Fjällräven Expedition Mid Winter Jacket: first impressions
It’s difficult to adequately emphasize just how chunky the Fjällräven Expedition Mid Winter Jacket feels when you first put it on. It’s like you’re being bear-hugged by the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
It’s so thick, and I felt so completely cocooned in its massive embrace, that I started imagining it wouldn’t just protect me from the cold, but could probably keep me safe from pretty much anything; like I could just curl up in a ball and roll down the mountainside, merrily bouncing off boulders on the way down like a human zorb.
I didn’t actually try doing this, and I’m not suggesting you do either, but I did put this impressive coat to the test in some sub-zero conditions, to see how it would compare to the best synthetic puffer jackets and down jackets on the market.
Fjällräven Expedition Mid Winter Jacket: design and materials
• List price: $400 (US) / £390 (UK) / €430 (EU)
• Weight (men’s L): 1,116g / 39oz
• Fill: Recycled polyester
• Shell: Recycled polyamide
• Back length: 80cm / 31.5in
• Sizes: XS-XXL (men’s); XXS-XXL (women’s)
• Colors: UN Blue & Navy Blue / Black & Basalt / Navy & UN Blue / Green & Mustard Yellow (men’s); True Red & UN Blue / Mustard & UN Blue / UN Blue & Navy / Black & Basalt (women’s)
Fjällräven offer a range of puffer jackets in the Expedition range, from the brand’s original and iconic very high-end classic goose down full-fat version, which has been keeping explorers toasty and warm for 50 years, through to lighter, more packable versions of the jacket, as well as longer iterations and sleeveless vests/gilets.
The Expedition Mid-Winter jacket I’ve been testing is made with synthetic fill and, happily for all those who care about these things, Fjällräven have used recycled poly materials in both the shell and the fill of this jacket. The synthetic fill means the jacket retains its impressive loft – and therefore maintains its exceptional thermal qualities – even if it gets wet or damp (which down jackets – for all the improvements that have been made over the years – still struggle to do). The fluffy poly stuffing is also a lot more resilient and robust than goose or duck down (so you can stuff it into its carry bag and store it like that without worrying about damaging the fill – and you can even machine wash it at 40°C), plus there are no ethical issues in terms of animal welfare to consider and fret about.
There are three main packets: two hand pockets with zips and an interior chest pocket, also with a zip. Inside there are also two pouches, one on each side, in which you can stash maps, hats, gloves and other things. It comes with a pack bag / stuff sack, which is made from the same material as the jacket’s shell, so you can use it for repairs if necessary.
As you would expect from these Swedish specialists, the design and finish quality is excellent, and Fjällräven have used the best components in this jacket – it comes with chunky two-way YKK zips, for example, that will last for decades.
Meet the reviewer
Fjällräven Expedition Mid Winter Jacket: on the trails
This is a serious winter jacket, for properly cold adventures, and I had booked a trip to the Baltic north to test it out in the kind of conditions it was designed to be used in. Nature intervened, however, and dumped a load of snow on the South West of England, so I couldn’t travel anywhere, but I got to check out the jacket’s capabilities on my local hills and trails, which worked out fine.
Given the extent of its puffiness, and the fact there’s no ventilation built into the design, my main worry was that I would quickly overheat while wearing this jacket, as soon as I started doing something other than standing still in the snow. In fact, this didn’t happen, and I was able to do some pretty stern hill hiking without sweating too much, which is testament to the Expedition Mid Winter’s breathability.
Essentially, though, this jacket is built to do one thing very well, and that’s to keep you very warm no matter how low temperatures go, and it does this brilliantly. Reaching exposed ridge lines and pausing on peaks, the minus-whatever temperatures and significant wind chill couldn’t touch me inside my massive protective layer.
The generous 650g fill is perfectly distributed across the jacket, and kept in place with baffles, so all your vitals are adequately covered, and the protection continues right up into the thick hood, so my ears and neck were as warm as the rest of me. The high chin shields a good percentage of your face as well, although it’s a little harder to cinch the hood in, so it can balloon a bit when you’re facing or hiking into a head wind.
As mentioned, the zips are suitably chunky and very durable, but somewhat surprisingly they don’t have pull cords on them, so the pockets can be a little tricky to open when you’re wearing hiking gloves, and this feels like a little oversight from the Nordic gnarly weather experts.
The obvious drawback to this jacket is that its chunkiness makes it quite heavy and very bulky to carry around and get into a hiking backpack, but no one is buying the Expedition Mid Winter for it svelte packability – you know what you’re getting with this coat, and it delivers in spades. It does come with a stuff sack, though, and when you’re winter camping this makes an excellent camping pillow. (I do wonder whether a proper compression sack might be a good idea, though, so you can get the size down a bit when traveling with the jacket.)
One thing to consider, is that, unlike a lot of puffers, it’s really not designed as a mid layer – you’re going to struggle to find a weatherproof shell layer that will comfortably fit over the top of this massive jacket. And while it has a degree of water repellency, it isn’t fully waterproof.
It does, however, continue to keep you warm, even when wet. And the extent of the thermal protection it offers means you don’t need to layer up underneath the Expedition Mid Winter Jacket – a decent base layer is all you really require.
