any ideas what they (Ibex, Icebreaker, Smartwool, etc) are using for their new insulated garments?

They are probably just using scaleless or polymer coated, loose sheep's wool fibers of certain lengths and fineness. They have to use the former (scaleless or polymer coated), otherwise the fibers would felt and matt. No need to do much else, as sheeps wool has a lot of crimp and springiness. You can get more warmth for less weight than in traditionally made wool garments because you're not twisting the fibers together. With sheeps wool, for durability, you have to twist the fibers together to gain tensile strength so that when the garment gets pulled or what not, it doesn't come apart. So you increase mass per less volume verse loose fill.

When the fibers are sandwiched between other layers taking the brunt of the tensile forces, you don't need to twist them for tensile strength and durability in that area.

However, you won't be able to compress it near as much as higher quality goose down, nor is it likely to be as durable as down after repeated compression.

I would like to see a garment made with Angora Rabbit fur fiber fill, as it will be warmer for less weight than a sheep's wool, due to the finer fibers that are also hollow. At some point in the near future, i'm going to buy some polypropylene microfibers, and send out some samples to get tested, comparing the insulation properties of Angora, to Angora/PP microfiber blend, to 550 goose or duck down.

http://www.mainpeak.com.au/blog/merino-loft/

Well never mind. Seems there is a bit of synthetic in there too (12%) for added strength and durability. Thanks Justin.

I haven't seen any actual tests or write ups on the performance of lofted wool. How does the warmth per weight compare to synthetic and down? How warm is it when damp compared to synthetic and down? How fast does it dry compared to down and synthetics? Those are my questions.
It seems gimmicky, like it's exploiting the merino wool fanboys out there.

Bit of Merino wool combined with a lot of spin.

Cheers

thanks for posting the link, that explains pretty well what it is :) weight for weight, nothing will compete (not yet anyways, maybe in the future???) w/ high loft down as far as warmth

I'd like to make a hunting vest w/ some ventile-like material I've sourced, I think a "merinoloft" like filling would fit the bill of light weight insulation and water resistance

Highly lofted wool isn't new but there are some neat applications where wool is needle-punched to a polyester scrim that I think are going to have some merit. This will not be comparable to down in a weight contest but will be superior in a durability and water-resistance contest.

For the most part, i agree with Justin's use of the word gimmicky and Roger's use of the word spin.

"This will not be comparable to down in a weight contest but will be superior in a durability and water-resistance contest."

When it comes to compression, i think Down will still beat out lofted wool in durability.

There is the issue of how much moisture sheeps wool absorbs. It will become rather heavy after prolonged exposure to high humidity, let alone any direct water. It "may" keep it's loft better after being damp, than goose down, but there are synthetics that do that as well.

Honestly, even lowly Kapok would be a lot better than Sheeps wool for this application. Kapok was found to have a very similar CLO and R values as compared to low fill quality duck down at a very similar weight. Kapok is also VERY cheap, pretty sustainable/clean, and very impervious to moisture. For smaller items (because it doesn't compress down a lot), holistically speaking, it's a decent alternative.

My commentary on durability was less about compression over time and more about things like knife slashes, burns, et al.

blasphemy for someone down under!- they'll be bearing pitchforks outside Roger's house :)

if someone would happen to stumble upon a source for this insulation, would be much appreciated