2.09$ per oz of 600 fill down good?

[michgan241]

long story short i was going to buy a down pillow(no feathers) to use for a diy UQ. the down is somewhere between 600-650 according to manufacturer so i assume baseline of 600. is roughly 2$ a good price per oz? Most of the suppliers here list higher fill numbers so i wasnt sure at the lower ratings. thanks.

[Ramblinrev]

600 fill is way outdated. It would work if you had enough but things would be much heavier. When 800-900 fill is available from reliable vendors I would rate the difference in the quantity needed against the cost. Tyhe other problem with things like pillows is they often mix feathers into the stuffing. The _down_ they use may be 600 fill but there may only be a small quanity of actual down in the filling. The rest being feathers or some kind of synthetic batting. It's a real crap shoot as to what you get.

[michgan241]

600 fill is way outdated. It would work if you had enough but things would be much heavier. When 800-900 fill is available from reliable vendors I would rate the difference in the quantity needed against the cost. Tyhe other problem with things like pillows is they often mix feathers into the stuffing. The _down_ they use may be 600 fill but there may only be a small quanity of actual down in the filling. The rest being feathers or some kind of synthetic batting. It's a real crap shoot as to what you get.

thanks for the reply! As for the pillow the manufacturer makes mixed batting/down pillows and down/feather pillows this one is listed just down, and if its not i'll probably sew it up and return it lol. The pillow should contain 31 oz of 600-650 down. Yea i know 600-650 down is not by any means the good stuff, but I dont think i could reasonably source down for at least one if not 2 quilts for 60$ at those fill levels. Weight would be great to minimize but as always it a balance with cost for my student budget.

[will_j]

the GF and I just got done making 2 down UQs. We went to a few of the goodwill stores around us and nabbed every down jacket that they had. We did snag the pillows as well but they were a bust and would definitely recommend sticking with the jackets. You might even get lucky enough to find a down sleeping bag at one. Just another avenue for you to save a buck if you don't mind a little elbow grease and one heck of a feathery mess.

[Rain Man]

$2.09 per oz "sounds too good to be true" to these ears.

Having said that, I did cannibalize an old sleeping bag and determined its down was about the 650 range. Used it for a DIY UQ and it turned out just fine, not too heavy at all.

Also, for what it's worth, a friend in Seattle found a $5 Sierra Designs down mummy bag at a Goodwill and bought it for me. It's in such good shape, I hate the idea of cannibalizing it.

If your down escapes and "floats around" too much during DIY projects, try wetting it with water with down wash.

Rain Man

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[CountryRoads]

Also, for what it's worth, a friend in Seattle found a $5 Sierra Designs down mummy bag at a Goodwill and bought it for me. It's in such good shape, I hate the idea of cannibalizing it.

If your down escapes and "floats around" too much during DIY projects, try wetting it with water with down wash.

Rain Man

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I have that same dilemma. Found a winter North Face, Siera Design, and EMS bag, all down, at the salvation army, but can't bring myself to destroy such nice bags. I did melt the Siera Design bag trying to dry it by the fire, so that one may eventually get sacrificed. I've tried the wet down approach too, didn't use down wash, but I found it to be difficult because that stuff stuck to my hands really bad, didn't fly away though. It's also difficult to stuff dry...may be a matter of preference.

I don't know how much more 600 fill you'd need to get to the equivalent warmth rating of 800 or 900 fill, but doesn't seem like it would be that much of a difference, especially if your pillow has no feathers. And if you're not too much of a gram weenie then I personally would go with the good deal.