down allergy

[mudhead]

Was poking around on another board, (yes, very cold here) and came upon several people who claim to be able to use "high quality down bags." Some angle about dander and washing. I am allergic to feathers. Does anyone have a theory/experience? Can't just go to a shop and breathe thru a bag for awhile, their air handling system gets me choked up by itself. I find this hard to imagine, but would love to stand corrected!

[hammock engineer]

I was told that the 800 fill down that www.jacksrbetter.com (http://www.jacksrbetter.com) uses and that www.speerhammocks.com (http://www.speerhammocks.com) uses is hypoalegentic (spelling). I would contact both of them and see. JRB people make high quality quilts mainly for hammocks but they now offer an option to attach a pad to the bottom of their quilts.

You could also contact Montbell or westernmountaineering and see what they say.

[rafe]

The word is hypoallergenic. But I'm not sure the word can ever be applied to down.

[namehere]

i am highly allergic to down found in typical down pillows. after researching what i could find online (and not finding much about allergy sufferers experiences with down sleeping bags), i went ahead and purchased a western mountaineering bag. so far, it has been ok. although my allergies tend to be at it's worst during the fall, i don't think i will have adverse affects from the sleeping bag. i chose a WM bag because i figured they do a moderate amount of cleaning of the down used in their products. no down bag will ever be hypoallergenic. my only concern at this point is the introduction of foreign elements nesting in the down as i use it in the outdoors more.

bottom line is, i chose a bag that would have clean down to begin with, and am now hoping for the best. of course, YMMV.