Passenger Ashland Down Recycled Jacket review: stylish insulation

Passenger is a brand making waves in the outdoor world, with its eye-catching, colorful designs and van life / surf-cool aesthetics. These days, sustainability is an essential business imperative, and Passenger certainly makes a song and dance about its efforts. Google Passenger and the word responsible jumps out of the screen like a big, green thumbs up.

It’s obvious that sustainability is important to Passenger. It plants a tree for every order it receives; is part of the Rainforest Trust, helping to protect the planet’s precious rainforests; and many of the materials it uses during manufacture are recycled. The brand’s image is mostly of beaches, forests and lake shores, with mountains sometimes featuring somewhere in the background. Though a peak at its Insta account reveals more and more instances of its gear being used a little higher up these days.

In terms of my own experience in the UK, I’ve noticed many of my trendier friends sporting the logo, wearing it about town or as the garment of choice for causal get-togethers. I’ve yet to notice the brand’s apparel worn in the hills and mountains, though its Made to Roam Activewear Collection, featuring waterproof jackets, base layers, down jackets, trousers, softshells, fleeces, beanies and neck gaiters might just change all that.

I’d recently tested and reviewed the Passenger Backroads Recycled Polartec Fleece, praising its style and comfort – great for general time in the outdoors. It’s not a part of the Activewear Collection though, so it was unsurprising that I felt it wasn’t ideal for serious mountain adventures – it was a little restrictive, as well as too thick and warm for use as a technical mid-layer. However, I was stoked to try out the new Ashland Down Recycled Jacket (available to buy directly from Passenger), which is in the Activewear Collection. So, you may seeing its ilk on a hill or mountain near you very soon.

Passenger Ashland Down Recycled Jacket: first impressions

The Ashland comes with two color choices: the very attractive Rich Navy / Pear Green option and the plain and uninspiring Black option. I realize that The North Face have enjoyed huge commercial success with black down jackets and this might just be the color (or lack of) of choice for some. For me, though, I want to wear something a little more vibrant when exploring the outdoors. I was fortunate enough to test the navy and green version, which I think looks fantastic.

Straight away the jacket feels great to wear, marrying low weight with cozy warmth. I found the fit was spot on: there’s room for fleece layer underneath but it still looks great when worn just over a t-shirt, with none of the bagginess you sometimes get with insulated jackets.

Meet the expert

Alex Foxfield

Alex is a Mountain Leader and former President of the London Mountaineering Club. He has a great passion for the high places and enjoys a range of activities, whether he's mountain running the English Lake District, scaling alpine peaks on mainland Europe, getting his teeth into the Scottish Highlands during winter or camping in North Wales.

Recycled fabrics and responsible down

Much of Passenger’s apparel is recycled, as is indicated by the inclusion of ‘Recycled’ in many of its product names. In the case of the Ashland, both the shell and the lining feature 100% recycled polyester. As is pretty standard in down jackets, the shell is also treated with a PFC-free, water-resistant coating. Before you get too excited, this doesn’t make the jacket totally waterproof but does provide a bit of protection in drizzle or showery conditions.

The responsibly-soured goose down fill beneath the shell comes from Downlite, a company who also count Patagonia, The North Face and Columbia among its clients. This supplier has been going for over a century and is a leader in traceability practices when it comes to the supply chain, maintaining responsible down sourcing practices. Downlite are certified by the Responsible Down Standard, NSF Global Traceable Down and are bluesign approved. In short, it’s good to see that Passenger aren’t being mavericks when it comes to their goose (Top Gun fans, excuse the pun).

In terms of fill power, the Ashland boasts 650, enough to be nicely insulating, while still being nicely packable. Fill power, or loft, is a measure of a down product’s fluffiness, tested in a lab by compressing an ounce of the down to see how well it fluffs back up. The better it springs back to life, the more air it can trap and the more it will insulate. Generally, the high-performing down jackets we like for mountain adventure have between 600 and 900 fill power. The Ashland is at the lower end of this scale, making it good for keeping you toasty on a brisk walk but not ideal if you're stood around belaying at the mouth of a frozen gully.

Passenger Ashland Down Recycled Jacket: features

The Ashland’s packability creds are further enhanced by the fact that it stuffs into its own pocket, creating a little stuff sack for easy transportation. Even if you’ve ran out of room in your daypack, the sack has a little clip, allowing for external attachment. When back in jacket mode, the very same clip makes for a useful key holder or similar.

Hems, hoods and cuffs have all been carefully considered. The hood and hem are fully adjustable thanks to shock cords that are easy to loosen and tighten up. The peak of the hood is thoughtfully crafted, designed to keep water from dripping down into your face. Meanwhile, the cuffs have a little bit of elastic, handy for wrapping over hiking gloves to keep everything sealed up on colder days.

YKK zippers are used on both the main front opening and the large handwarmer pockets. The front zip features a fabric pull with a textured plastic tab for easy grip, even when wearing gloves, while the pockets’ zippers have fabric pulls with reinforcement at the end of traction and durability. The pockets themselves are spacious, though their position means they’ll get covered by a backpack’s hipbelt or a climbing harness.

Passenger Ashland Down Recycled Jacket: on the trails

The Ashland’s versatility is a real plus – it’s at home in a range of environments. I’ve been wearing it in Britain’s uplands during a prolonged freeze, as well as on woodland walks, strolls in the local park and in town while ticking items off my Christmas shopping list.

The jacket has a nice lightweight feel to it. It’s 650 fill power insulation provides a nice amount of warmth, enough for chilly winter walks or for drinking in the views on a windy summit. It’s no belay jacket, so don’t expect it to keep you warm while stood still in a shaded couloir in the depths of winter, nor is it designed for freezing alpine adventures. However, for most hiking exploits and everyday life during the colder months, it’s a jacket you’ll reach for time and time again.

It can deal with quite a bit of rain before the water-resistant coating begins to wet out, keeping me dry during showers and the like. Of course, it's no substitute for a waterproof jacket in the mountains or for prolonged rain.

I love the way the Ashland folds away into its own pocket. It's dead easy to do and the resulting stuff sack is easy to grab in a fix. However, it’s worth remembering not to store down jackets in their stuff sack for extended periods of time, as this can have a negative impact on the insulation's ability to loft properly.

Unlike Passenger’s Eclipse Insulated Waterproof Jacket, which I also tested recently, the insulation passes over the top of the handwarmer pockets and kept my digits nice and warm. When I wore hiking gloves, I was able to manipulate the zippers thanks to the ample pulls. The way the hood cinches in with its elasticated drawcord pulls and plastic sliders is a really nice touch. This stopped overzealous winds blowing it off my bonce and meant that the hood moved with my head when turning from side to side. Similarly, the hem was easy to tighten and loosen.

When all is said and done, this is a great, lightweight down jacket that's versatile enough to see loads of use. It's good value, looks great and is comfortable too.