waterproof down is a good thing

Guy puts on his hydrophobic down jacket, and jumps into a frozen lake - twice. http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_original/onicg8egqepcadymep7s.jpg "But, really, there are two choices now: synthetic insulation, if you’re on a budget and don’t care so much about weight; and hydrophobic down, if you want the best performance, screw the price. I absolutely would not buy anything with regular down any more. It’s just not worth it." http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_original/t5yygcyzrh6amsinfdob.jpg http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/04/we-tested-waterproof-down-by-jumping-in-a-frozen-lake/
26 comments
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all the rainshells are covered with toxic coatings, at least the down doesnt come into contact with your skin... the more toxic coatings are being banned C8.
ducks have a natural grease in there feathers but the ducklings goslings etc do not. Down comes from the babies
the higher loft down has to come from adult birds. young birds down doesnt loft as well... there are fewer adult birds around to be harvested for down making the higher loft down more expensive. most birds are reared primarily for meat and killed before they get to adult age...
Normal down is very waterproof by itself, ducks use it to float and to repel water after all. Prolite gear done a few tests on it a couple of years back. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnp7g11dKEw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Ni3HW8C2o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1qMizz4LtA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDx14xueEJA
the water repellent treated downs dry a lot faster, how down wets out can depend on how much pressure it comes under, the water repellent down can resist wetting out when put under pressure or if its heavily soaked in water better than untreated down. How water repellent down is naturally, varies on how its treated.
@militaris yea I saw those tests, what I would like to see would be a heat loss test between a 'waterproof' down jacket and a solid fleece both saturated. I would eat my own poo if the soaked down jacket was warmer, dry down or whatever.
@pipeking ; Take a look at the original post ?. You could click on the link even !? :) Eventually the down would wet, but it takes over 40 minutes of complete submersion, with shaking.
Like the concept. Don't like the price.
"@pipeking ; Take a look at the original post ?. You could click on the link even !? :) " @pro-active ; I did 3 months ago when you posted it originally. I did this also... Regardless, I still don't think the 'waterproof down' would be as warm as a decent fleece when tested against each other. And my comment still stands, I would eat my own poo. BTW that gizmodo test was completely lame, I mean no control subject to start with.. come on.
Immersion in a frozen lake, twice, in a down jacket is an illustration of the improvement of hydrophobic down over non-hydrophobic down. It's better shown by the gif of the 2 glasses. To qualify as "hydrophobic down', it must pass measured standards, such as at the IDFL Laboratory and Institute. If anybody wants to contribute further to the thread with a comparison to other textiles, please do ?. On price differential, Macpac's Sundowner hoody (treated down) is $230, on special, vs $180 for the Pulsar hoody (Primaloft synthetic). At normal RRP it's a$130 gap. Pays to time your purchases ?.
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Forum Gear talk
Started by Pro-active
On 5 April 2015
Replies 25
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