anyone have any idea who hasthe best deals on down jackets??
i need one for my wife to use for winter backpacking
she will not be using it a lot so im looking for something fairly inexpensive thats warm and will pack down fairly small
budget is anything $100 and under $75 would be better

even if we have to buy a clean used one that would be fine too
as long as she will be warm in it she will be happy
she wears a large in mens and probably an xl in womens only because she is fairly tall anyone have any suggestions on where i might look??
thanks guys
divr6347

LL Bean has one on sale for $49 and $10 cash back. Probably the best you can do for $40 if they have one in her size.

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/...n&cat4=6703

Several comments on your post to refine or clarify your request and also your understanding of the market.
1) you don't mention the kinds of temperatures that you expect to use the garment in. It' is difficult to make a recommendation that will keep your wife "warm" and "happy" without having an idea of usage.

2) I appreciate the need to stay within a budget. But, depending on where you are located, it might be that the performance you need isn't available within your budget constraints for sale brand new. I don't know this, but just want to point out that if price is the only consideration, you may not get the performance you need. And, the folk selling at the lower price points are more likely to lie about the actual comfort range of the garment.

My suggestion is to research the market for the performance you want and ignore price. Once you have done that research, then you can determine if the item is available new at standard retail at a level you can afford or if you need to be watching ebay or Craig's List and your local thrift stores for an item that matches your research. Here are a couple of examples of what I mean:

For many years I used a North Face down "sweater" -- as they call them -- that my father-in-law picked up for almost nothing at a thrift store he volunteers at. It served me well until I burned off one of the arms in the Grand Canyon. But my wife tends to be cold and the $300+ top-of-the-line down jacket I got her just barely keeps her comfortable. If I had spent any less, she wouldn't have been happy using it and it would have been a complete waste of money.

Good luck in your research and search.

thanks for the info guys

i know my budget will hamper my ability to get a good quality jacket for her but my theory is that i just know she will only use this garment once or twice a year in the winter with that said i hate to see a $300 down jacket hang in the closet and never get used for its intended use
we do not do a lot of winter camping and the temps in our area are low 30s to mid 40s at night and mid 50 s to mid 60 s in the daytime basically i am just looking to get her something
that she can pack down small so it will fit in her pack without taking up a lot of room so she doesn t have to try and pack one of her synthetic ski jackets that dont pack down small
if i spend $100 or less and the garment hangs in the closet most of its life im ok with that but to see an arcterex or
marmot high end garment hanging in the closet never getting used would be a bit more of a problem for me
i figure it this way i will get her a descent warm budget down jacket and if she decides down works for her then we will spend the coin to get her a quality jacket that will last her
a long time until then the budget garment will have to do
divr6347

You may spend a bit more than $100 but check montbells website, there down sweaters are amazing, short sleeves, long sleeves, some with hoods, pack down smaller than a softball, I use my hooded one for an insulating layer with a thin shell overtop. Worked for me down in the 20's but I like the cold.

http://www.montbell.us/products/disp.php?cat_id=94&p_id=2301255

You might look at REI's website - on the REI-Outlet section, there are several down jackets (I saw one from Mountain Hardwear that seemed to have a lot of size and color selections) that might fit the bill; some even have hoods. They're mostly in the $75 - $100 end of your price range, but they appear to be high quality.

I've found that, for evenings in camp, I like having a hood on my down jacket; of course, I also use a hoodless sleeping quilt, so it doubles as the hood for my sleeping system quite often.

Dont know how good these are but cabelas has some on sale.
Down jacket
If your worried it might not be warm enough you can add a down vest underneath for 20$ more. But you would need to make sure the jacket doesn't compress the vest which would be hard without trying them on.
down vest

Again Ive never used they house brand jackets so don't know how warm they would be.

Check out backcountryoutlet.com also they have quite a selection of down jackets in the 100$ range.

Also don't forget to check out geartrade.com

I just bought a Marmot Venus L at http://www.geartrade.com/ for $47.00 and that was shipping included. They sell used and new stuff there.