The Straight Down does two things well: Keep me warm, and looking reasonably good in the process. This is a super-duper down jacket designed to keep your hard-charging self encapsuled in a balmy, enervating womb of comfort throughout all of your wintry adventures, October through April and even in July if you ascend to above 10,000 feet or live in a refrigerator.

This jacket kept me warm and cozy on quite a few bustery midwinter night ski outings— but the pit zips are big enough to keep you rocking with the same jacket through the spring if you want. Only problem with those pit zips: no netting, which means that when you eat shit, you end up with a few pounds of snow inside your jacket. Of course, that's not a problem if you choose to never fall.

A few design tweaks make the Straight Down more than just comfortable. In particular I like the drawstring that tightens the bottom hem of the jacket, replacing a powder skirt but just as effective in keeping snow out. The hood is roomy and don't worry, if you're afraid of having blood thrown on you while skiing, the fur is removable. I think it's fake anyway (hope so).

A size medium was big enough to house me, so don't worry about going too small. An XL would probably be down to my knees.