We Tested Waterproof Down By Jumping In A Lake

[12trysomething]

I came across this and found it a good read. Enjoy.

http://indefinitelywild.gizmodo.com/...ake-1694953456

[OneClick]

Thanks for the link!

I always passed over any mention of the waterproof down stuff, but now I'm not sure. May actually we something to pay a little extra for. But I've never had a problem since I got into down about 5 years ago, so I guess I won't be itching to "upgrade" anytime soon.

[cricky101]

I like that gif showing the wet vs dry, coated and uncoated down. Great illustration of what can happen if down gets soaked.

[craige]

That was great! Although I never plan on soaking any of my down gear it is very reassuring, especially considering how sweaty I am :s thanks.

[dakotaross]

Those of us that use down know there's not that much of an issue with down getting wet - we make sure it doesn't get wet, so no issue. I do think there are two major values to the coated down... 1) down is always passing moisture through from you to the outside of the shell, and there is evidence to suggest that the coated down does this better than regular down (probaby a 'duh' there), and perhaps more importantly, 2) if something ever happened where our regular down did get soaked - you know, sheisse happens - the clumped regular down is going to take forever to dry out and loft again. For a weekend hiker like me, I can hike out after the unfortunate incident and go home. I would not go on any long term trip without the coated down.

[MAD777]

Paul at Underground Quilts did a convincing, but safer test, by washing a down quilt in a washing machine and it came out essentially dry. It made me a believer and this confirms it.

I have always been a user of down and take the care and precautions necessary to keep it dry. However, at the slight premium cost of this hydrophilic stuff, why not? I just bought a down beanie hat from Underground Quilts made with it. I had always held off on a down beanie because my head sweats. This waterproof down changed my tune and now I have a warm as toast, weightless hat!

[SilvrSurfr]

I recently sold my 20* quilt set and upgraded to DryDown. Now my 0*, 20* and 40* quilts are all DryDown.

That's a pretty stupid test, if you ask me.

[OneClick]

I recently sold my 20* quilt set and upgraded to DryDown. Now my 0*, 20* and 40* quilts are all DryDown.

Just curious how much more HG charges for this. Or did you stuff them yourself?

[craige]

They have wr down as standard now afaik.

[OneClick]

They have wr down as standard now afaik.

OK I see that now, "water resistant". I wonder when this started?

My 0° set definitely has it, and maybe my 40 and 20° TQ. Probably not my 20° UQ which is 2 years old with the 1.1 fabric.