Can You Winter Hike or Snowshoe in a Puffy Insulated Jacket

A lot of people wear lightweight puffy jackets as outer or mid-layers when winter hiking and snowshoeing, so it’s obvious that you can do it. But I wouldn’t advise it for steady or uphill travel, except in extremely cold or windy conditions, because you’ll probably overheat and perspire heavily. Puffy down or synthetic insulated jackets are best worn for warmth during rest stops when you’re not moving and your body isn’t generating excessive body heat.

Most people underestimate how much heat their bodies generate when winter hiking and snowshoeing because they have no experience doing it. That’s understandable, especially if you froze while standing and waiting at a bus stop for your school bus to arrive in winter. But when I’m hiking or snowshoeing up hills and mountains in winter, it’s not unusual for me to strip down to my mid-layer fleece hoodie or my base layer top to cool down and avoid perspiring. Winter hiking and snowshoeing take a lot of energy and make you very warm.

Wet Clothing Kills Insulation

A better approach is to layer your clothing for winter hiking and snowshoing, putting on and taking off layers frequently to avoid sweating. Why? Because wet clothing kills insulation: Sweat soaks base and mid layers, eliminating their ability to trap warm air close to your skin.  Once you stop moving, that moisture cools rapidly, pulling heat from your body, increasing the risk of hypothermia, and making it much more difficult to warm back up.

Most winter hikers use four layers of clothing

• Base layer: Moisture-wicking (merino or polyester).
• Active mid-layer: Light fleece hoody or wool sweater for when you’re moving.
• Shell: Windproof/waterproof (hard shell) to block wind, snow, and keep you dry.
• Puffy: Worn over other layers during breaks or when you’re getting cold.

The base layer garments move any moisture off your skin, a process called wicking, and pass it up to your active midlayer, like a fleece hoody, which is fairly porous, allowing for the perspiration to evaporate while still providing warmth. You can adjust the thickness of your base and mid layers you wear based on the temperature or the route’s difficulty.

If it’s windy, rainy, or snowy, a shell layer prevents wind, rain, or snow from compromising your active mid-layer and provides added insulation by trapping your warmth. You can regulate how much warmth is trapped by unzipping pitzips, rolling up your arm sleeves, or unzipping the front zipper. You’d be surprised how much warmth a thin windbreaker will trap. I usually just wear a thin windbreaker (weighing just 3 oz) over a fleece mid-layer when winter hiking, though I also bring a winter shell/rain jacket to stay dry if it snows or rains.

The role of your puffy jacket is to keep you warm when you’re not moving or generating excess body heat, and it should be sized so it can be worn over all your other layers. It can be insulated with down, which is more compressible and takes up less space in your backpack, or with synthetic insulation, which is bulkier, somewhat heavier, and less expensive. Both have their pros and cons, but if you layer correctly, you won’t sweat into your puffy insulated jacket, since it won’t be worn as an active mid-layer or outer layer.

Bottom line

Bring a puffy on winter hikes, but hike primarily in breathable layers and use the puffy for stops or when conditions demand more warmth.