Insulation Down?

I have recently embarked upon writing a book about my history in the business world that encompasses my education in the field of insulating mediums used for sleeping bags and outerwear. In order to write with authority about down I used my computer to research all about down for insulating purposes. What I read was eye opening to say the least with respect to the quality of down.

My source was the following trade associations: American Down Association, Sacramento, CA, European Down and Feather Association, and International Down and Feather Bureau. They had the following to say: "DOWN/FEATHERS RATIO" [Down is never all down clusters: some feathers are mixed in. the Federal Trade Commission formerly required that if you call it down (I am assuming they mean 100% down) it must consist of at least 70% down clusters, but this has been rescinded. In Canada, products labeled as containing "down" (again I am assuming 100% down) must contain 75% down clusters. The problem with this ration as a figure of merit is that there is no easy way of measuring it: a sample of the down must be laboriously picked apart, cluster by cluster, sorted into piles and the piles weighted. Was the sample representative of the batch as a whole? Then there is a legitimate question of whether each particular piece constitutes down or feather. As a result, you may want to make a purchasing decision on the basis of a small difference in this ratio."

So there you have it, when you look at a 100% down filled product, it — at best — may have 75% down clusters. Probably not, since maybe 100% of all the down sleeping bags and jackets are made in China and a couple of brands located in the USA get their shells made in China, they probably also get their down from China you can be assured I believe. Those companies that sell down bags regardless of location of manufacture have no way of knowing how much of the down in the bags they see are actually down clusters. My guess is maybe 50% of the down is actually down clusters.

Now down suppliers are treating the down with a water repellent. Big deal. What they call down will ultimately absorb water and it does not perform as they who sell these products like to think.