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Gear Review: Mountain Hardwear Kelvinator Down Jacket

A 650-fill down jacket that's super warm and packs to the size of a pineapple.

Most New Englanders moaned about last winter’s record snowfall and bitter temps. But not our tester, who spent a good part of it happily ensconsed in the Kelvinator. It’s packed with 650-fill down (which keeps the price very reasonable for a jacket this warm). The shell fabric, a 20-denier ripstop nylon with DWR, repelled wet flurries and knocked down brisk wind.

The simple, non-fussy hood is amply stuffed with down. “There are no adjustments and it doesn’t fit over a helmet, but it’s perfectly contoured, and when the jacket is fully zipped, it hugged my head like a mummy sleeping bag and stayed put.” There’s no fumbling with the front zipper; it has a big, grabbable pull and it’s backed with a nylon tape that makes it glide like Apolo Ohno. Cuffs and the butt-length hem are cinchable to seal out cold. Packs to pineapple size.

$250

1 lb.; m’s S-XXL, w’s XS-XL

mountainhardwear.com

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