The Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket is everything you want a down jacket to be and nothing you don’t. It’s packed with ultra high-quality 900+ fill goose down, weighs in at just 10.6 ounces, and it looks and feels fantastic. Better yet, it’s made in the USA — sewn in Seattle.
To get us a closer look at the Eos, Feathered Friends sent us a review unit that we promptly took backpacking in the Eagle Cap Wilderness in Oregon. This is what we learned:
Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket Review
The Eos is one of our top picks in our best down jackets guide, and for good reason. A fantastic down jacket starts with high-quality down, and the goose down in the Eos is extraordinarily fluffy and well-packed. Feathered Friends uses 900+ fill-power down and the company doesn’t skimp when it’s time to load the baffles.
Because the down is such great quality, the Feathered Friends Eos compresses well to fit into a backpack or travel bag. When you pull it out, it quickly regains shape. If you want to trace the origin of the down, Feathered Friends only uses Responsible Down Standard (RDS) down that is ethically sourced.
The exterior shell is made from a lightweight Pertex Quantum brushed nylon with a Durable Water Repellant (DWR) finish that repels light rain or a bit of slushy snow. (Just know that it’s not truly waterproof — very few down jackets are.)
As for the construction, the men’s and women’s versions of the Eos are all hooded — Feathered Friends doesn’t offer a non-hooded version. Either way, we like hoodie down jackets and the Eos hood is one of the best out there.
The hood is low-profile and it fits well. If you turn your head to look over your shoulder, the hood won’t move with you — one eye will slide under the hood. This isn’t surprising — most hoods aren’t technically constructed to move with your face; to get around this, I usually wear a baseball cap. The brim helps keep the hood in place when you’re active. The hat trick also works well with rain jackets.
Meanwhile, you only get two pockets with the Eos — two large zippered hand pockets that tuck in underneath the exterior down fill.
The hem includes a drawcord to seal out drafts. The sleeve cuffs and hood edge are stretchy lycra.
Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket Review: Colors
As a fairly small company — again, a company that manufactures in the United States! — Feathered Friends doesn’t keep a huge stock of sizes and colors. In fact, the majority of Feathered Friends products are stored in its Seattle factory in a partially-finished state, ready to be filled with fresh down at the time an order is placed. This saves on space and time, and likely helps keep the company efficient enough to produce price-competitive down products that are made in America.
So what’s this mean for colors? The Feathered friends Eos Down Jacket is available in only three colors: Black, Blue Sky and Midnight. Blue sky is a very light blue while Midnight is a gorgeous dark blue with a green zipper. Typically, I’m a fan of black, but I have to say, the Midnight with the splash of green on the zipper is one of my all-time favorite color schemes. It’s the most popular color for the Eos. Incidentally, it’s hard to nail the dark blue of the Midnight color in a photo. I don’t think it’s as quite as blue as the Feathered Friends website shows . . . but at the same time, it is a richer blue in person than our photos on Man Makes Fire suggest. Either way, I like the Midnight with the green zipper.
Moving on, as I said, Feathered Friends is a relatively small company, and what this means is that when you go to place an order, it could ship out within a couple of days or within a few weeks — the Feathered Friends site will tell you about how long. If you care about US manufacturing and want a puffy that everyone else doesn’t have, it’s worth the possible wait.
Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket Review: Fit and Layering
Pretty much everything I test is a size XL, which gives me a good read on relative sizing among all tops. The XL Eos fits just a bit trim compared to most other down jackets, and it has a perfect sleeve length that will handle activity without riding up your forearms (my arms are a bit long).
For layering, it fits a big snugger than most down jackets, but I count this as a pro — you don’t have any random air gaps, and the result is a down jacket that starts out of the gate feeling warmer than most. I could wear the Eos with just a t-shirt while out and about on the town . . . or wear it over a long-sleeve layer along with a t-shirt, too.
You can also wear the Eos underneath a rain jacket or winter shell. Because the fit is trim, layering is a much better experience overall — everything comes together and you feel nimble and warm at the same time.
Any cons? There are only a few very minor cons — if you’re in a nitpicking sort of mind. One possible con is that Feathered Friends doesn’t use hydrophobic down, that is, down fibers that have been chemically coated to resist moisture. Once down gets wet, it loses its insulating properties. Of course, the Eos has a DWR coated shell to fend off most moisture. And if you’re planning to wear the jacket in a truly wet environment, you’ll want a shell over it anyway. Even so, I don’t recommend that you let hydrophobic down get wet either — hydrophobic down can still get wet and lose its insulating properties.
The baffles are sewn through, which is great because it keeps the down from shifting and maintains a clear overall structure. On the downside, the sewn-through areas will naturally have little insulation between the cold air and you. Does this matter? Not really. In my experience, the cold situation would need to be pretty extreme for this to be noticed by most people. Usually, if it’s cold, you’re going to have a layer underneath. Some down jacket manufacturers will manufacture additional layers or use alternating baffle structures, but this also results in additional weight, which removes some of the joy in a lightweight puffy. In my experience so far, the high-quality down makes this a negligible con. I’m only mentioning it here to be thorough, not because I think it matters to this jacket.
The other possible con is that you only get two pockets. We like lots of pockets. Is it a deal-breaker? No way. Part of the charm of the Feathered Friends Eos is that it is a down jacket that has everything you need and nothing don’t.
Feathered Friends Down Jackets, Sleeping Bags, and Quilts
Feathered Friends manufacturers a full line of down jackets, ranging from the lightweight Eos to expedition-class parkas and suits. In addition, the company manufacturers down bedding as well as sleeping bags. In fact, our first experience with Feathered Friends was with the Flicker 20 Quilt Sleeping Bag — see our full review here. All of the down products are manufactured in the company’s Seattle-based facilities. The company’s meticulously choice of fabrics, materials and overall craftsmanship is excellent.
Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket Review: The Verdict
The Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket is one of the best down jackets available, and while best might a bit subjective, this is not: The Eos is my current favorite lightweight down jacket. The warmth to weight ratio is superb. The fit feels fantastic, and because the down is such high quality and packed so well into the baffles, you can add or remove layers underneath and the fit adjusts to you. With a rain jacket or winter shell layer over the top, the Eos holds its loft as least as well, if not significantly better than other down jackets I’ve tested over the last few years. Very highly recommended.
Get the Gear:
- Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket – men’s
- Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket – women’s
- Feathered Friends Flicker 20 Quilt Sleeping Bag
- Feathered Friends Bedding Quilts
