I had a down jacket back in the late 70s and it seemed as if someone anywhere near me sneezed my down would ball up. HAHA Man that thing was a pain.
I had a down jacket back in the late 70s and it seemed as if someone anywhere near me sneezed my down would ball up. HAHA Man that thing was a pain.
I grew up in Houston and had one also. They were popular. Mine got duct taped almost immediately due to holes from Chemistry lab.
Down is not designed for wet conditions. I think a lot of ATer's have too little clothing for those 33-40 degree wet days and put themselves in danger especially if they get injured.
Update sort of.
The Western Mountaineering Badger and Caribou have served me very well this last year.
Only thing about the Caribou is I wanted more room. Did some searching...didn't even know these existed...WM makes a bag extender. Called one place looking for them in stock and was told they make a 3 season one and a lighter one. 3 season one was all they had in stock, it arrived today, it's the same high quality that my 2 WM bags are, and it provides just the right increase in room.
Good call! Feathered Friends uses Pertex Quantum. It and MicroFiber are the supreme breathable fabrics. The WM Extremelite series uses their proprietary ultralight weight fabric, but is only a fraction as breathable as PQ or WM Extreme. This is fine out West, but does not play well in the humbid East. Hence, WM offers a whole line of MF fabric bags for this purpose. Yes, MF is heavier, but Pertex weighs less than MF and the accumalated moisture in the down will be, and that is why I got the FF bag.