After hundreds and hundreds of dollars on various heavily insulated jackets, I’ve finally understood that if you need to deal with extreme cold or extreme cold and wet conditions, with moderate activity, you have to layer. Don’t try and splurge on a jacket that you think will do it all. Invest in a wool or synthetic base layer, a fleece or down mid layer, and a Gore-Tex shell with mechanical venting.

And avoid cotton at all costs.

It took me too long to learn this lesson.