Down booties are like down jackets but for your feet. It’s meant to provide foot insulation during cold conditions such as winter camping and when it comes to the best down booties for backpacking, Feathered Friend’s down booties is the top choice.
Feathered Friends down booties are the best down booties for backpacking and winter camping because the removable sleeve provides so much convenience and versatility. It makes it easy for you to walk outside the tent and stay clean inside your tent. It is high quality with a high fill power, warm, and lightweight, making it a must-have piece of gear for winter camping. But let me tell you more about who I am, why you should trust my opinion and my experience with the cold and these booties.
🥾 Click here to buy the Feathered Friends Down Booties
Who I Am – Why Trust My Opinion?
My name is Tiffany and I’ve been backpacking since 2015. I have avoided winter camping for so long simply because I hate the cold – I was born and raised in Southern California so 60 degrees is already considered cold for me 🫢
I run cold, very cold, throughout the whole year. I’ve been cold in expedition-grade mittens at only 10k ft, cold in 8000 m boots at only 6000 m, and numb in 4-season boots during ice climbing season – I think I also have poor blood circulation that makes me cold when I shouldn’t be, but if there was ever a person to test out winter gear that truly works, I’m the person for the job.
Six years ago, I learned how to stay warm during cold weather outdoor activities without snow. Three years ago, I learned how to best stay warm camping and climbing in the snow.
Here’s what I’ve learned
As a person who is always cold, it is possible to do cold-weather activities and stay warm and comfortable if you have the right gear. It is possible to not be a human popsicle and specifically when it comes to winter camping and mountaineering, down booties make all the difference in the experience. I now look forward to winter activities!
I do want to be transparent and say I haven’t tested out many other down booties, but when you find the one you love, there’s no need to.
Feathered Friends Down Booties Review
What I love about these down booties
These down booties are high quality, ultralight, convenient, versatile, and 100% worth. They are great for outdoor use around camp and while you sleep. If you have cold feet like I usually do, these will keep you nice and toasty.
There is one simple feature that makes the Feathered Friends down booties better than any other brands I’ve come across for backpacking – it has a removable sleeve which is an invaluable feature for cold weather camping, particularly snow camping and expeditions.
The Feathered Friends down booties have 2 layers: a pair of down socks and a sleeve that covers it. The sleeve has two cinching cords, one around the top and another around the ankle so it stays fitted while walking.
Down Booties Specs & Features
- 800 fill power of ethically sourced goose down
- Removable weather-resistant shell
- Light and thick foam insoles
- Avg weight: 9 oz (fill weight: 4 oz)
- Comes in multiple color options!
- Price $119
The downside to these down booties
There are minor things about these down booties that I don’t love about the booties, but if they were fixed, they would probably resemble heavier camp booties as opposed to backpacking booties.
- Ideally, we all camp on flat ground, but that doesn’t mean the space surrounding camp is flat. If you need to go pee and have to go up a slope to get away from camp (not even a big slope), these down booties won’t be too solid. The bottom of the booties lack grip and the booties are not designed to fit snugly around your feet so the looseness of it all does not help when walking on a slope. It works, but tighten those cinch cords and move with caution. It’s great for flat ground though.
- The foam soles are thick, but not so thick that you won’t start to feel the cold ground beneath you if you are standing out in the snow during a storm for too long.
Convenient for expeditions:
These down booties came in very handy during my expeditions. In Nepal, the trek from teahouse to teahouse is at high altitude and instead of packing an extra pair of slippers, you can simply use your down booties here to limit packing extra weight and stay warm.
It’s much easier to go in and out of the tent while camping in snow. Mountaineering boots can take some effort to put on and take off and these down booties just provide an easier option for you to quickly jump in and out of the tent to use the restroom. The removable sleeve keeps the down socks clean and dry and is an easy slip on/ off. This is what I love it for most when camping in snow.
The removable sleeve also works over other brands down booties/ socks. My friend had a pair from The North Face and was able to conveniently slip my Feathered Friends sleeve over his to jump out of the tent 🙂
Note: If the fresh snow piles up by at least a foot though, these booties aren’t that tall so I would recommend having down pants that cover the top so snow does not get inside. It pairs nicely with my FF down pants (unisex) which felt indestructible during a snowstorm.
How I Learned about Feathered Friends and Winter Camping Gear
I want to share more on my experience with winter gear if you are still wondering how much you should trust my opinion.
Back in 2016, I went car camping on Thanksgiving weekend in Escalante, Utah – temps were well below freezing and I just had my 3 season camping gear. I didn’t know any better. I froze all night, couldn’t sleep one second, and immediately started researching winter sleeping bags when I got home. I came across Feathered Friends from a PNW influencer who basically told me that it came with a high price tag but if I could afford it, I wouldn’t regret it.
Truer words were never said.
Well, it did cost a pretty little penny and was the single most expensive piece of gear I had purchased to date, but my 0 degrees Murre sleeping bag is still one of my favorite gear to date. It’s as warm and lofty as the day that I got it. Since then, I’ve been a huge fan of Feathered Friends high quality and that’s how I ended up with their down booties. As soon as I saw it came with a removable sleeve, I knew it was something I needed to help make my cold weather camping experiences more pleasant. As someone who is always cold, I do everything I can to help ensure a better experience so I will continue to want to do it.
My experience with other down booties:
As I mentioned above, I don’t have many experience using other down booties. In fact, I’ve only ever used one other pair of down booties that was similar to down socks (I think it was Western Mountaineering). While they made for nice down socks in a cabin, my issues came when I stepped outside. These booties came off while I was walking out in the snow. I had stepped out into the snow to pee – the snow was very soft and powdery. As I took a step, the down bootie stuck in the snow and my whole foot came out… I was not happy.
Every time I use my down booties in new camp environments, I appreciate them more and more.
Where Have I Used the Feathered Friends Down Booties
I’ve been using these since Christmas of 2018 and have used them for many winter backpacking and mountaineering trips, and even some late Spring/ early Summer backpacking trips in the high Sierra Nevada. These have become an integral part of my cold-weather camp system. I used to bring an extra pair of socks for just a one-night trip so I could have a clean pair and something warm to sleep in, but I swapped them out for the down socks part of my booties and will just leave the sleeves at home if I don’t need it. Down material simply insulates more efficiently when you are sleeping and it packs down nice and small when compressed with my sleeping bag.
- Eastern Sierra Mountains: I’ve brought them out of countless backpacking trips at high altitudes throughout the year
- Nepal 6000 m expeditions: these came in very handy while we were camping on the glacier and snow.
- Denali <11k ft at basecamp and camp 1 while stuck in a storm: As you can guess, this was the harshest snow condition I’ve used the booties in. Being stuck in a blizzard for 48 hours made these very handy.
FAQ: Down Booties
What are down booties for?
Down booties are meant to keep your feet warm. There are different types of down booties for different types of camping, but the Feathered Friends down booties reviewed here are geared more toward backcountry camping. If you are looking for down booties, specifically for car camping only, there may be better options out there, honestly. If you are looking for winter camping down booties or expedition booties, these may be for you.
Are camping booties worth it?
Yes, but only for the right conditions. If you are camping in cold temperatures, you will be grateful for camping booties. Down booties for camping are a great choice because they not only keep your feet warm and toasty while hanging out at camp, but it is also very convenient as opposed to keeping your hiking/ mountaineering boots on.
🥾 Click here to buy the Feathered Friends Down Booties
The Wrap-Up: Feathered Friends Down Booties Review
There are few camping gear products that I personally feel are a lot better than any others of its class and for down booties, Feathered Friends takes the cake. In full disclosure, I am biased towards these and was gifted these years ago but I am biased for a reason – they are that good.
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