Editors' Choice Snow 2017: Eddie Bauer EverTherm Down Hooded Jacket

The best down jacket of the year looks nothing like a down jacket. That’s because Eddie Bauer is using Thindown technology, which packs goose feathers into thin sheets, allowing designers to create a down puffy with no baffles. The technology, first developed for the fashion industry, forms the sheets by alternating between thin layers of down and spray adhesive. Without the need for baffles to keep the down from shifting around, the Thindown insulation stays evenly distributed without the pinch points or stitch holes that cause cold spots. The result: A 13-ounce jacket that’s thinner and lighter than anything in its warmth category. To test it, a member of our crew lived in the jacket for two weeks while splitboarding in 15°F temps in Norway’s Lofoten Islands. “I stopped carrying my crisis puffy,” he says, “because I never needed more warmth.” The EverTherm is also ultrapackable; it compresses down to the size of a small water bottle.

Thindown is not hydrophobic, but a DWR coating and waterproof chest- and hand-pocket zippers repelled spitting drizzle for one tester who spent the shoulder season hiking in the French Alps.

Less doesn’t usually mean more when it comes to insulation, but the EverTherm disrupts conventional wisdom with bulk-free warmth.

Sizes: m’s S-XXL, w’s XS-XXL