La Sportiva has a name known all around the world for their climbing footwear. From approach shoes to technical rock shoes of all focuses to mountaineering boots designed for the world’s tallest peaks, they have demonstrated a mastery over the years that few brands can begin to contend with. They are so rightly ubiquitous that it comes as a surprise when you show up at a crag with more than one party and nobody wearing La Sportivas. In the boundless success of their footwear, La Sportiva also started up a softgoods line up. They’re newer to that game than footwear, but their designers are approaching it with similar gusto. I’ve been wearing their new Lumina 200 down jacket this Fall and Winter, and I have some thoughts to share with the class.
La Sportiva Lumina 200 Features:
- Offers a high warmth-to-weight ratio and packs down well
- Downproof Pertex® Quantum recycled fabric delivers impressive durability
- 1,000-fill-power Italian down provides superior warmth while being extremely packable
- Down chambers are specifically designed to maximize warmth during cold-weather activities
- Helmet-compatible hood with elastic opening
- Elastic inner sleeve cuffs provide a precise and secure fit while preventing heat from escaping
- 2 harness-compatible, zippered hand pockets
- Included stuff sack allows you to easily store the jacket in your pack
- Repair kit allows you to patch and maintain the jacket year after year
- Weight: 265g (as weighed on my scale in size Large)
- MSRP: $379
Super-Light Fluff
My first impression of the Lumina 200 was that it was extraordinarily light. At 265 grams in size Large, the thing weighs almost half as much as my North Face Breithorn Hoodie. It’s one of those layers that’s so light that it just has an airy feel when you put it on. As you might suspect based on the weight, it also compresses and packs down super well. When stuffed down to its smallest size, it takes up perhaps slightly less than a liter of space in a pack.
I’ve said this many times before, but I’m a big fan of built-in, stuff-in-the-pocket storage. Unfortunately, that’s not what La Sportiva went with on this one. Instead, they’ve supplied an ultralight Pertex stuff sack with a clippable loop, so that you can hang the bag on your harness. When your jacket is stowed, it’s great, but when it’s not, you are left to wonder what to do with your little bag. I do anticipate losing it one day. Ultimately, I’d prefer stuff-in-the-pocket storage, but that’s just one guy’s opinion.
Warmth-wise, the Lumina 200 is stellar. The 1,000 fill down kept me plenty warm on adventure days out in the snow, as a belay jacket while ice climbing, and a general purpose lofty layer on colder nights about town. As long as the weather is fairly dry, the jacket did a great job keeping me toasty. Like most down jackets though, it suffered when things got wet. The Pertex outer doesn’t take long before absorbing water in a light rain, and when the down gets wet, the jacket becomes a pretty ineffective insulator. That’s down for you though – great in the dry, not ideal in the wet.
The down, too, is of a high quality. Aside from “it’s warm”, that comes down to whether or not the jacket feels pokey at all. It really doesn’t feel pokey in the least. With that said, the down does seem to be weasling its way out of the jacket faster than many others that I’ve owned. It’s not leaving at an alarming rate, but it is slowly escaping.
One way in which the jacket’s warmth could improve is simply by adding an elastic cord at the waist. Being able to cinch down the waist of an insulated layer is the way to prevent heat loss from up drafts. It makes a big difference, and I’m surprised this jacket lacks one. Even the most ultralight jackets tend to include them.
Leaving that mystery of a design choice behind us, most of the materials which the jacket does use are of a very high quality. Starting from the outside, the Pertex Quantum fabric is tremendously light, thin, and comfortable on the skin. Between your fingers, it almost feels like a fine silk. It’s really no wonder the jacket is so light.
As you might imagine, its durability does have limits, but it’s aided by a tight ripstop weave. In my testing, I found the limits of the Pertex Quantum’s durability when doing a bit of winter bushwhacking on the approach to a frozen waterfall. At some point or other, I caught a stick to the hood of the jacket, tried to step forward, and tore a one inch hole (which would’ve been larger if not for the ripstop) out of which the Lumina 200 threatened to vomit its precious fluff onto the snow. I don’t blame the jacket for that incident, but I was very glad that La Sportiva included a patch kit!
The jacket has pretty minimal storage – just two zippered hand pockets. The zippers for those pockets are high quality. The pulls are easy to grab too, even while wearing gloves. For whatever reason, La Sportiva didn’t decide to sew the bases of those pockets at the inside of the jacket to create dump pockets. They could’ve, and it would’ve been an easy win. I would’ve liked to see that incorporated.
My final note for the Lumina 200 is the main zipper. Like the pocket zippers, it has a great pull that’s easy to get a hold of when you’re wearing bulkier gloves. The zipper chain and tape though do feel a little cheaper than I’d like for a $379 jacket. It functions adequately, but it doesn’t have the most secure feel and already has a bit of waviness to it, which just doesn’t look great. It’s a minor thing, but it could be improved upon in future iterations.
Fit: I’m 5’11” and a lean 170 pounds, and I usually wear size Large insulation layers. I tested a US Large here, and it fit exactly as expected.
Buy Now: Available at REI
The Bottom Line
Light!
This down jacket is super warm and wildly light. Many things about it – the fabric choice, down quality, and zipper pulls in particular – are tuned for alpine use. Other more common features, like a cinch-able elastic waist and internal dump pockets are missing on the Lumina 200. For many purposes, those gaps won’t matter and the jacket will shine as a super-light warmth machine, but folks still ought to know before purchasing one for a belay layer.
The Good:
- Super-duper light
- Packs down nice and small into an included stuff sack
- Very lofty and warm
- Pertex Quantum fabric is super light, thin, and skin-friendly
- Zipper Pulls are all easy to grab with gloves
The Bad:
- I’d prefer in-pocket storage over a stuff sack
- Like most down, not great in the wet
- Lacks an elastic waist cinch
- Sheds down feathers
- Missed opportunity to add internal drop pockets
- Main zipper chain and tape look and feel a little cheaper
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Mobility
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Breathability
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Features
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Fit
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Aesthetics
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Value