Feeding An Underfed Vest

[Tipi Walter]

As I prepare for a January trip I go to the gear shed and pull out a vintage North Face down vest from the 1980s---as I always like using a down vest for warmth in camp and even warmth when on the move.

In the gear shed I also have a blown out Exped Downmat filled with 900 quality goose down---so a twisted idea enters my brain: Why not pull out the Exped down and insert it into the underfed and under filled vest? (Most down garments are woefully under filled, btw).


Here's the Exped downmat with two baffle tubes cut open to retrieve down---very high quality down btw. Each tube fills up a gallon Hefty bag. I use two tubes to fill the vest.


Here's your standard vintage North Face vest.


To make the stuffing much easier I just cut slits in the vest baffles and insert the down and close the holes up fast with ripstop tape which will last indefinitely.

End Result? 100% warmer winter vest---remarkably puffed up and warm!!