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Down loss/shedding normal?
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Home › Forums › Gear Forums › Gear (General) › Down loss/shedding normal?
- This topic has 9 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 3 months ago by James Marco.
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Jan 11, 2019 at 10:24 pm #3572749
Hello,
I am wondering if down loss or “shedding” ,for lack of a better term, is normal with modern lightweight down bags/quilts.
I have a new down sleep system (name withheld for now) and it seems to leave me covered in tiny feathers every morning. I emailed the manufacturer and sent pics where a seam had loosened and they promptly replaced it. I just used the replacement and have a similar problem. Down seems to randomly come through the fabric and seams. I can work some of them back still seems like more than would be normal.
any input appreciated, thx
cope
Jan 11, 2019 at 10:36 pm #3572751One or two here and there, fine. Covered every morning, not acceptable.
Jan 11, 2019 at 10:44 pm #3572752If that “down” has a quill it is a feather. It is uncommon for a wispy pod of down to sneak though good fabric. It is not uncommon for a stiff quill to poke through.
The feather in this image is Huge. But the concept applies.
Jan 11, 2019 at 11:11 pm #3572758Thx Greg, I took some pics. Most loss is at the seams. Do you think some type of “seam sealer” would help?
Jan 11, 2019 at 11:13 pm #3572759More…
Jan 11, 2019 at 11:15 pm #3572760These are what ends up on me…
Jan 11, 2019 at 11:16 pm #3572761Those are feathers not down clusters and it looks withing reason to me for a new bag, but it is dependant on down quality, it is what I would expect from 650 FP or lower
Jan 12, 2019 at 12:24 am #3572772How many of us have tugged errant down feathers or clusters back into the bag from the other side? Even the best bags with the best shells partially release single down feathers—just pull them back in if you can—though if it’s on a seam it may not work.
Jan 12, 2019 at 12:47 am #3572775I did not have that problem with two 600 or so rated bags (water resistant fabric) but I lose some feathers every time I use a light thin-fabric jacket the manufacturers claim to be 850 fill power.
From the same manufacturer, different fabric, I will lose two or three feathers per night , that I can see…
Typically those 800/850 FP items still have 10% of “feather” content (The type that is escaping your bag)
More common with quilted than the baffled items .
Jan 12, 2019 at 1:15 pm #3572819Yes, those are not down clusters. Those are immature feathers, possibly breast feathers or downy intermediate feathers. As Greg shows in his pic, down plumes do NOT have a prevalent “stalk.”
Basically, the denser the weave, the less there is a problem with escapees. Lighter fabrics often do not pack threads as densely as heavier threads. (There are mechanical reasons for this.) My EE quilt bleeds an occasional feather through 10D fabric. I would guess 7D is even worse about this. However, in this case, it looks like the stitching was possibly performed using an improperly sized needle. A smaller needle would have helped some, I think. But in any case, likely this is not the problem. As was said, “pin” feathers can escape, down, not so much.
I also have a 10D jacket that bleeds an occasional feather through the seams. No, I tried a bit of seam sealer, and it seemed to help, but I am afraid it also matted down the down in that area (cuffs.) Not really a good trade-off. It is also about 10-15 years old.
In any case, it appears to be more of a down quality issue than a fabric issue. The large number of immature feathers in your pics doesn’t seem right for an 800FP down. It looks more like a lower fill down as was said. If this is the first one or two uses, you will get a few, but covered enough to complain about? Your pics show enough loose feathers that I would be uncomfortable sleeping in it from all the little pricks and pokes.
A low fill power down coupled with a UL fabric can do that. One of those cases where lightweight down lets you use lightweight materials, making the overall weight very light. Lower fill downs often needs heavier material leaving the overall weight higher.
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