Sunrise on the Chesapeake and damp down performance.

[Chesapeake]

I've never had untreated down quilts, no. Clothing items yes, but Im sure there's some sort of difference so I wasn't referring to them. I was just going off of all that I've read on here and the other places I did some reading when I was looking for which quilts to by and which down to use. I guess my little experiment wasn't totally scientific, but from what I've seen from others and what I've read, treated down will give you SOME advantage in wet weather over untreated. Now, does that mean that its gonna last a lot longer? Idk. But, had I had untreated quilts out there, my guess is that they would a been soggy well before the second night in that environment. I mean, it was pretty much a cloud over my hammock for 3 days. The loss of loft that I did experience was pretty minimal.... Slight clumping in some spots and just a general droopiness to the TQ. The UQ was in great shape, just a little damp inside, the UQP and dwr held fast on the outside. Please take all this with a grain of salt. Over this past weekend, I was wearing my down jacket which has a similar type of outer fabric and untreated down. In the mist and fog I had it out in, it was getting pretty soggy after a few hours. Now, I know thats a HUGE leap there and not much is similar between them, but I think its safe to say that had it had the down from my quilts in it, it woulda lasted longer based on that downs performance in wetter conditions. At least a little while anyway. Again, take this as it is. I would definetly do some more research if your still on the fence. I've never used untreated quilts before, but if what I've read has at least a little merit to it, than treated does indeed hold an edge. And I'm assuming that's why most of the cottage vendors are using it. I'm sure they did TONS of research before making a huge business decision like that. At least I hope so anyway, lol. Good luck with your search!

[TiedUp]

I'm going to post a link from UGQ's website about treated vs untreated hydrophobic down just to lend some knowledgeable input into the subject that is not my opinion because I don't have enough experience to really contribute much. But I did remember reading this and went back and found it so that I could post it.

UltimaDOWN is not a hydrophobic treated down, while we have offered hydrophobic treated downs in the past we have discontinued offering them. Their benefits are marginal at best in a quilt/sleeping bag, the down will still wet out and you must still take proper precautions to protect your quilt/sleeping bag from the elements. We have also noticed that hydrophobic downs have a tendency to cling and clump causing possible thin spots if the user isn't diligent in lofting their gear. Effective April 11, 2016 hydrophobic down will not longer be offed for sale.

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[Chesapeake]

Beautiful pics.

This is the reason I'm sewing gear with Climashield Apex. I'm your soggy neighbor on Delmarva and I think you are less than 30 miles from me. Thanks for the report.


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Oh cool, where abouts are you if you don't mind me asking? Yeah, it is pretty soggy here isn't it? The rediculous almost oppressive summer humidity on the bay and the never ending rain sometimes make can make it pretty miserable. Good call on going synthetic though. If I could get a light synthetic 0° set I'd totally go for it.

[IRONFISH45]

Same here. The only way to battle condensation is to provide maximum air flow. In addition if it's foggy then this is simply going to happen after a while as fog is 100% humidity and there's no room for evaporation in this kind of weather. This is why a lot of guys in the pacific NW use synthetic insulation due to the constant wet weather.

The above has been my experience.

[Chesapeake]

I'm going to post a link from UGQ's website about treated vs untreated hydrophobic down just to lend some knowledgeable input into the subject that is not my opinion because I don't have enough experience to really contribute much. But I did remember reading this and went back and found it so that I could post it.

UltimaDOWN is not a hydrophobic treated down, while we have offered hydrophobic treated downs in the past we have discontinued offering them. Their benefits are marginal at best in a quilt/sleeping bag, the down will still wet out and you must still take proper precautions to protect your quilt/sleeping bag from the elements. We have also noticed that hydrophobic downs have a tendency to cling and clump causing possible thin spots if the user isn't diligent in lofting their gear. Effective April 11, 2016 hydrophobic down will not longer be offed for sale.

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Very interesting. I can definetly attest to the clumping as it happened during my little test. And that in turn did cause a few thinner spots. I have one of UGQ's down skully and was wondering about the down in it, now I know. I didn't wear it over the weekend BC I was under the impression that untreated down will basically suck up all moisture and be sloppy wet due to the current trend of using treated. Maybe I should look into it a little more now then. I'm new still to the whole hammock game, all my decisions and purchases have been based off of the info here on HF and what I've read on the vendors websites, which naturally are biased to sell their products. Thanks for posting that tiedup. I wanna get as much data from both sides as possible ya know? I can test my gear here, but if others have had different or better results with untreated I wanna know about it. What a great discussion this turned out to be! If anyone else has different results please post them. I'm sure a lot of first time quilt buyers could use all the info they can get. If untreated down really is better in most situations I think we need to post as much as possible to that result to help new hangers and first time quilt buyers make the right choice so as not to be swayed by results such as mine. Is treated down really just hype? Since UGQ switched, I wonder if that made other vendors look harder at their own decision to use treated down? Interesting....

[jellyfish]

Oh cool, where abouts are you if you don't mind me asking? Yeah, it is pretty soggy here isn't it? The rediculous almost oppressive summer humidity on the bay and the never ending rain sometimes make can make it pretty miserable. Good call on going synthetic though. If I could get a light synthetic 0° set I'd totally go for it.

I'm in Northern DE. Blue Hen country.

The weight and bulk of synthetic concerns me, but I am counting it as an insurance policy since I tend to get cold easily. If I lived in a less humid area, I wouldn't be worried.


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[Chesapeake]

Oh cool. I used to drive the Zamboni over at the Pond ice arena for years. I actually played for the Delaware Ducks over at the UD in the early 90's and then at the Pond when it was built for the Ducks in 94 or 95 until I graduated HS.. In 98 I got a job as a skate guard and in 99 during my senior year of HS I worked there for a credit at school and that's when I started driving the Zam. Yeah Im about 30 mins from the rink, right down 95 just passed Elkton. Newark is a fun town but I HATED the traffic! From September to June its like a parking lot on main street! Lol. When I got married to my first wife we lived in town for a while BC shes from DE, and I absolutely hated it lol. But slower lower is nice lol, and I even worked at the prison in Smyrna for several years starting in '02 before I left to do what I do now. So yeah, your not far away at all lol. Have you ever been to Elk Neck State Park here? Its hang friendly and the lighthouse is awesome! ( On the left side of the pic you can see a little water and the horizon, that's almost exactly where I am. If you had binoculars you'd be able to see my house lol.)

[jellyfish]

Oh yeah!!! When I was little kid I lived at turkey point. This was the 70s, so it was the boone docks and not the neighborhood that it is today. I had to go all the way to Northeast for elementary school. hahahaha

Our house was second from the end of the road on the left when facing the end of the road; it was right near the cliff. My dad built the house and my mom designed it, and it is still there. It has tall, slim windows and a stone chimney, with a dark wood siding. My dad was always afraid that I would ride my bike off the cliff so I could only ride my bike when supervised (haha...given the number of times that I fell out of the sailboat or off the dock, this was a legit concern).

I have been to Turkey Point light so many times, and Elk Neck State Park. I just love it there. My dad's side of the family is from Perryville, so that triangle of the Susquehanna Flats from Turkey Point to Perryville is what I consider the center of the universe. I kayak there a lot. It is really nice paddling.

I know some Blue Hen hockey people, so we may share some of the same friends. Small world.

[Chesapeake]

Wow that's crazy, my folks built our house on old elk neck rd in '91, right on the top of the hill before you get to " pig woman's bridge" lol, although the bridge is gone now and the road goes straight though instead of winding down. We used to go to the lighthouse and play on the cliffs all the time as kids, and drink beer as rebellious teens in high school lol. You've proly kayaked right passed my house before, I'm directly across from red point lol. Such a small world isn't it? I even went to NE elm lol. Still love going out to the flats at low tide and setting up the grill in about 3" of water and hanging out in the middle of the bay untill the tide comes in again. My new project I think is to put a hammock stand on either my floating dock or my little aluminum boat I mor in front of the house for the kids lol. Wave action + hammock swaying = instant relaxation! I could even rig a tarp over it and have the ultimate water hammock setup lol.

[jellyfish]

So you're past The Anchorage? Hahaha. The world used to be divided into two sections, before or after The Anchorage. This is a great location. Definitely love low tide, especially when rockfish are spawning!!! A hammock in a boat sounds like a dream.


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