Thoughts on Overstuffing and Understuffing down insulation
I run into numerous threads and some advertisements about overstuffing down insulation... Usually by several ounces of down.
I don't understand the fad. Quite to the contrary, I find it useful to understuff insulation.
Down has the incredible ability to fill up the space it is palced into and to break up the convection currents so that an empty space works as insulation better than just an empty space. With several quilts I've made, it seems to work rather well to use LESS down than calculations would suggest... especially when there is no weight on the down filled tube - like with an underquilt.
One of the joys of making our own equipment is to be able to decide how much down to put into an item. I'd like to know if others have tried this concept of understuffing, like I have. The idea is to end up with a tube or baffle that does not feel soft, but instead feels empty. The good news is that such an item packs up very small.
And, it is less weight to carry.
And, it costs less.