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If you want to drop some cash on a new Quilt look into a new material called Dry Down in sleeping bags and quilts. It's new on the market and will be available Fall 2012.
It's regular down with a "nano-level water repellent polymer" applied to the down it's self. It retains 60% more loft, absorbs 30% less moister, and dries 60% faster than untreated down. :boggle:
http://www.snewsnet.com/cgi-bin/snews/25976.html
Would love to see who pulls the trigger first on this one.
There are similar products from other companies already available to purchase - ie these: http://www.rei.com/search?query=dridown
I knew the sleeping bags were out on the market, but I wasn't expecting any jackets to be out for at least another month or so. I plan on picking up a down jacket with DriDown this fall.
Thanks for the link. I checked them out. I hope Sierra comes out with something lighter. REI's is still over 2lbs. I'm looking something closer to the 1 lb rang.
I wonder if this process adds weight or reduces loft of the untreated down?
From everything I've read on it, there is no impact on loft and does not add any significant weight. They've washed items containing the down over twenty times and saw no impact in loft. The additional cost to an item using the DriDown is expected to be $10. Of course all this info is coming from the DriDown folks. Who knows if the gear manufacturers will charge an arm and a leg for this new feature.
Wanted to bump this thread and say I saw my first sleeping bag at REI made from this material:
http://www.sierradesigns.com/p-519-d...zissou-15.aspx
While I didn't get in it, I did spend some time feeling the down inside the bag. I want to say that the down certainly felt heavier. You could feel the coating on the down by rubbing it between your fingers. Granted, I was feeling it inside a manufactured sleeping bag, you could still tell the something was different. It felt like the bag was holding some moisture. The down did not loft up as well either. Next time I'm in the store I'm going to see if the coating affects the compression.
S
I've seen this stuff in person and its absolutely amazing!
I have been looking at UQ and Underground Quilts has it as an option to add to their products.
http://www.undergroundquilts.com/RESIST.htm
looking forward to a review of this stuff once someone has a tarp failure ;-)