Puffer Jacket turns 100

[Overlandman]

From ABC news

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-01/ ... /101114014

On the slopes of Mount Everest 100 years ago, George Finch, from Orange in the central west of New South Wales, revealed his latest invention to his fellow adventurers.

[CraigVIC]

The British commentary, haha, classic.

[headwerkn]

I wonder what the "fill power" equivalent of actual eiderdown is? Would be wonderful stuff in a modern down jacket, though I'd guess the price would be eye-watering.

[crollsurf]

I wonder what the "fill power" equivalent of actual eiderdown is? Would be wonderful stuff in a modern down jacket, though I'd guess the price would be eye-watering.

Eye watering is almost an understatement. A lot of places selling goose down eiderdown quilts, so not eiderdown. I found this place that looks like the real deal:
https://icelandicdown.com/product/eiderdown-duvet/
AUD $6,231 for a warm Duvet!!!

They are a protected species, so the down is collected from nests, once the birds have left for the season.

[headwerkn]

There's a great video on YouTube somewhere that explains the process of harvesting, cleaning and preparing the down for use. And yeah, terms like "laborious" and "highly limited resource" don't even come close...

What's crazy is that as a kid I remember my grandmother referring to our doonas/quilts as "eiderdowns". My eight-year-old brain of course just put it down to another weird old word my Nan used and didn't give it a second thought... but now I'm wondering if they were actually the real thing? I don't ever recall being cold at Nan's...

[Franco]

I have seen people quoting something like 950-1000 fill power but I think this is the more correct version :
Our Eider Down is the finest available, anywhere in the world. It tests at approximately 700 fill power for loft. Yet, due to the its phenomenal density and cling it insulates at an amazing 1000+ fill power.


https://www.plumeriabay.com/info/eider-down.aspx
A good link about eider duck "farming"
https://icelandicdown.com/blog/2020/06/ ... mon-eider/

[Avatar]

From my experience, what they used to call eiderdowns in 1960s Australia were heavy and filled with cotton waste wadding.

[Franco]

From my experience, what they used to call eiderdowns in 1960s Australia were heavy and filled with cotton waste wadding.

Yes, a doona but should be obvious by now that we are not discussing the generic term but the down from the Eider ducks.

[Avatar]

Answering this:

What's crazy is that as a kid I remember my grandmother referring to our doonas/quilts as "eiderdowns". My eight-year-old brain of course just put it down to another weird old word my Nan used and didn't give it a second thought... but now I'm wondering if they were actually the real thing? I don't ever recall being cold at Nan's...

[Franco]

Answering this:

What's crazy is that as a kid I remember my grandmother referring to our doonas/quilts as "eiderdowns". My eight-year-old brain of course just put it down to another weird old word my Nan used and didn't give it a second thought... but now I'm wondering if they were actually the real thing? I don't ever recall being cold at Nan's...

Sorry, I missed that comment.
yes some did use that as a generic term the way they use hoovering using a Dyson.

[headwerkn]

[i]Our Eider Down is the finest available, anywhere in the world. It tests at approximately 700 fill power for loft. Yet, due to the its phenomenal density and cling it insulates at an amazing 1000+ fill power.

Thanks Franco, that's pretty amazing. Just imagine a UL sleeping quilt filled with the stuff! Shame you'd have to sell both kidneys

I suspect dear old Nanna was using the term eiderdown as a genericised term and said blankie was indeed full of something far less exotic... but she was good at hanging onto stuff that was very old from decades/generations before, so maybe. Not sure if genuine eiderdown was ever 'affordable' to commonfolk back in the 'olden days' before concepts like sustainability became a factor.

[Franco]

[i]Our Eider Down is the finest available, anywhere in the world. It tests at approximately 700 fill power for loft. Yet, due to the its phenomenal density and cling it insulates at an amazing 1000+ fill power.

Thanks Franco, that's pretty amazing. Just imagine a UL sleeping quilt filled with the stuff! Shame you'd have to sell both kidneys

I suspect dear old Nanna was using the term eiderdown as a genericised term and said blankie was indeed full of something far less exotic... but she was good at hanging onto stuff that was very old from decades/generations before, so maybe. Not sure if genuine eiderdown was ever 'affordable' to commonfolk back in the 'olden days' before concepts like sustainability became a factor.

It would be tragic if it were the genuine article and someone ended up trowing away that old thing..
When I was growing up in Italy folk were getting rid of that old solid wood furniture and copper pots to replace them with Formica and aluminium. much lighter and well.. more modern.
Searcing for some old info about Nunatack selling Eider down fill I came across several comments from "experts" about how goose down is better than duck , in threads asking about the Eider down.