Great review. I've had this same jacket in black for two months. My previous jacket (a cheap, heavy, bulky Hawke puffer) consistently leaked down that was especially visible on my dark colored sweaters and shirts, so the seamless design was a big draw. Happy to report it has delivered on that front and is also warm and light. The combo of the jacket, its hood and a Heat Tech T under a regular shirt got me through the coldest part of the -10ºF wind chill temps in Boston a few weeks ago. As the OP reported, the front zipper doesn't inspire confidence and is the biggest area for improvement. But some other nice aspects are that the hand warmer pockets' lining is very soft, the front collar can zip up very high for neck warmth in the absence of a scarf, and I've gotten compliments on the fit. (Maybe the black helps make it look slimmer...). So far, I'm impressed. More on reddit.com

Seriously considering this: http://www.uniqlo.com/us/product/men-down-4way-coat-131025.html#08|/men/outerwear/down/down/|

Anyone have any reviews on this 4way coat?

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Functionally, I'd trust Columbia over Uniqlo. More on reddit.com

30F to 50F is not a temperature range where you should really be looking at specialty gear - layering is way easier than buying dedicated cold weather stuff (sweatshirt + ocbd/tee + outerwear should be fine in that range) The mountain parka would be my top pick of those three if you're concerned about the cold because it's easier to layer under stylistically than the other two but I suspect the flight jacket would be fine as well because it's got a lining. I've had great experience with uniqlo ultra light down line of products as well. More on reddit.com