why I'm wearing it while typing right now in my bed, and why I didn't wear it in the Smoky Mountains in December with persistent snow and sub-20F temps.
if we're talking about backpacking here, why would you bring two pieces of "stop" insulation, down quilt (24oz or less) & either variety of puffy (7-12oz) when you could bring only your down quilt which is more thermally efficient for the weight and not stand around not moving for 90+ minutes every day like a retarded section hiker. your "go" insulation should be two things that you'll take with you pretty much no matter what: a fleece (8-12oz), with your rain layer (mine is 10.5oz) if required. A puffy jacket is typically too hot to hike in above 10F, so if you have one, it is typically only useful for stopping while hiking, so you are literally carrying additional weight so you can go slower and cover fewer miles.
Perhaps I just run much warmer than average, but hiking through 5-20F weather in deep snow, I've found that unless you're just wasting time and not moving your body, there is no reason to carry pants or a puffy jacket. The puffy will make you sweat, you'll swap it for a fleece, you'll waste time layering & delayering...
