Feathered Friends Eos Down Vest Review
Reading Time: 8 minutes The Feathered Friends Eos Down Vest is essentially the Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket with no arms. It’s an ultralight piece of premium-down-filled gear designed to keep you warm when you value comfort and quality as much as you value weight (or lack thereof).
Admittedly, the Feathered Friends Eos Vest is the first insulated vest I’ve ever owned. Typically, I opt for jackets and hoodies instead of vests, but when the Tour Divide came calling, and I was carefully considering my Tour Divide gear, I was looking for something that would keep me warm, something that was lightweight, and something that I wouldn’t have to take off immediately once I started heating up. The Eos Down Vest fit the bill, and so was my insulated gear of choice for the ride.
If you’re interested in a version that keeps your arms warm (and with a hood even!), check out my Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket review. If you’re set on a vest, here’s everything you need to know about the Feathered Friends Eos Vest.
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Pros and Cons
+ Warmth-to-weight ratio: 7 oz / 200 g total weight with 2.2 oz / 63.1 g of fill weight provides an excellent warmth-to-weight ratio
+ Compressible: 900+ doose down packs down small and/or fills any available space in a pack
+ Versatile: Weight, warmth, and lack of arms make it usable in a variety of outdoor pursuits
+ Comfortable: I oftentimes forget I’m even wearing it
+ Durable: After multiple month-long adventures, it’s still going strong
– Sizing: Line between a Men’s medium and large not ideal (for me, at least)
– Price: Premium pricetag (for a premium product)
The Specs
The Feathered Friends Eos Vest comes in both men’s and women’s versions. The information below reflects the Eos Vest in a men’s medium. The vest I used for this review was a men’s large.
- Weight: 7 oz / 200 g
- Fill weight: 2.2 oz / 63.1 g
- Fill power: 900+ Goose Down
- Shell: 12d x 20d Pertex® Quantum® brushed nylon (37 g/m2)
- Elastic drawcord hem: Yes
- Pockets: 2 zippered hand
- Hood: No
- Country of origin: Made in Vancouver, Canada, and Seattle, USA with imported materials
- Colors: Steel Gray, Black, Chive, Sky, Rorange
- Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL
- MSRP: $269 US
Testing Conditions
I used the Feathered Friends Eos Vest for the entirety of the Tour Divide and for a 30-day winter rafting trip down the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. Both trips were long, cold, and basically designed to destroy gear. I’ve used this vest in snow, rain, and temperatures as low as 20°F/-7°C.
Photo Gallery
The Good
The Comfort
As this was my first insulated vest, I didn’t quite know what to expect regarding the comfort of the Feathered Friends Eos Down Vest. That said, the vest is comfortable—to the point that I often forgot I was wearing it. I was worried that the cuffs around my armpits and shoulders would be restrictive and that they would rub up against and annoy me, but this has never been an issue. That said, it likely would have been with the medium – more on this below. The interior of the nylon shell is also soft to the touch – as is the interior of both zippered hand-warmer pockets.
The Weight
The Feathered Friends Eos Down Vest is lightweight at 7 oz / 200 g with 2.2 oz / 63.1 g of fill in a men’s medium. This puts it on par with the lightest insulated garments available – vest or jacket. The jacket version of the Eos Vest has 4 oz / 113 g of down (total) and weighs 4.8 oz / 136 g more than the Eos Vest, meaning the jacket has a slightly higher fill-to-weight ratio than the vest (31% versus 33%). The difference being that the jacket has sleeves, a hood, and a zippered chest pocket; they both have two handwarmer pockets and a full front zipper. That said, the vest is, overall, 38.5% lighter than the jacket (4.8 oz / 136 g) – certainly something to consider if weight is your primary concern.
The Compressibility
The 900+ goose down and thin nylon shell make the Eos Vest highly compressible. I have no issues stuffing it into the pocket of my bicycle’s frame bag or my day bag on the river (typically because it was the last thing I took off before putting my drysuit all the way on. -if I didn’t choose to wear it underneath). You could fill your bag completely, think to yourself, “Okay, definitely no more room for anything in there,” and then still be able to stuff the vest down into the invisible crevices of your bag or pack. Space need not be your concern when employing an Eos Vest.
The Zipper
The Feathered Friends Eos Vest has a full-length zipper with a zipper pull that makes either single-hand or gloved operation easy. Some companies put these tiny little near-useless zipper pulls on their ultralight jackets and vests to save one gram. This is a gram the Eos Vest proudly boasts as I’ve yet to have an issue with the zipper on my Eos Vest – and this now after thirty days of sand and water on the Colorado River through Grand Canyon National Park. The same goes for the zippered hand warmer pockets. Both pockets’ zippers are easy to operate in the cold, with gloves on (even tick gloves), and are seemingly snag-proof.
The Okay
The Layering
I first got the Feathered Friends Eos Vest to use on the Tour Divide. I expected to frequently use it in freezing conditions over my hoodie, fleece, potentially my wind vest, and then underneath my shell. It fit fine over everything, but it was a bit tight under my shell. Why? Primarily because of the sizing (addressed below). One of the primary reasons I got this vest was to layer it under a shell. Does it do the job? Yes, but it’s not as effective when the sizing is funky and the hem extends beyond the bottom of my shell. That said, there is a hem drawcord that allows me to keep the waist up higher and (perhaps more importantly) draft-free.
The Warranty
Feathered Friends warranty states, “All Feathered Friends products are guaranteed to the original owner with proof of purchase for the lifetime of the product against defects in workmanship or materials.” This basically translates to, “We (Feathered Friends) will decide whether or not you qualify for coverage under our warranty. When “normal wear and tear” is not clearly defined and instead simply “defects” are covered, there is a lot of room for interpretation. I’ve yet to have to send something into Feathered Friends (which is a point in favor of the quality of their gear), but I would be curious as to the response should I one day have to send something in.
The Bad
The Sizing
Despite being relatively close to the average height and weight of a man in the United States, I frequently find myself between sizes medium and large. Sometimes, a medium will fit me tighter but work, and a large will have a more relaxed fit. However, the Feathered Friends Eos Vest in size medium is objectively small on me, while the large is a bit looser than I would like. This isn’t a dealbreaker, but it does make the layering piece of the equation
The Price
One of the primary drawbacks of the Feathered Friends Eos Down Vest is its price. At $269 (at the time of publication), it is positioned as a premium product and a significant investment compared to other insulated vests (or jackets). That said, you’re paying for a well-crafted product from a reputable company based in Seattle, Washington. One hundred percent of the down Feathered Friends uses in its jackets, vests, sleeping bags, and blankets is certified by the Responsible Down Standard (RDS), which means no force-feeding and no live plucking of geese. The Pertex® Quantum® nylon shell
The Previewing
Unfortunately, Feathered Friends products aren’t widely available in retail stores or third-party websites. This means that unless you live somewhere that happens to carry Feathered Friends products (the Seattle area, for one), you’ll not know precisely what you’re getting until the gear arrives in the mail. If you don’t like the gear, the fit, or whatever else, returns are accepted within 30 days, but you’ll be charged a fee for return shipping. Standard shipping (for the original purchase) for the Eos Vest is typically free.
Wrap Up
The Feathered Friends Eos Down Vest offers exceptional warmth for its weight thanks to its 900+ fill power goose down and high-quality construction. It’s an excellent choice for anyone looking to get the most warmth from the smallest package and who doesn’t need the luxury of sleeves and a hood.
Although it’s less accessible to budget-conscious individuals and is not ideal for heavy rain or very wet conditions (this is life with down in general), it’s an excellent piece of gear that’s stood up excellently to the rigorous abuse (by me). If you’re not firmly between sizes (like me), then you likely won’t have much to complain about besides the fact that you’ll have to actually take out and beat up on your nice, new, soft puffy vest instead of just letting it live safely in your home.
Do you have questions, comments, or personal experience with the Eos Vest? Leave a comment below or get in touch, and let me know! Check out the Feathered Friends Eos Vest here.
