This Budget-Friendly Clothing Item From Walmart Belongs On Every Backpacker's Packing List

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As you get into backpacking, the first daunting part is to get all of the best and safest hiking gear you need to trek into the woods and stay warm. A lot of gear can be very expensive — sometimes unnecessarily expensive for the average hiker — because it needs to be lightweight so you can carry it all on your back. However, one piece of clothing you want to make sure you have is a puffer jacket, one that can pack up really small when you don't need it, while also keeping you warm when you do. Walmart has a great option at a reasonable price: The Decathlon Forclaz Trek 100 down puffer jacket is a great budget-friendly option, especially compared to jackets that cost hundreds of dollars.

While jackets from other brands and stores can cost easily around $300 or more, Walmart offers the Decathlon jacket for only $80. You may need a more expensive version if you are mountaineering up huge peaks (like bagging your first 14er, for instance), but for most backpackers, a budget-friendly version will do just fine. Splurging on some items for backpacking trips is good, but it also doesn't hurt to find the best hiking gear on a budget that you can.

The jacket is rated to 23 degrees Fahrenheit and will keep you warm and comfortable in temperatures running between 23 and 41 degrees. The puffer will also pack up really small, compressing into the pocket of the jacket, allowing you to fit it easily into your backpack with plenty of room for other gear. The down jacket is also super light, with the weight of the fill ranging from 2.9 ounces for a small men's or women's jacket to 4 ounces for a 2XL men's jacket.

If you research this jacket online, one thing you'll frequently find is that it is often referred to as the best puffer jacket bang for your buck or the best value for the money. It even earned the tile of best budget puffer jacket on a couple of lists that rated different but similar products. These lists can help you avoid a costly mistake when buying gear for your first hiking or backpacking trip, as well as help you get the best hiking gear. The nice part too is that a packable puffer jacket is a great versatile item that you can throw in your backpack or suitcase for either day hikes or multi-day trips. You never know when the temperature can dip while on a hike, and that puffer jacket will come in handy, without taking up a lot of room.

Walmart is a great spot to pick up this jacket because at $80, it's at a discount compared to Decathlon's own website, where it's listed for $119. Among 1,357 five-star reviews on the Walmart website, Nanda says, "Hands down, it is the best value for money, even at this new price." Real down material is so coveted for outdoor items because of its packability and warmth, but that can also make it very expensive. But Jeremy says it is "a brilliant version of a down jacket, and much better than a lot of the bigger more expensive brands out there." The jacket is available online in both men's and women's sizes, both at that $80 price point.

This puffer jacket will be a great travel item for colder temperatures, and a few steps can help you maintain the jacket for longer. Since it is real down material, you need to take care when washing it to sustain its lifetime. It's suggested that you machine wash the jacket at 30 degrees Fahrenheit with 2 or 3 tennis balls on a gentle cycle, and also use the tennis balls while you tumble dry the jacket.

While it can be compressed down to fit small in your backpack, it helps the down material to have space so it doesn't clump together. For that reason, when you're not using the jacket, uncompress it and hang it up in your closet. This will help sustain the life of the jacket so you can use it even longer. The air trapped between the down and feathers creates thermal insulation, which is what keeps you so warm. The down is also lighter than synthetic material that maintains a similar level of warmth, making it great for backpacking, when every ounce of weight matters.

The jacket is water-resistant, with a repellant fabric that causes water to roll off of it, instead of soaking in. However, if you are going to be in sustained rain, a waterproof jacket will keep you drier. For the best chance at keeping the jacket as water-repellent as possible, there are special treatments that can help waterproof down jackets, which would reinforce the water-repellent property of the fabric that may wear down over time.