We present here some research done by Jerry Adams into the performance of synthetic and down insulation. During the research and preparation of this article, Jerry had many discussions with Roger Caffin about the methods used. While Roger offered lots of counsel, the decision as to how to proceed and the writing of the article was Jerry's alone.
The article was subsequently reviewed by another scientist experienced in this area, who pointed out many problems with the equipment, the methods, and the results. While all of these problems are real, it was agreed that we should still publish this article here, while appending a short summary of the third-party review with editorial notes. We made this decision for two reasons. First, we want to encourage anyone with the will and time to do this sort of research - and we will assist if we can. Second, Jerry presents some insights that do not come from the strictly scientific approach.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Preamble
- Introduction
- The Basics
- The Theory of Insulation
- Repeatability of Several Measurements
- Measurements for Six Insulations:
- My Sleeping Lower Comfort Limit Curve
- Multiple Insulations
- What happens if you put an additional layer of eVent on top?
- What happens if you add an additional fabric layer?
- What happens if you put foil on top of the eVent?
- What happens when you overfill down?
- What happens when you squish different insulations?
- Summary
- Reviewer's Comments, Summarized
- Editorial Comments
- My Sleeping Lower Comfort Limit Curve
- Two Insulations together
- What happens if you put an additional layer of eVent on top?
- What happens if you put foil on top of the eVent?
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Discussion
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Companion forum thread to:
Insulation Measurement
" The problem with insulation is flow of air inside. For example, an un-insulated air mattress has a lot of internal airflow, so it doesn’t provide very much insulation."
Jerry – I infer from this that sewing a criss-cross pattern into my synthetic quilt will improve warmth by reducing internal air flow. Is that correct?
Andrew
No – quilting would create thin places so it would be worse
I speculate that in my test, since the insulation was horizontal, the air flow was vertical. You could have some insulation, then a layer of something that impeded air flow, then another layer of insulation, but the layer of something would weigh more than anything gained.
When I put a layer of eVent on top it improved the insulation. I speculate that that impedes air flow inside the insulation. So, by choosing the right material for the top you could improve your insulation. I think eVent weighs too much so you'de be better off with lighter weight fabric and a little more insulation.
But then what about if it's windy?
I think I have rasied more questions than answers : )
An additional test beyond the "Squishing" test would be a "stuff sack" test. This would mean that test "garments" would be stuffed into a sack at a set pressure, sealed and let set for 3 or 4 days (or test for EACH day and re-stuff). Then run the base tests included here again. (Shelled tests need not be done again.) In this test I feel that most, if not all, synthetic insulations would suffer greatly.
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