Enlightened Equipment switching to untreated down

[Rex Sanders]

According to a quilt review posted today on Section Hiker, Enlightened Equipment is in the process of switching from Down-Tek treated down, to untreated down.

While treated down is quality down, we feel it’s beneficial elements are infrequently encountered, potentially overstated, and overshadowed by some of the aforementioned benefits provided by untreated down.

More here:
https://sectionhiker.com/enlightened-equipment-revelation-20-stock-quilt-review/

EE hasn’t posted this information yet; Philip found out by emailing them.

So maybe treated down isn’t so great after all.

— Rex

[James Marco]

Thanks, Rex. I feel the same way about treated down as EE. While I have used my quilt in cold temps (down below the about 21F they had it tested at) I have found that it always requires some sort of maintenence when I get back from a trip. The down doesn’t move around badly but it does tend to clump up in spots. A run through a dryer fixes this, so the clumping isn’t bad, but the extra hour or two upon return from every trip gets old.

[Axel J]

Didn’t they always offer a choice of treated or untreated?

[James Marco]

Axel, no. The past few years, they have only been selling the treated down.

 

[Garrett]

Has the change already been made? I placed two orders about a week ago and thought I was purchasing untreated down. No where on the site did it say the down was treated.

[Rex Sanders]

Quoting from the Section Hiker post linked above (which is all we have right now):

Their current stock inventory has 850 fill power Down-Tek down, while current 850 fill power and 950 fill power custom orders are getting untreated Sustainable Down Source (SDS) down.

— Rex

[Ross B]

Wrong post

[Garrett]

Thanks Rex. Mine was custom, so that’s probably why it didn’t show up as treated.

[John Vance]

I imagine others will follow suit as well. Don’t know how much inventory of down the various suppliers have, but it may take a while to work through it.

I never quite understood the need for treated down but it took less time for some appearant downsides to be found and manufacturers to move away from it.

[James Marco]

Yes, I believe they have switched. I went through a few quilts and nowhere was down-tek mentioned.

[Rex Sanders]

Also interesting but not highlighted on the EE web site: their 850 fill power down is from ducks, 950 down is from geese and much more expensive. For example, pay $140 more for 950 goose down in an Enigma 0° F XL/XW and save 3.5 ounces.

AFAIK, no difference in performance between duck and goose down of equivalent fill power.

— Rex

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