Feathered Friends Khumbu Expedition Parka Review

Bottom Line

The Feathered Friends Khumbu Parka is a premium quality jacket built for the coldest environments and places on Earth. Named after Mt. Everest’s Khumbu icefall, the Khumbu Park is designed for mountaineering and high mountain adventures. We took this jacket out in the coldest Alaskan temperatures we could find, and it quickly showed why it’s one of the best winter jackets available.

Wearing the Khumbu is like wearing a sleeping bag on your torso. It features the highest fill down of any jacket we’ve tested. At 900 fill, this jacket packs some serious warmth. Using this jacket in double-digit negative temperatures, we never felt a trace of cold and will continue reaching for it on the coldest days. In fact, we don’t recommend this jacket for anything above the single digits as it’s simply too warm for most uses outside of the coldest days.

We will continue to reach for this jacket, the next time temperatures hit negative twenty, or for belaying and ice climbing in the coldest weather. While too technical for most casual uses, the Khumbu Parka is a well-vetted extreme cold jacket fit to perform at the limits of winter cold.

How We Tested

The Khumbu Parka was tested in the depths of the Alaskan winter when temperatures plummeted into the negative double digits. From frigid days belaying while ice climbing, to windy winter summits, we tested the Khumbu on the coldest days we could find to test the limits of this high-performance jacket.

Warmth

When temperatures plummeted to the negative double digits, we took the Khumbu Parka out into Alaska’s boreal forest to see how it would do. We were immediately impressed with its cold weather performance and we even managed to overheat on such a cold day while hiking uphill. The Khumbu Parka is undoubtedly fit for some of the coldest temperatures possible and is perfect for mountaineering, polar work, or living in extreme cold.

The 900-fill down is the highest fill power of any jacket in our lineup and offers unbeatable warmth. The Khumbu also features two layers of 200-gram Primalfot Gold around the collar. This maintains insulation in high moisture areas, whether from breath condensation or precipitation. The high collar reaches up to the nose, and we loved burrowing into it to protect our face from the cold. While perfect for temperatures well below zero, this jacket is simply too warm for anything warmer than ten degrees. Anything warmer and this jacket’s extreme warmth becomes a liability and we found ourselves unzipping the jacket to cool down often, even in the single digits.

Weather Resistance

The outer of the Khumbu Parka is constructed with Pertex Shield outer. This material, often found in breathable rain jackets, is known for its low weight and ability to resist moisture. While this fabric is not as weather resistant as some, this is a great choice for the Khumbu, designed to be used in temperatures well below freezing with little chance of exposure to unfrozen moisture.

We found that it shed ice, snow, and frozen condensation from our breath easily with the brush of the hand. The jacket adequately protected the downfill from becoming soaked and repelled the occasional brush with water. Will we be taking this jacket out in a rainstorm? No, but is more than adequately weather-resistant to repel snow and ice on the next extreme cold outing.

Comfort & Functionality

The Khumbu is immediately recognizable as a mountaineering and technical jacket for the deep winter. As such, it will immediately be out of place in most settings besides the deep cold. It is solidly a technical piece of outerwear more at home on the summit of Denali than your local brewery. We will continue to use this jacket on the coldest days of the year but might choose a different one for anything other than spending all day in twenty below zero.

Putting on the Khumbu is like wearing a thick-down quilt. The baffles are comfortable and the jacket didn’t feel restrictive in any way. While not specifically designed for comfort, the outer material was smooth and comfortable on the skin, even without any brushed lining accents. It’s relatively lightweight for its size and we did not feel weighed down by the Khumbu’s heft. Wearing the Khumbu feels and looks like you’re wearing a big warm cloud.

Features

The Khumbu Parka has features that show off Feathered Friend’s commitment to quality and design fit for the harshest elements. One of the most unique features is the zippered front baffle. This insulated baffle with a small toothed zipper provides a second line of defense against any cold entering through the main front zip. This is an exceptionally well-thought-out feature, although it is another zipper to get through if you need to take off the jacket quickly.

Dual zips help to regulate temperature and access your belay device while climbing. The forearms and elbows are reinforced with a layer of Taslite material to improve durability in high-contact areas. The jacket comes with a stuff sack and it packs down to roughly the size of a large water bottle or loaf of bread. The hood is designed to fit a climbing helmet but is easily cinched down over a hat with three pull cords, all easily used while wearing gloves.

Should You Buy the Feathered Friends Khumbu Expedition Parka?

If you’re heading into a winter environment where you need to trust your life with a jacket, this would be the one.

If trips to Denali, the Himalayas, or the other Great Ranges are on your itinerary, the Feathered Friends Khumbu Parka will quickly become an essential piece of kit. Its extreme insulation offers life-saving warmth in some of the coldest temperatures on Earth.

However, if you’re looking for a jacket to wear on a cold day in town, you may need to look elsewhere. Decidedly technical, the Khumbu is a specialized jacket for mountaineering and surviving in the coldest temperatures around.

The Feathered Friend Khumbu Parka is a premium quality piece of gear, with the reputation of a renowned brand backing it. Made with high-quality materials that have excellent features, durability, and warmth, the Khumbu is a worthy companion for your next adventure into extreme cold.

What Other Winter Jackets Should You Consider?

If you like the Khumbu and want some more similar options, check out our favorites below or take a look at our other best winter jackets for men.

Outdoor Research Super Alpine Parka Review Review: Another jacket suited for the coldest days, the Super Alpine is slightly longer than the Khumbu, while also being slightly lighter.

Rab Neutrino Pro Review Review: If you’re looking for a more versatile jacket, the Neutrino Pro is slightly more styled for in-town use but still being extremely warm with 800-fill down.

The North Face McMurdo Review: Named after another extremely cold place, the McMurdo is also right at home in extreme cold. With a waterproof exterior, it offers better weather resistance than the Khumbu.