Podcast 001 | Synthetic Insulation

[Backpacking Light]

Companion forum thread to: Podcast 001 | Synthetic Insulation

In this episode of the Backpacking Light Podcast, Ryan and Andrew take a deep dive into synthetic insulation: its technology, strengths, weaknesses, and applications.

[Sam Farrington]

Am planning to make a sleeping bag with down bag baffle construction, but using synthetic insulation, so was looking for info about best alternatives to use for this approach. Found a lot of information, but no real knowledge that would be helpful.

[Ryan Jordan]

Sam – post this idea in the MYOG forum, maybe for feedback. I made a baffled quilt doing exactly this, with Primaloft and the insulation fibers separated and I got a lot of cold spots.

On my second try, I chopped it up and filled the baffles like I would if it was down and it worked a lot better.

But this quilt didn’t survive stuffing and it’s far less durable than my EE Apex quilt, which uses continuous filament insulation stabilized in sewn/batted construction.

i always wondered if mixing down with short, loose synthetic fibers in baffled construction wouldn’t work.

[Bryan Bihlmaier]

Ryan, thank you for putting together this podcast! And thank you Max for the hard work writing up all these reviews.

Ryan, you mention that you don’t know why people compress their synthetic insulated jacket into their backpack because you always keep yours on top, ready to throw on when you stop. In cooler weather I can see that this makes sense. But in warmer weather, even in the mountains, I usually don’t need an insulated jacket, even when stopped, during the daytime. I only bring an insulated layer to wear at night and in the morning around camp. So, because I don’t need it during the day, I stuff it into my clothes bag along with rain wear, etc.

But after learning from this podcast and Max’s articles just how much damage compressing synthetic insulation can do, I think I will treat it like my sleeping bag and only compress it enough to fit everything into my pack, like you describe as the UL backpacking method. Basically, I think now it is good practice to only compress any piece of gear as much as needed to fit it in your pack.

[Ryan Jordan]

@bryanb that’s a good strategy. I’ve moved away from “tiny” packs towards packs that do allow me to have a “lightly” compressed puffy bag (containing my sleep bag and puffy clothes). Even down at the bottom of my pack, putting stuff on top doesn’t seem to really do much. What causes the damage – stuffing the jacket into tiny nooks and crannies in your pack, putting them in too small of a stuff sack, or (worst of all) a compression sack.

[Ryan Jordan]

Also, a huge thanks to everyone for the overwhelming response to the podcast – we debuted on iTunes today in the Top 10 (#5!) and our download stats have exceeded our wildest expectations. Enjoy the podcast, we’ve already started working on the next two episodes :)

[Matthew / BPL]

Excellent job on the podcast! I listened to the whole thing today and totally enjoyed it. I don’t know anywhere else online to get this type of content. Great stuff!

[Author]

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