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Home » Lose Weight Quickly » Finally, Down Insulation That’s Genuinely Warm When Wet – Outside Magazine

Down offers an exceptional warmth-to-weight ratioand extreme level of compressibility. Those features have made itthe go-to insulation for outdoors enthusiasts since it was first used in a jacket by an Australian climber 98 years ago. But down also has one major flaw: when it gets wet, it loses its ability to loftandprovide insulation. Sofor years, the gear industry has been looking for a replacement.

Lofted synthetic insulation materials are capable of maintaining their structure when wet, but even with recent advancements, theyvenever been able to truly match both the compressibility and weight of the real deal. Water-repellent treatments applied to down clusters have had limited success at reducing the materials tendency to clump and lose loft when exposed to moisture. Theyve shifted the point at which down will clumpbut have not eliminated it entirely.

So whats the answer? A collaboration between Sitka, a Montana-based hunting brand, and PrimaLoft, thewell-known maker of synthetic insulation materials, may have found one by adding a synthetic structurethey call it scaffoldingto high-quality goose down, forcing it to retain its loft even when wet. Ive been testing a jacket and a pair of insulated pants made from the material for the past month. Throughout the spring bear-hunting season, theyveprovidedthe warmth and packability weve all learned to expect from normal down insulation. Buteven through periods of heavy rain, they remained lofty. Heavy rain will penetrate the shell fabric and can pass through to the wearers skin, but it does not appear to otherwise impair thefunction of the clothing.

Whether youre crossing a stream or encountering rain, PrimaLoft Gold Down Blend will keep you warm, even if you find yourself in wet conditions, says Vanessa Mason, PrimaLofts senior vice president of engineering.

In the foreground, those chaotic little clusters are true down. You can see a feather, for contrast, in the top left. And in the background, those puffy white clouds are the synthetic scaffold. (Photo: PrimaLoft)

Before I get going on this new technology, its worth revisiting the terminology involved.

Down: Down is a cluster, not a feather. If you think of a birds feathers as a shell, keeping wind and water out, then down is the fluffy insulation material between the birds skin and that shell. We use down the same way. Weve all found pointy feathers poking out of down jackets, sleeping bags,quilts, and pillows, but thats because the way down is harvested leaves some feathers with the down material. The subsequent processing to remove those feathers is one of the determining factors inthe quality of the end product. In this case, the down employed in the unique blend created for Sitka by PrimaLoft is 93 percent down and 7percent feathers. Thats very good; cheaper down insulation will typically have a higher feather percentage, but its rare to see that number made public.

Fill Power: This is the volume of space that one ounce of down is capable of lofting into. A higher fill power will not necessarily be warmer, but because you can use less of it to fill a given volume, it will be lighter and enable a garment made using it to compress into a smaller package. In this case, PrimaLoft and Sitka employ a 900-fill-power down in the blend. Soone ounce will loft into 900 cubic inches.The two companies experimented with a 1,000-fill-power downbut found it cost prohibitive. Previous down-blend materials created by PrimaLoft have usedlower fill-power materials, but they havent been as light or as packable. Down can come from both ducks and geese; because geese are larger, they also produce larger down clusters, and larger clusters create higher fill-power numbers. The down included in this blend comes from geese.

DWR: A durable water-repellant coating is a treatment that can be applied both to downand to a garments face fabric, which can keep water from soaking into the fabric or cluster. Theres been a lot ofimprovement in DWR chemicals in recent years, reducing their environmental impactand expanding their effectiveness. Materials treated with DWR will be water-resistantcapable of shedding light precipitationbut not waterproof. They are not capable of keeping water out during very heavy precipitation, submersion, or even long-term exposure to moisture, such as a garment might experience while being worn through long-duration, high-exertion activities, particularly inside a a clothing system with limited breathability. In suchcases, even DWR-treated down tends to clump; garments using it will lose their ability to insulate.

Sitkas Kelvin Lite Down Hoody weighs 17 ounces in size large and packs into one of its hand pockets. Its also exceptionally warm and can be worn in normal conditions like the best ultralight down jackets out there. (Photo: Sitka)

Both PrimaLoft and John Barklow, Sitkas big-game project manager, have been trying to solve the issue of moisture and insulation for decades.

PrimaLoft was founded in the 1980s in response to the U.S. militarys search for an alternative to down that could remain warm when wet. In 1985, PrimaLoft patented a material called synthetic down, whichwould eventually be renamed PrimaLoft One. Itwas first employed in a civilian jacket by L.L.Bean in 1989.

Aftertraining Special Operations forces in outdoor survival, Barklow began working in clothing design following the 9/11 terror attacksand collaboratingwith Rick Elder (who now runs Beyond Clothing) to createthe original protective combat uniforma system of synthetic layers designed to help soldiersremain comfortable and safe while undergoing high-output activities in cold, wet weather.

In a way, this product represents the culmination of both parties efforts: everything thats good about down, plus the ability to reliably work when wet.

With its three-quarter length, the Kelvin Lite Down pant is designed to be worn over your shell pants and gaiters while glassing and will remain warm in the most challenging conditions. (Photo: Sitka)

This isnt the first time PrimaLoft has combined down and synthetic insulation. In 2013, the company released a blend that was 70 percent 750-fill down and 30 percent polyester fibers. It kept wearers warm, even when saturated with sweat or precipitation, but it didnt truly match the packability or weight of a pure down insulation. Sitka was seeking a no-compromise product, so with Barklows input, PrimaLoft increased the down content to 80 percentand utilized a higher-fill-power down treated with a DWR coating.

That lighter, fluffier down is now supported by just enough synthetic fibers to force it to loft, even when it doesnt want to. The result is an insulation that genuinely retains its ability to insulatewhen soaked through with sweat, precipitation, or, in my testing, pouring water on it from a bucket and dunking it in a sink. In fact, Ivebeen unable to create conditions that result in clumping.

This is particularly important, becausethe insulation can be used in the lifesaving rewarming drill that Barklow invented during his time as a Special Operations forcestrainer, which is designed to help an individual drag their body out of hypothermic conditions with nothing but exerciseand clothing capable of quickly drying. In less direconditions, it means that wearers can simply don an item of clothing made from the blend over wet clothes andexpect the heat generated by wearing it to help dry those saturated clothes. That hasnt been possible with down before, because the moisture moving outwardfrom the wearers body would instead saturate the down, eliminatingits ability to insulateand leavingyou wet and cold.

This is going to keep on delivering warmth, even when other downs will fail, says Barklow. Hes used the material in two products: the Kelvin Lite Down jacket, and the Kelvin Lite Down 3/4 pant. But he didntstop there. The jacket actually foregoes the down blend under its arms and in the lower-back area in favor of a pure PrimaLoft Gold synthetic insulation. The pants do the same in the panels that cover your butt.

Using PrimaLoft Gold Down Blend across all partsof the jacket and pants would add costand decrease performance.In areas ofthe jacket and pants that are typically compressed while being worn, down insulation wouldnt provide warmth. Sosticking with less compressible insulation in these areas enables the garments to provide insulation where the weight of your arms, a packs hipbelt, or simply sittingwould eliminate the benefits of down.

Those insulation materials are contained in a very light 20-denier nylon face fabric equipped with two-way stretch. Thestretch isnt there to add freedom of movementbut rather a level of durability that defies the systems light weight. If you catch it on a branch or a rock, it will stretch rather than tear.

Both the Sitka jacket and pants feel as light, warm, and packable as normal high-quality, ultralight down items.What they offer is increased reliability. Andbecause you can count on them to work no matter the conditions, the real innovation here is that they enable you to carry fewer piecesand less weight as a result.

Weight is critical, but you dont want to compromise your safety for weight, says Barklow. In a worst-case scenario, this will continue to retain loft and continue to be warm.

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Finally, Down Insulation That's Genuinely Warm When Wet - Outside Magazine

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Home » Lose Weight Quickly » Finally, Down Insulation That’s Genuinely Warm When Wet – Outside Magazine