What is 650 fill down

The heavier the weight, the warmer the insulation. Are down jackets worth it? Ultimately, down is worth the cost if you'll be in weather that's cold but not super wet. What is a good fill power? Why is Canada goose so expensive? High-quality materials: The parkas are made with goose down sourced from Canadian Hutterite farmers and come with a removable coyote fur-lined hood. What is the warmest winter coat? Canada Goose Expedition Parka.

North Face Miss Metro Parka. Marmot Montreaux Down Coat. Is down warmer than polyester fill? Synthetic insulation is essentially polyester threading that is molded into long, single threads or short staples to mimic down clusters. But first of all, it pays to learn a little bit about how down insulation works in the first place.

Down jackets keep you warm the same way goose down keeps geese warm—which is also the same way the newer synthetic insulation materials keep you warm. By trapping pockets of warm air close to the skin, keeping the warm air in and the cold air out. But while synthetic insulation may outperform down in wet weather, down still comes in first in cold, dry environments.

Also, down jackets almost always weigh less and compress more than their synthetic counterparts, providing the same amount of warmth at a fraction of the weight. The down fill rating number is a measurement of down quality, meaning the cubic inches of loft one ounce of the specific down produces.

A higher rating means less down fill is required to capture the same amount of heat. What you also need to take into consideration is the amount of down used in the jacket. The vast majority of brands use duck down in their jackets, especially the more affordable ones.

But it is also of lesser quality than goose down. That is because clusters of goose down tend to be larger than clusters of duck down. That results in higher fill powers, better quality, durability and lighter clothing. You would need more duck down, because the clusters are not as large and they cover smaller amounts of space. Insulation is supposed to trap your body heat.

The thing is, goose down is more expensive to produce, and so jackets that insulated with it are never cheap. So, it is not used as often. Howeve r, there are instances in which duck down is actually the better option — high quality duck down obviously performs better than mediocre goose down. It measures the size of space one ounce of down is able to insulate, when it reaches maximum loft. Larger clusters are able to trap more air, and are better at retaining body heat.

Fill power can be identified by the number that accompanies it. That number usually ranges from to , and it indicates how many cubic inches a single ounce of down occupies. So, say you want to cover cubic inches with down — you can do that with a single ounce of fill power down, or two ounces of fill power down.

Jackets that are insulated with fill power down are usually warmer, but they are much harder to find. And these are usually jackets designed for some extreme weather conditions. Maximum loft occurs when the down clusters are fully expanded.

The fill power rating value is calculated by measuring how many cubic inches an ounce of down creates at its maximum loft. A down fill rating of , for example, means that one ounce of down can cover cubic inches. The process involves putting the down into a Plexiglas cylinder and slightly compressing it with a weight. In the U. In Europe, the cylinder is larger at millimeters and weighs more at The fill power rating can range from to and above.

The most common down products have a rating of to These are considered to be low quality, however, as they come from immature geese and ducks and therefore are made from smaller down clusters. When purchasing a high quality down fill jacket, you should look for a fill power rating of at least A quality jacket of this caliber will be both warmer and more comfortable.

Learn how we craft a better down jacket at Triple F. All Triple F. Goose coats have a fill power rating of and up. Shop the collection.

While fill power is a measure of volume, fill weight is a measure of—you guessed it—weight. Fill power rates quality, and fill weight signals quantity. If a jacket has a down weight of 12 ounces, that means that 12 ounces of down material was used to make it. While many outerwear brands proudly draw attention to their high fill power, they often fail to mention the fill weight.