Down Supplier

[Derek Booker]

I recently purchased some down from a source I have never heard of called smileyme on amazon. I was curious if anyone has experience with this vendor. After contacting the about the fill power I was informed that it was 800+. It is 100% goose down but I haven't had a chance to try a home test method before I try making a new quilt. Price was about $65 shipped for 1lb. Any thoughts?

[Jonathan Chin]

Sounds like a great deal. I know many on here (including myself) have paid quite a bit more for down from DownLinens and other suppliers.

Any interest in testing it's fill power for the rest of us?

[Derek Booker]

I am thinking of how to test it. Something along the lines of placing 1 oz of down (800 fill power will fill 800 cubic inches, if I'm understanding correctly, which equates to 3.463 gallons) into a 5 gallon bucket, slightly compress and then see how much it lofts. Around 3.5 gallons ( which sounds wrong–my math may be off) would correlate to the 800+ fill power I was told via email. Probably won't get a chance until tomorrow. Let me know if my calculations are off or a better testing method.

[Jerry Adams]

That's what I get – 800 cubic inches = 3.46 gallons

You're supposed to put a weighted disk on top that compresses it a little. Maybe just a piece of cardboard?

I would think a taller, narrower containers would give a slightly different result than shorter, wider container?

Fluff it up real good before you put disk on top.

[Derek Booker]

Alright, wasn't too sure about the volume. Seemed a bit high for 1 oz. I'll post results either later tonight or tomorrow.

[Ivo Vanmontfort]

If you have some other down then, you can planning
a side by side comparison

[Tim Marshall]

I can't get anywhere near that price for 800 Goose Down. Also 90/10 down/feathers is the best I can get and I use hundreds of pounds of down each month.

Either I'm getting hosed or these claims may not be real.

-Tim

[Derek Booker]

After completing my redneck test the fp only came to 550. I'll still use it but a bit disappointing. Guess you get what you pay for.

[JCH]

>>Guess you get what you pay for.

And that's all I have to say about that.

[Tim Marshall]

Their blog claims their 100% down is 950-1000 fill power for $58 pound. 950 down cost 3 times that from a legit supplier for bulk ordering. I once tried to order 15# of 950 and they could only send 11# because its so hard for them to get. That's the biggest supplier in the USA. I just don't get why companies like this straight out lie about what they are selling. Of course some cottage companies do too sadly.

-Tim

[Peter Boysen]

Yeah, sounded too good to be true. Make sure to leave a review on Amazon. Hopefully that'll help someone else have a more realistic idea of what to expect from it.

[Jordo _99]

Derek, I just wanted to thank you for biting the bullet and testing this out for us. I'm currently trying to source down for a budget bag for a friend and this was on my radar and your measurements are plenty good enough for me to make an intelligent decision now.

I can calculate a rough volume/dollar ratio to compare this against the $8/oz 850FP down…rather than just guess

Thanks again!

-Jordan

[Derek Booker]

Sure thing. It's fairly inexpensive for my first down quilt project so I didn't mind too much about the fill power being less than stated. I'll just have to use more of it to reach my loft goals which will increase the weight a bit. Anything is better then the current bag I'm using.

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