Patagonia Down Sweater vs. Marmot Zeus

By jat120 Ranked #38 - Men's Down Jackets February 25, 2009

I was specifically looking for a down sweater to use underneath my hardshell when skiing. For what its worth, I ski in the mid-Atlantic area where the runs tend to be short, and one of the lifts that I use regularly is very slow and lately has been exposed to very strong winds. This adds up to not a whole lot of body warmth being generated before I am sitting on the lift again. I am 5'10 and weigh 165 pounds. I was specifically looking for something that fit well and provided a good compromise between minimal bulk and maximum warmth. Over the past few years I seem to be colder on the slopes then most of my friends that I ski with, although I am still much warmer in general than my wife.

I narrowed my choices down to the Patagonia Down Sweater and the Marmot Zeus because of the overall high reviews that both have receive, the excellent reputation that both manufacturers have and the lifetime warranty offered by both Patagonia and Marmot. I ordered both items in a size medium so that I could do a side-by-side comparison. The Marmot Zeus is definitely the warmer of these two garments. It clearly has more loft (my wife said I had the Michelin Man look going), and the neck comes up a little higher than the Patagonia Down Sweater. The Patagonia sweater is more form fitting all around, and the sleeves, neck and overall length of the sweater are all shorter than the Marmot Zeus. In fact, my sleeve length is 32/33 in dress shirts and the sleeves on the Marmot Zeus were actually a little long for me. I weighed both jackets, and on my scale the Zeus weighed 438 grams (with tags) and the Patagonia Down Sweater weighed 355 grams (with tags). Both jackets appear to be very well made, and I was impressed with the overall quality of both.. One definite bonus for the Marmot Zeus is the addition of an internal pocket that can be used to keep small food items warm when outside. The Patagonia jacket only has the internal pocket that is intended to be used for stuffing the jacket.

For my purposes, I chose the Patagonia Down Sweater. The main factors that finally drove my decision: 1) less bulk in the arms – I could barely tell that I had this jacket on when wearing a shell, while I felt some restriction in movement when wearing the Zeus under my shell; some of the bulk in the arms is inevitably due to the longer length of the sleeves on the Marmot Zeus; 2) lower neck – the higher neck on the Zeus combined with the tight neck on my shell made the Zeus feel less comfortable.

Despite my choice to go with the Patagonia Down Sweater, the Marmot Zeus is, at MSRP, is a great value, particularly when compared to similar offerings from the North Face and Mountain Hardwear. Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that I was able to get the Patagonia Down Sweater for the same price as the Marmot Zeus, I probably would have gone with the Marmot Zeus. This would be particularly true if I were not so focused on using this jacket as a mid-layer.

View Details: Patagonia Down Sweater Jacket - Men's

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