UKC

I currently have a Rab Neutrino Pro, I have had it for a few year, and to be honest. I don't know if I like it. Its the first and only down product I have owned. To me it always seems 'flat' its not the big huge puffy thing that I envisaged when I bought it, I have tumble dried it / puffed it up occasionally and it makes a difference but it doesn't last long. It has for the most part kept me warm enough, but I am not confident in the jacket being as good as it claims. 

I am tempted to go back to synthetic, it seems a far less sassy material. I am after a camping / hanging around jacket - I have others for hiking & climbing with. So size and weight does not matter to me.

The industry standard seems to be the ME Citadel and that is what I am aiming for - it has 160g of insulation in the body & sleeves . I will hopefully get one second hand as its a lot of money! 

However, I am a big fan of Keela, there Solo Jacket looks to be a good buy (and I could get it new) - but this has 133g in the body and 100g in the sleeves - to me this seems a lot less. Is it? 

The Keela looks to sit somewhere between the ME Citadel and the ME Fitzroy so a little worried it might not be warm enough when stationary? 

In reply to Andrew95: Previous citadel had 200g Gold Primaloft. Have a look at the Fjern Husly on Sportspursuit at £90 with 170/190 grms of insulation - it seems to get decent reviews from people on here but it is bulky.  Do a search for it on here there's quite a few positive reviews on them.

In reply to Andrew95:

The ME Citadel looks like a great jacket. Perhaps more geared towards Scottish winter and Alpine belaying being highly weather resistant.

It depends what you want a jacket for. I have a RAB Positron Pro and use it almost exclusively for sport climbing. It is a very warm jacket. Even sitting around at the base of a crag in the shade in low temps it keeps me warm, with other layers of course.

And it is very puffy, it that helps .

CB.

In reply to Andrew95:

What do you want the jacket for. The citadel is an absolute beast. The addition of the Infinium outer and the new warmer insulation has made it a bit more packable and slightly warmer than the older version. Overkill if you want to do anything in it other than stand on a freezing belay in driving snow for hours on end maybe?

In reply to galpinos: As the OP said   'I am after a camping / hanging around jacket - I have others for hiking & climbing with. So size and weight does not matter to me.'

In reply to Andrew95:

I have both jackets.  My Neutrino Pro is around 12 years old and is on its last legs.  My Citadel is around 3 years old.  I love both jackets.  

The Rab is great for driving to work when it’s really cold (like this morning), hanging around while winter camping and so on.  It’s lightweight, packs to a compact size, is warm but harder to clean and dry.

I use the Citadel as a jacket to throw on between bouldering attempts, when it’s 4 degrees or colder.  It weighs a ton, is bulky but feels bombproof and is way easier to wash and dry.

In reply to Andrew95:

I have the ME shelterstone jacket - the lighter one than the citadel. I've used it dog walking all winter in Finland - with a fleece under it I am toasty in -15.

If you have some decent gloves and a warm hat a gigantic jacket is unnecessary outside of really ridiculous weather. But then again, I'm naturally warm and if the citadel is anything like the shelterstone it probably an excellent jacket.

In reply to afx22:

That's pretty much the conclusion I came too. I love the Rab, but it just feels like such a sassy jacket. Dont get me wrong, its seen me though some serious weather - both on belays and camps, but it always wants attention afterwards. 

This weekend we went camping & hiking in Shropshire and I wore the jacket in the evening - not wet or particularly damp, having unpacked it yesterday it felt disgusting. Very damp and 'flat'. It also feels very fragile in its construction and materials. 

I have actually just bought a Citadel second hand for a reasonable price and quite looking forward to it. I want that dependable, tough feel. 

Best jacket I own is an old Rab Generator smock, its think, feels and looks pretty underwhelming. But its honestly one of the warmest (for its size & weight) jackets I own. I really don't know whats so special about it. 

In reply to leon 1:

Totally missed that bit!