Arc’teryx Therme Parka Review

Arc'teryx's Therme line contains 3 products: 

• https://arcteryx.com/us/en/shop/mens/therme-parka (revised FW23)
  • The most popular, flagship Therme Parka. Although fill weight remains the same at 120 grams, in FW23, 100 + 140 gsm synthetic insulation is reduced to 60 + 80 gsm. 
• https://arcteryx.com/us/en/shop/mens/therme-insulated-jacket (formerly Therme LT Jacket. Revised for FW23)
  • In FW23, 80 gsm insulation is reduced to 40 gsm. This cuts back the warmth quite a bit. There are much better Arc'teryx jackets around this warmth level, so I pretty much see no reason to get Therme Insulated Jacket over any one of them. I also personally do not think that this jacket is going to last long. 
• https://arcteryx.com/us/en/shop/mens/therme-sv-parka (Released FW23)
  • Warmest Arc'teryx parka of all time. Longest of all 3 options.
  • It's even warmer than the all-time-warmest-Arc'teryx-parka, the Thorsen Parka (Men's - read review). It's so warm that even when it's pretty cold but not freezing (around, say, 20 deg F (-7 deg C)), this parka has the potential to overheat most of us. 

Make sure to see the Therme SV Parka vs Therme Parka vs Therme Insulated Jacket side by side comparison page at arcteryx.com. It's a great way to compare their specs side by side. 

You might also want to check out Arc'teryx's Jacket Finder tool. 

I'm going to review Therme Parka (item #1) in this article. 

Public poll: Best colorways of Therme

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Which color do you like the most? Please upvote. 

Bitters

Forage

Black Sapphire

Black

Click on the images to enlarge. 

Also see: 

• https://outdoorcrunch.com/thorsen-therme-camosun/
• https://outdoorcrunch.com/best-arcteryx-jacket/

The main change is in the synthetic insulation: It's been cut back from 100 + 140 gsm of Coreloft to 60 + 80 gsm of it. 

Almost HALF of the synthetic insulation is gone. Although the fill weight remains the same (which is a bigger factor when it comes to determining the end warmth of a blend jacket), this still is pretty big news in my book. 

Seems like Arc'teryx already having extremely warm parkas (formerly Thorsen and now Therme SV - mind you that these two are different products and aren't replacements of one another) has forced them go this way. They might have wanted to up the variety in their catalogue. 

Because even the previous Therme Parka had the potential to come too warm for UK winter every now and then - let alone Thorsen Parka and Therme SV Parka. There are few places in the world where you can wear them without overheating. 

So enter the revised FW23 Therme Parka. 

If you're looking to get a parka for casual outgoings when it's pretty cold (see temperature ratings for more info), then Therme could respond very well to your needs. 

You might also want to check out my Camosun vs Therme vs Thorsen article by the way. 

Warmth

Down Insulation

One of the main reasons why this and other Arc'teryx parkas are so expensive is in the quality of their down. 

750 FP down of the Therme is one of the highest quality down used in the entire market.

As a result, not only does this make the Therme equally warm at a much lower weight, but it also helps it provide the same insulation capability after years or even decades - unlike other lower quality down products. 

Read more about this in my Temperature Ratings of Insulated Jackets post. 

Additional Synthetic Insulation

One of my favorite things about Therme is in its synthetic insulation used in strategical areas. 

This isn't extraordinary. 

Down jackets, especially down parkas, tend to use synthetic insulation in addition. That's because down loses its insulating power when it gets wet, and hence the manufacturers solve this problem by sheltering the fill with synthetic insulators. 

But only this, but the manufacturers also tend to use more of synthetic insulation in areas where more warmth, water resistance and/or durability are desired, such as shoulders, lower arms, back, etc. 

This is why in some jackets you see two different numbers with the same unit. For Therme Parka, for example, this number is 60 + 80 gsm (grams square meter), which states the weight of insulation used per square meter. As you can guess, the number 80 here represents the density of reinforcements. 

What is extraordinary about Therme Parka, on the other hand, is how MUCH of synthetic insulation it's equipped with. 

Even after cutting it back almost by half (it was 140 + 100 gsm previously), 60 + 80 gsm is still serious amount. 

Hell my Nuclei FL (Men's - read review) has only 65 gsm of synthetic insulation and zero down, but it still keeps me warm quite a bit. I've even traveled across Iceland in late March wearing nothing but my Nuclei FL + another strong base layer. 

I'm not saying Nuclei FL is enough for Iceland, by the way. It most likely isn't. I just tend to run extremely warm. And I still did, by the way, take my Thorium AR (Men's - Women's - read review) there too, just in case. 

Think about the level of warmth 60 + 80 AND 120 grams of 750 FP down would provide. 

Weather Resistance

I'd highly doubt you'll wish having more weather resistance than what the Therme Parka has to offer. 

This is an ordinary advantage for parkas. Because when manufacturing a parka, you don't have to worry about membrane breathability. 

Because their intended use is casual in freezing temperatures. This helps a lot in the weather resistance department. 

The weather protection and breathability usually have a negative correlation in between. It makes your job much easier when you only have to worry about one of them, without necessarily trying to find a good balance in between. 

P75d Gore-Tex 2L face fabric of the Therme does exactly this. It's not (doesn't have to be) breathable, but it is quite weather resistant. 

It's lighter than the Camosun's N150p-x Gore-Tex 2L, while offering slightly superior weather protection. Therme's face fabric is also softer, and smoother to the touch. 

It also comes with DWR coating, by the way. 

Two way zipper

If you're unaware, a two way main front zipper is what enables you to keep the upper half of the jacket zipped, while also keeping the bottom half unzipped. 

This doesn't only help a lot with breathability but it also allows for more comfort when sitting down with long parkas (e.g Therme Parka), as the parka gets prevented from crumpling. 

Some people don't like two way zippers, by the way. Their reasoning behind this is how often they make difficulties and stop working smoothly. Sure Arc'teryx warranty has your back, but why go through such a hassle if it's not that important to you? 

So if that's the case, e.g if you dislike two way zippers, then check out this Arc'teryx Camosun Parka. It's a fascinating parka pretty similar to the Therme, and it doesn't come with a two way zipper.