more about thindown

THINDOWN

I was given a sample of the thindown. As I said it is a marvelous achievement and beneficial for any manufacturer of down clothing that wants to accomplish a flat look or a non-quilted look. Very expensive, I am told the sample I have is about $28.00 per yard. That may sound expensive but it is far less expensive than to cut and sew versus blowing down into a ticking and then sewing the quilt pattern.

That said the feel is different than down that is quilted because they who make it are using very small clusters or plumes and they are mixed with low-melt polyester which binds with the down clusters. This changes the feel so it is more like (to me) open cell foam.

The surfaces of each side is a very fine nylon tricot fabric laminated to the down which allows for vapor permeability which allows the moisture from one’s body to enter the down where it must be absorbed as far as I am concerned. Putting the sample material in the sink demonstrated that it does absorb moisture which was not a surprise to me. Of course the down does in fact collapse as it always does when it gets wet. The major difference is that it does not bunch together because the low-melt polyester binder fiber is holding it in place.

Once the down is in this wet condition it will act like a heat exchanger drawing heat from your body quickly so the onset of being cold will take place.

While I think this is an achievement the end product is still a down form of insulation and as such it will function no differently than down regardless of how it is used and placed in garments or possibly even sleeping bags.

I do not believe it will be better than down as it is currently used for comforters because this product does not have the draping ability that un-adulterated down has.

Sometimes remarkable achievements are not necessarily very good.