harvesting down from a Frostline kit

[Melz]

Hello all, long time lurker, first time poster. First of all I want to thank you all for the wealth of information you have already provided me.

Now for hopefully a little more....I've got an old down parka my dad made for himself in the early 70's that I'm planning on harvesting the down from. The coat is long and very overstuffed so I've got plenty of down for a top and under quilt. My question lies in what fill power was used in those kits. I've open it up and there are no feathers but beyond that I don't know how to judge. I'm trying to figure out how much I need for each baffle and the fill power would make it less of a guess for the amount of loft I'm looking for. Any help would be appreciated.

[Ramblinrev]

wow... my mom made plenty of Frostline kits but they are no longer in business. I don't know if you could find a record of what was used or not. I would guess not more than 650 partly because of the technology for harvesting down at that time and partly because even now many top drawer manufacturers only use 650 or so for down coats and jackets. At least that's what I seem to see a lot of in ads. Ultimately, harvesting used down, particularly old used down can be a crap shoot. Down does have a age limit which varies widely regarding on how it is stored, used and maintained. Back then a lot of down articles were regarded as "dry clean only" and still are for that matter. The problem with that is dry cleaning chemicals are death to down. Good quality down garments and gear should never, ever be dry cleaned. Washing them is part art and part science. You need the right cleansers to do it. If the coat was dry cleaned the down may have been compromised to a degree and so the original fill would not be much help any way.

[Melz]

Thanks for the info. I know it wasn't ever dry cleaned. Its been stored laying on top of a box in my parents basement. So its stayed dry and fully lofted for years. I wore it for a while today and wondered how he ever kept it on in anything warmer than twenty below...it's hot.

[KerMegan]

then it should be more than adequate for your purposes- give it an approximate rating of 600 fill power for the purposes of calculating how many grams/oz per baffle, and do a test hang before you stitch it permanently closed; after the test you might need to add/subtract some for the comfort range you desire.
happy stuffing! KM