Insulated clothing, whether with natural down or synthetic fibers, is essential for outdoor activities. In this article we’re going to explain the similarities, differences, characteristics and pros and cons of each type.
To solve this problem, traditionally down-insulated jackets were used:
Over time, down was replaced in many cases by newly developed synthetic fibers, which have reached a high level of performance, significantly more effective than the synthetic materials of even twenty years ago. At this stage, down and synthetics are both quite effective, with different pros and cons that make one or the other more appropriate depending on the situation. This is what we’re going to analyze in this article.
We’ll start by explaining the difference between the two fundamental types of insulated jackets out there (classic and modern), and we will talk about the importance of design. Then we’ll take a close look at down, the different types, advantages and disadvantages, and which are the most recommended. We will then do the same with the synthetic fibers, and finally we will recommend the cases in which one or the other is preferable.
They are still indispensable for these functions. Of course, there are different amounts of insulation for different times; not all are expedition suits.
Rab Electro Pro Jacket, classic down jacket
These garments are now almost omnipresent and of universal use. They can be used as an ultralight mid layer or as an outer layer when we don't need something waterproof. Their superior breathability and external resistance to certain bad weather conditions (without being an outer layer), make them excellent.
They were actually made for active situations. For example: we are climbing, on rock, on ice, mountaineering, and when we arrive at the belay stance, we take out the jacket, which when compressed barely weighs anything and takes up minimal space, and we can even carry it hanging from the harness inside its bag, and we put it on.
It was soon seen that these jackets worked very well during activity: very comfortable, very breathable, very ductile, very warm. And from there to their universal use, when they began to be designed so that they could be used as an outer layer, or under the outer layer, replacing, due to their many virtues, the classic polar fleeces, which at the same heat capacity, were thicker, less agile, and usually less breathable.
Rab Women’s Microlight Alpine Jacket, down insulated
Today these garments are of many types: some more like an outer layer (although they allow a third on top) such as the Rab Microlight above, very athletic and thin, with elastic areas without padding for competition or fast ski touring. like the Millet Extreme Rutor Comp below ... there are plenty to choose from.
Millet Extreme Rutor Comp, ultralight technical jacket for intense ski touring and competition.
And there's always room for a new breakthrough. this year, The North Face launched its 50/50 down system. The design of the panels varies completely, in such a way that, when standing still, they totally warm us, but in movement and activity the system "opens up", and prevents us from overheating and excess sweating. Smart down.
By expanding so much, instead of creating a barrier, it creates a large space. In this space a lot of air is retained, which when heated is a true heat pump. There is much more hot air around us than a barrier material can hold, which fills much less space, and therefore stores much less heat.
The highest quality will indicate something like 90/10 or 95/5, meaning 90-95% down and 5-10% feathers. This indication is used less and less, and is being replaced by a Fill Power (FP) rating instead.
The more down it has, the greater the expansion and compression capacity, the greater the heat retention, and the less weight.
It’s hard to imagine just how much down can expand and how much heat it can retain at a minimal weight. Some years ago we held a contest together with the British brand British brand Rab, which we called How much does “warm” weigh?
It consisted of filling an election urn with down from Rab, which is extremely high quality. Those who guessed closed to the weight entered a raffle for a free top of the line Rab down jacket.
From out of more than one thousand participants, very few were able to get close to the actual weight. The vast majority more than doubled the weight, and answers ranging to up to 7-8 times the real weight were the most common. It was nearly impossible to imagine that the amount of down needed to fill a 40L box weighed only a few grams.
The capacity for expansion is measured in Fill Power (FP), and is measured in Cuin, acronym for “cubic inches.” FP is a measure of the relationship between the weight of down and the volume it occupies once expanded.
The mass reference that’s used is 1 ounce (1oz = 28.35g), and depending on the quality, one ounce can expand to up to between 600 and 900 Cuin, for use in the best technical outdoor clothing.
Converting this into the metric system, every 26g. of down between 600-900 Cuin can expand to take up 10L (for 600 Cuin) or 14.76L (for 900 Cuin). We can imagine then how with just a few grams of down we can surround ourselves with liters and liters of warm air.
In the case of our contest: with just 70 grams of down we were able to fill 40L container.
The largest brands have now stepped in, forming the OIA Sustainability Working Group and the European Outdoor Group, among others, groups that have managed to guarantee the traceability of the down used by their members, in such a way that only down is used from animals that have died, never from live animals, and which have lived in humane conditions, free range, and without being force fed. These members receive the RDS, Responsible Down Standard, or the Global Traceable Down Standard (Global TDS).
These certificates, monitored from start to finish by independent bodies, exhaustively monitor the entire supply chain, both of the animal conditions and of the workers involved.
Asian down, which is difficult to trace and which does not guarantee that certain procedures are followed, is no longer used, and according to the international agreements of these groups, down from central Europe is used, coming from small and medium-sized traditional certified farms and in constant external supervision, in which the animals live in freedom and without bait, which guarantee that the material meets the required ethical standards, and feathers are never extracted from live animals.
There are brands such as Rab that, in addition to using ethical down, are also using a large percentage of recycled down, by reusing down from preexisting garments. This is the GRS-certified P.U.R.E system, and we can find it in their Microlight line. The entire process of tracking and recycling is done in Italy.
Synthetic fibers, in general, are less ductile and soft, forming a flat barrier rather than a 3D environment. Their capacity for compression and expansion is much lower. That is why they were used in the cheapest material; On the one hand, to achieve the same heat, they weighed considerably more and couldn’t be compressed as much as down.
Later fibers began to be created that, despite continuing to be barriers, were much more ductile, with a high heat-to-weight ratio. Primaloft, which does not stop evolving, is still one of the best, with a very proven effectiveness, very far from the old felts and the like. It is very advanced technology.
The Thermoball by The North Face and the Rab Cirrus are two of the most advanced. Both are made from recycled plastic (every Cirrus jacket contains ten PET bottles).
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