Thoughts on this down source?

How will you know?

I got this a month ago:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110756317290?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

It says it's 85% down and 15% feather on the tag even though the ad misleads that information a bit. The tag does say 800FP though.

I've been waiting for my sewing machine to get back from repair (4th week today…so frustrated right now) but after I get it back I'll be finishing up a project and then making a quilt…at that point I'll tear open the pillow and stuff the quilt…if I need more down I'll just order another pillow.

Not saying to go either way but it's something to consider…I was a bit annoyed with the 15% feather on the tag after specifically asking about this a week before ordering and it going unanswered, but I've tried and I can't feel a single feather.

Regardless, it's only 18oz but they sell a pair for 36oz total at a slight discount that would be very similar to what you're looking at…might be worth a look.

>"How will you know?"

Good question. Down percentage can be evaluated visually, fill weight is easy enough to measure. Measuring fill power is a little harder, though, but it can be done with a big cardboard box and some math.

I can just imagine the phone call now, "Hi, I'd like to return the pillow I bought, I opened it up and pulled some of the down out and it turns out it's only 500 FP when you advertised 750."

"Measuring fill power is a little harder, though, but it can be done with a big cardboard box and some math."

Let us know the outcome, although I doubt you'll recover your funds if you are unsatisfied with the fill power. You'd probably need a lab to test the down and provide some sort of certification countering the sellers claim. I imagine the testing would cost as much or more than the pillow itself.

Wikipedia says measuring fill power "involves measurements taken of a one ounce sample of down in a plexiglas[sic] cylinder with a weighted piston compressing the down. The test requires controlled temperature, humidity, and preparation of the sample."

'Down' doesn't have any feathers in it.

Yes, I looked into fill power measurement a while ago, and found that it isn't as simple as piling some down of a known mass into a container and measuring the volume. As Eric noted, fill power is measured with a weight on top of the down. I doubt that you could use the cardboard box method to determine the fill power to within 200 cu.in/oz. unless you had another sample of down of known fill power to compare it to.