Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Fashion & Style

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Get In-Vested this Season: Our Favorite Men’s Vests for Functional Fashion

Clay Abney
By

best mens vests for the season
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Fall provides the perfect opportunity for us to transition into the impending colder weather ahead. As the days get shorter and the temperature begins to drop, we have to begin thinking once again about layering. And what better way to accomplish this seasonal task than to ease into cooler weather with the king of layering – the vest.

Here are 13 of our favorite men’s vests for town, trail, and travel, separated by material.

Recommended Videos

Synthetic

The North Face ThermoBall Active Vest – $130

The North Face ThermoBall Active Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This slim fitting active vest utilizes the revolutionary ThermoBall insulation which offers the warmth and compressibility of down with the protection of a synthetic product (even when wet).

Salomon Drifter Mid Vest – $130

Salomon Drifter Mid Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This active fit, reversible PrimaLoft vest paired with a soft Pertex shell is the perfect compliment for trail and travel.

Filson Quilted Polson Vest – $195

Filson Quilted Polson Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The dry wax treated shell provides a water repellent field vest that is insulated with PrimaLoft and highlighted with an antique brass zipper with snap storm flap.

Down

Mammut Trovat IN Vest – $150

Mammut Trovat IN Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This regular fit 650-fill-power down vest contains 80% white goose down (20% white goose feather). The Pertex Microlight shell makes this an ideal vest for active pursuits.

Patagonia Ultralight Down Vest – $124-$249

Patagonia Ultralight Down Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This super lightweight vest contains 800-fill-power Traceable Down (goose down that is traced from parent farm to apparel factory to ensure that the birds that supply it are not force fed or live-plucked).

Outdoor Research Transcendent Down Vest – $149

Outdoor Research Transcendent Down Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This 650-fill-power goose down vest in protected by a wind and water resistant shell to provide a lightweight solution for early morning treks or nights around the campfire.

Stio Woodson Down Vest – $189

Stio Woodson Down Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Overstuffed with 650-fill Allied Feather HyperDry water-repellent down, this classic, work inspired down vest will be at home on the job site, in the mountains or around town.

Fjällräven Ovik Lite Down Vest – $265

Fjällräven Ovik Lite Down Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This classic looking vest looks great for a night out on the town and is functional off grid. The recycled polyester and organic shell is water resistant and is paired with soft Pertex Quantum lining that is insulated with 80/20 down.

Wool

Duckworth Snowcrest Vest – $295

Duckworth Snowcrest Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This casual and stylish woven wool vest is made in the U.S.A. The super soft exterior shell is 100% Helle Rambouillet Merino wool while the vest is insulated with WoolCloud fill (a wool alternative to feathers).

Aztech Cathedral Vest – $585

Aztech Cathedral Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This vest is the perfect mix of performance and style. The PrimaLoft Gold insulation is paired with water-repellent fabrics along with the brands signature triangle quilting.

Smartwool Double Propulsion 20 Hoody Vest – $200

Smartwool Double Propulsion 20 Hoody Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The DWR treated polyester shell will provide protection from the wind and moisture while the SmartLoft wool insulation and merino wool/polyester lining will keep you toasty for wherever the trail takes you.

Ortovox Swisswool Piz Cartas Vest – $180

Ortovox Swisswool Piz Cartas Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Pertex Microlight shell is breathable, water and wind resistant. This reversible vest is insulated with Swisswool which is a more coarse and durable grade of wool. The company states that it’s ‘from the mountains, for the mountains’.

Hybrid

Ibex Mixed Route Vest – $200

Ibex Mixed Route Vest
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The blending of two great natural fibers make this vest an anomaly in the roundup. Down and wool pair together to provide the insulation in this 100% recycled nylon shell.

Clay Abney
Clay Abney
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Clay Abney is a PR guru and freelance writer living in the wild and wonderful state of West Virginia, where he spends his…
New dial colors, slimmer design for IWC’s Portugieser watches
The IWC Portugieser Collection nods to its 1930s roots while bringing new details to the line
The IWC Hand-WOund Night and Day watch.

If you've been orbiting through the same collections of watches looking for that perfect addition to fill that something missing in your arsenal, stop your search. Swiss brand International Watch Company, known more appropriately to wearers and collectors as IWC Schaffhausen, has a heavenly lineup at this year's Watches and Wonders you've been waiting an eternity for. If unmatched caliber and exceptional craftsmanship — along with a touch of planetary elements — are a few things you look for in a luxury watch, the Portugieser Collection from IWC is the right fit for your wrist.
The IWC Portugieser collection

The collection throws it back to the Portugieser of the 1930s, where the design got its first inspiration from those gorgeous navigational watches on the deck of a ship. Keep that nautical theme in your head because each piece in the collection has celestial details as the star.

Read more
Ready for a comeback? PUMA’s Easy Rider is back
Easy Rider Sneakers

 

With many sneakers coming back in recent seasons, PUMA is getting ready to blow them all out of the water. Once again, one of the company’s staple sneaker designs is ready to grace shelves and give us the true retro sneaker. While still iconic and recognizable, there’s no doubt that PUMA’s Easy Rider sneaker was the beginning of a new era for the casual sneaker, and to many regarded as one of the first of its kind. 

Read more
This new Cartier watch tells time backwards
Turn back time with the new Santos
Cartier Rewind on wrist

Wristwatches may be distinctly masculine pieces of hardware now, thanks to some very popular people in pop culture and in our own history adopting them. British super spy James Bond, movie stars, and athletes are the people we look up to who wear watches that catch our eye. Soldiers, cops, firefighters, and first responders wear watches they trust to ensure they can save lives. Pilots and divers created an entire industry around watches specifically designed for their vocations. And the very first pilot's watch was none other than a Cartier watch.

Alberto Santos-Dumont was a pioneer in the flight world and was one of the first people on Earth to achieve air travel. He was a competitor of the Wright Brothers, and, depending on the source, he preceded them in flight. In any case, the French celebrity went to Louis Cartier, another pioneer of his craft, and procured a square timekeeper meant for the wrist. The Cartier Santos Dumont was born. Over a century later, Cartier attended Watches and Wonders and presented the newest in the line of Santos watches, one that reverses time.
The Rewind tells time backwards

Read more