Rab Cirrus Flex Hoody RRP: £150Weight: 380g (women’s size 10) There’s a lot to like about the re-designed Cirrus Flex. Lightweight, it offers a good degree of warmth with fairly wide baffles allowing the PrimaLoft Silver RISE insulation to loft well, trapping warm air. Very stretchy fleece panels extend all the way up the sides and on the inner arms and at the ears, reducing bulk and allowing more breathability. If anything, I could have this layer even thinner. I’ve used Rab synthetic and down jackets in the past and the pertex used on this one for the outer layer…

Recommended price: £64.99Weight: 430g (women’s size 8) Once ubiquitous, fleece jackets have fallen from favour somewhat in recent years, with many walkers switching to synthetic insulation that offers more warmth to weight. They are, however, usually more breathable which makes them still a great choice when it’s slightly less cold or when your sweating heading uphill. This fleece jacket from Kathmandu is made from Polartec Thermal Pro, a high performance fleece. In addition to the usual soft fleece inner, the outer surface is a knitted structure giving the garment a distinctive look. The surface has proved robust with no piling…

Recommended Price: £199Weight: 640g (men’s large) The Whitehorn is a new insulated downjacket from Mammut, with a few innovative features. The 115g of filling in the main part of the jacket is recycled 650 fill power goose down, but the shoulders are filled with a recycled synthetic insulation – which should boost durability when worn with a pack as well as aiding performance in damp conditions. Not only are both fillings recycled, the face and lining fabric is too; the Pertex Quantum Eco has been treated with a durable water repellent finish – PFC free, to complete the impressive environmental…

Recommended Price: £200 – £250Weight: 295g (men’s large) The Micro-Puff is a truly ultra-light mid-layer jacket. Patagonia state the weight as being 264g – my large comes in at 295g and packs down to a tiny size in its own pocket. The amount of warmth on offer here for such a slight jacket is phenomenal – I’ve found it as warm as fleeces at around twice the weight. The outer is ripstop nylon Pertex Quantum – which is ultralight and windproof, whilst the insulation is PlumaFill – a synthetic that is claimed to be almost as warm as down, whilst…

Recommended Price: £125Weight: 404g (large) This reasonably lightweight synthetic insulated jacket is filled with Cirrus 3M Featherless insulation – which Rab reckon is equivalent to 600 fill power down. That’s a little way short of the the warmth and loft properties of the very best quality down – but then synthetics are also easier to wash, perform better when wet, and are cheaper. There are thinner fleece panels down the sides of the jacket, along the bottom of the arms and the sides of the hood. When working hard in an insulated jacket I often find the surface fabric ends…