Everyone loves the warmth, weight, and packability of down, but nobody likes how it loses all of its insulating properties when it gets wet. When moisture gets to it, down clumps up, takes forever to dry, and leaves the wearer wet, cold and wishing he'd gone synthetic.
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| A piece of polymer-treated down. |
You can make a jacket waterproof, but if the DWR breaks down and
moisture gets inside, you're out of luck. The problem with making the actual down feathers waterproof is that every piece of the feather needs to be coated with waterproof treatment, down to the micron-length barbicels, which is a code that nobody's been able to crack.
Until now, apparently. Cincinnati company Down Decor has found a way to eliminate down products' its susceptibility to water. Using a treatment developed in a Belgian lab, down feathers are completely coated with water-resistant polymer, allowing water to roll off the fliaments like...well, you know. I'm guessing that the treatment is either some type of aerosol spray or grown on genetically manipulated plastic geese. Either way, this could be the holy grail of insulation: lightweight, warm, packs down to wee proportions, and now, waterproof. Clients like Marmot are already developing jackets.
They'll be demonstrating the miracle feathers this month at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market. I'll post an update after I see them in action.
It's only been five days, but 2012 is starting to look like the future already. It's no hoverboard, but it'll do for now.
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| Keep an eye out for this stuff in jackets in 2012/2013 |
