Description of Merrell Essex Down Jacket - Women's:
The Merrell Women’s Essex Down Jacket: fashionable winter wear or high-performance insulating layer? Well, it’s both actually. This jacket works as well on the city streets as it does on a backcountry ski tour thanks to the compressible 600-fill down insulation and lightweight polyester shell. The DWR finish sheds snow and light rain, and the drawcord hem seals out cold breezes.
Bottom Line: Functionable fashion for frickin’ freezing days.
Like you "Nate Dawg" I got this jacket for my girlfriend for Xmas, I have a great down coat(Marmot Mountain, 650 fill). With her non-down coat, shes always cold, and we live in some pretty harsh temperatures(its 3pm and 3F right now, with a -15F windchill factor). I too was planning on waiting until Xmas to give it to her, but her jacket just doesn't cut in, even when its above freezing! So it came in the mail today, and as did you, I thought it seemed WAY to thin, and I was a little bummed out. So I decided to give it to her, to test in these temperatures and see if we should return it.. she LOVES it! She says the sizing is perfect and it kept her warm, she took our dog for a half hour walk with just a T-shirt under the Essex, she said "my ears were FREEZING, but the coat was really warm, really hot!" Adding that she was glad that it wasn't 'really puffy'. So "Nate Dawg", before you return it, make sure you let her try it on! We all know down compacts well, they must have stuffed it in there good, because it seems to get the job done with a thin profile and a low weight in below freezing temperatures. Hope this helps anyone considering this purchase.
I recently bought this jacket to go to Europe in January. It snowed while I was there, trekking around in the city and I was toasty warm. Don't let the lightweight nature of this jacket fool you~it is great. I found it runs a little tailored in the fit and the arms are nice and long. Since it is more fitted, you don't feel like a marshmallow. LOVE IT!
