Hi Joe,

I was worried about having down every where when I made our quilts. But it is easier to work with than it sounds. I cut the bag 1/2 way open and placed it upside down in a larger (3-5 gallon) zip lock bag. To pull it out, I reached in to the bottom of the outer ziplock, curled my hand and grabbed a handful of down from inside the Thru-hiker bag, making sure there was nothing loose, and pulled it out. Any down that may wander out of the Thru hiker bag stayed in the other outer plastic ziplock bag. The secret is not to try and pull out more down than you can control in your closed fist. I went through 6 bags of down without losing any, and it did not create a big mess.

I hope this helps,

Tony

Edited by TonyFleming on 12/10/2008 13:00:31 MST.

I did notice something about the down I bought, as I was completely screwing up the patch job on my Lightyear. Boy, that nylon repair tape attracts down like a vacuum. And if you get some seam sealer on your fingers, it all goes south. But I digress. I noticed that the down from the Kelty (650) was about half the size of the down from Seven Wonders. The Seven Wonders down was finer too. I should have taken pics.

I suppose I will chime in on this one (my first post here by the way).

I have 2 lbs of down scheduled for delivery on Wednesday and I am excited about it. I have also never worked with down so I am a little anxious. Anyway, I found the site over at hammockforums.net.

Price. Well they site advertises $73/lb for 800 fill power white goose down. I suppose that is true if you fall under certain guidelines. Firstly you would have to order 20lbs to get it at that price...LOL. Second you have to live in Canada so you wouldnt have to pay Border fees. Thirdly, their price is in Canadian...not USD. Having said that when my order was complete, the Two (2) pounds came to $195.00 and that included FEDEX shipping. Still much better per ounce than those other ones. The plus size is that I now have 32oz of down to go nuts with!

The website is http://www.featherind.com/

I will let you all know how it looks when I get it. Not that i have anything to compare it too...:)

Adam

That is a bunch of down.......I'd say the individual 600 fill down out of my Kelty bag was closer to the size of a dime(or smaller), and the 800 fill I bought was a lot closer to the size of a quarter.

I think Adam is referring to the tutorial i posted at hammock forums and practical backpacking. here is a link to give you some pointers for working with down. you may find it useful, mike.

http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4362

That IS the tutorial I am referring to, Mike. I have that tutorial in a pdf file as well as printed out and in a binder! Great article man! If anyone is a hammock camper (and I highly recommend at least trying it) Hammockforums.net is a great place for all things hammock! Plus, the people there are really great.

How many forums are you in Mike? LOL

Adam

You have to be a forum member to view the pics.

I was asked to not distribute their pricelist, but here is a summary of what I can pass on:

They have a large menu of feathers and down, from very basic feathers to rare Canadian hand collected (what falls from the bird) wild eider duck. (Eider--think the fantasy xmas catalog from Neiman-Marcus.) They have a selection of types that will interest this forum and prices are in line with the other sources in this thread. Minimum order is 2 pounds. They are a member of The Down Association of Canada www.downmark.com which regulates quality. Email communication was very cordial.

its OK, signing up is FREE
joining may be worth the article itself - but that's for you to decide.

There is info about handling down and how to control its flyaway tendencies that every DIY'er will hopefully benefit.

Joe, FWIW, I joined hammockforums (specifically to read Mike's writeup, which several members here had recommended) and have found a lot of other useful information there just browsing around. Although i like to join as few boards as possible just to limit potential spam (and time-wasting), I've found the hammock site a lot of fun.

Edited by nmiller08 on 12/16/2008 16:51:34 MST.

Sure I won't get hammock cooties? I think I found the write up on Practical Backpacking forum. Or maybe Whiteblaze. I am just on so many stinkin' forums now.

They probably pay a flat rate to ship as much as they need. That's how we do it at UPS. Their monthly sales in a weighted amount is "lighter than feathers" though bulky shouldn't cost much to ship in the long run.