Rab Electron Pro 800 Fill Down Hooded Jacket: Weight, Price and Alternatives
The Rab Electron Pro 800 Fill Down Hooded Jacket has a published weight of 15.5 oz and a listed price of $244.88, which is about 10 percent of a 10 lb ultralight base weight.
The Rab Electron Pro 800 Fill Down Hooded Jacket is our expert tier pick in clothing and insulation, with a published weight of 15.5 oz and a listed price of $244.88. 800 fill hydrophobic down in a box wall construction, which is a genuinely warm jacket rather than a light puffy. Down loses most of its value soaked, so this needs a rain shell over it, not instead of it.
What is the Rab Electron Pro 800 Fill Down Hooded Jacket actually good at?
800 fill hydrophobic down in a box wall construction, which is a genuinely warm jacket rather than a light puffy. Down loses most of its value soaked, so this needs a rain shell over it, not instead of it.
Best for: Shoulder season and alpine camps, and anyone who gets cold the moment they stop moving.
Insulation and rain gear are the two things never to cut for a weight target. Hypothermia does not require winter, it requires wet, wind and a stopped hiker, and those three arrive together on any 45 degree rainy afternoon.
What does it do to your base weight?
At 15.5 oz this item accounts for roughly 10 percent of a 10 lb ultralight base weight and about 5 percent of a 20 lb traditional one. That framing matters more than the raw number: an ounce saved on a headlamp is noise, and a pound saved on a shelter is a category of its own. Put your real figures into the gear list builder and the same item will show you what it costs against your list rather than against an average one.
Published weights are taken in the manufacturer's favour: usually the smallest size, usually without the stuff sack, stakes or guylines that come in the box. Expect a real-world figure an ounce or two heavier and weigh it once when it arrives. A $9 kitchen scale is the cheapest useful upgrade to any gear list, because it stops the spreadsheet lying to you.
How does it compare with the rest of the clothing and insulation?
Every item below has been verified against the retailer listing, and every weight is the manufacturer's published figure for the configuration named. Sorted lightest first, so the trade between weight and everything else is visible in one pass.
| Model | Published weight | Listed price | Tier | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rab Electron Pro 800 Fill Down Hooded Jacket | 15.5 oz | $244.88 | Expert | Backcountry, Amazon |
| Darn Tough Light Hiker Micro Crew Socks | 1.8 oz per pair | $24.95 | Intermediate | Backcountry, Amazon |
Lighter alternatives: Darn Tough Light Hiker Micro Crew Socks at 1.8 oz per pair. Weight alone never decides this. The lightest option in a category is usually the one with the narrowest window of conditions it works in, which is exactly the trade the roundup spells out tier by tier.
The two layers never to cut for a weight target
Insulation and rain protection are the two items on any gear list that are not negotiable, and they are the two that weight cutting guides quietly trim first. Hypothermia does not require winter. It requires wet, wind and a hiker who has stopped moving, and those three arrive together on any 45 degree rainy afternoon. Down loses most of its value soaked and takes a long time to dry, so a down layer needs a shell over it rather than instead of it. Cotton is the specific failure mode, because it holds water and conducts heat away from you while it does.
Which complete kits use it?
This item appears in 4 of the complete gear lists on this site, which is the most useful context a single product page can give you: not what it weighs in isolation, but what share of a finished kit it accounts for and what the rest of that kit looks like around it.
| Complete kit | Season | Kit base weight | This item | Share of base | Kit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-10 lb | Three season | 8 lb 11.9 oz | 15.5 oz | 11% | $3121.78 |
| Thru-hike | Three season, long distance | 9 lb 15.2 oz | 15.5 oz | 10% | $2700.83 |
| Sub-15 lb | Three season | 13 lb 3.1 oz | 15.5 oz | 7% | $3054.16 |
| Winter | Winter and cold shoulder season | 17 lb 2.9 oz | 15.5 oz | 6% | $4501.70 |
Every one of those kits lists every item you need to actually go, with a per item weight and price, a running total down both columns, a section on what you can skip, and an upgrade ladder priced in grams saved per dollar. Each also loads straight into the gear list builder so you can swap this item for something you already own and watch the total move. That is usually a faster way to decide whether a purchase is worth it than reading another review of it.
Who should skip it?
Anyone buying their first version of this item. Expert tier gear is specialised, and specialised means it is better at a narrower set of conditions rather than better at everything. Buying it first usually means discovering an expensive preference rather than confirming one.
Going lighter must not mean going unprepared. Shelter adequate to the actual conditions, insulation, rain protection, water treatment and a way to call for help are fixed costs on any list. If a lighter version of this item means cutting into one of those, it is the wrong purchase however good the spec sheet looks. You are responsible for what you walk into, and the forecast is not the conditions.
Related reading
- Our full clothing and insulation roundup, split into beginner, intermediate and expert tiers
- Layering by temperature chart
- Down versus synthetic insulation
- Gear list builder: see what this item does to your own base weight
- Base weight calculator
- Six complete example gear lists, every item priced and linked
- All verified gear specs, A to Z
Frequently asked questions
How much does the Rab Electron Pro 800 Fill Down Hooded Jacket weigh?
The published weight is 15.5 oz, which is 15.5 ounces or about 439 grams. That is roughly 10 percent of a 10 lb ultralight base weight on its own. This figure is the manufacturer's for the size and configuration named, not a weight we measured, and published figures run light often enough that it is worth putting your own scale under it.
Is the Rab Electron Pro 800 Fill Down Hooded Jacket worth the money?
800 fill hydrophobic down in a box wall construction, which is a genuinely warm jacket rather than a light puffy. Down loses most of its value soaked, so this needs a rain shell over it, not instead of it. At the listed $244.88 it sits at the expensive end of its category, and prices move constantly, so confirm before you buy.
Where can you buy the Rab Electron Pro 800 Fill Down Hooded Jacket?
Backcountry carries this category and is the first link on this page, because it is where this audience shops and it pays us a higher commission than Amazon does. Amazon is the second button. Stock and pricing differ between the two often enough that checking both is worth the extra thirty seconds.
What does the Rab Electron Pro 800 Fill Down Hooded Jacket compete against?
On the same shelf: Darn Tough Light Hiker Micro Crew Socks. The comparison table on this page lines them up by published weight and price so the trade is visible rather than argued. Our full ranking of the category, split into beginner, intermediate and expert tiers, is in the roundup linked below.
Are the weights on this page measured or published?
Published. We compare manufacturer specifications and verified owner reviews, and we do not test gear in person or run a gear lab. Manufacturer weights are usually taken from the lightest size, without stuff sacks, stakes or guylines, so a real-world figure is often an ounce or two heavier. Weigh your own kit and put the real numbers into the gear list builder.
How we choose: we compare published manufacturer specifications, listed weights, and verified owner reviews across retailers. We do not test gear in person, and every weight quoted here is the manufacturer's figure unless we say otherwise, so weigh your own kit before you trust a total. Going lighter also means carrying less margin, so treat insulation, navigation, water treatment and an emergency plan as fixed costs rather than places to save grams.