Alpkit Filo Down Jacket Review

For ages and ages I’ve wanted an Alpkit down jacket.

I have a Northface one which is great for squishing up really small but when your sat around a cold campsite in the dead of night or perched next to a lake waiting to create a photo, the cold does creep in and gnaw at your bones.

So not long after Christmas I took the plunge and purchased one. The package arrived to my girlfriends work so I didn’t get to open it unfortunately, but the anticipation was still the same. Receiving a text to say it had arrived and that Emma was in fact sitting all warm and wrapped up in it made me slightly jealous.

It was brought back and I eagerly got it out of the bag. The thing was huge and squishy and straight away I could tell I had made the right decision. The quality of the coat is amazing and much better than I had expected. The stitching looks like it has been complete with care and the quality of the down is so thick. It makes my North face one look a poor factory reject in comparison. Sitting around the flat, the heat was building up and I was as snug as a bug in a very snuggly thing. But this is no test for a jacket of this nature, so to the outdoors!

My first real trial came when I went to Cannock Chase at 7.30am on a freezing, and I mean properly freezing January morning. I was out walking with my dog Dylan with the intention of trying to photograph the trees. With the Alpkit Filo upon my shoulders and Fuji XT1 camera slung over my shoulder, I was all set.

The cold really did not get through the jacket and when I set off from the car the temperature was reading 1 degree C. I was very content walking round the woods enveloped by the red hug the jacket was giving me. As we went up hill I could feel the heat rising and I did have to unzip as I was getting a little too warm but as soon as we went back into the fog and the temperature dropped a quick zip back up and I was super warm again.

The coat also sports an amazingly cosy hood, which I can imagine will get much use on the many trips I have planned for this year.

This is also a really nice little detail I was not expecting, you know sometimes when you forget to take gloves and your hands are freezing? Well just pop them in the pockets to find that they are fleece lined. What an amazing little extra feature!

The coat is going to get its next real test on a trip to Snowdonia in February, so I’ll be able to give an update on how it does, as that really will be a cold affair.

If you are thinking of purchasing an Alpkit Filo I can’t recommend it highly enough. The service from Alpkit is always great and I do like my little hand written notes I get when I purchase from them, I’m a simple boy at times.

Thanks for reading and I’ll try and do a few more gear reviews of the stuff I use for my photography outings.