At this year’s ISPO outdoor trade show in Munich, it seemed that insulation was the subject on everyone’s lips. Hydrophobic down has been a big story for a while now, and there are still companies announcing their own versions of the kind of treated down that the likes of Berghaus, Rab, The North Face and others have used in their down products recently, but at this show we started to see more hybrid pieces using both synthetic and down panels, and even a blend that uses both synthetic and down at the same time!
Yes that was the big story from Primaloft, who having been left in the shadows last year with the launch of Polartec’s Alpha breathable, synthetic insulation, are now fighting back with a story, and product, of their own. Their Down Blend literally blends down in with their own synthetic fibres to create a filling that on the face of it will give you the benefits of both types of insulation. There hasn’t been a huge manufacturer take-up so far – we only got to see pieces by Musto (a polar jacket), Adidas and Vaude (more below) but chances are that we’ll be seeing a lot more news about this in the coming months.
Elsewhere, Rab were showing their new 7000m down jacket, the Andes Jacket, Berghaus had their ultra-lightweight Ramche Hyper and Vaude had their Tacul, which is one of the first products to use Primaloft’s Down blend, mentioned above. The North Face were showing an improved version of their Thermoball synthetic jackets, and Mountain Equipment had their Mazeno which uses down in the body and Primaloft in the arms. For more ISPO news, pick up the Feb ’14 issue of Trek & Mountain!
See that there… it’s a mix of down and synthetic fibres. Honest.
Horse and carriage. Love and marriage. Rab and down. This is their new Andes 7000m duvet jacket.
Vaude’s Tacul hybrid jacket, one of the first pieces to make use of Primaloft’s Blended Down filling.
Mountain Equipment’s Mazeno (on the left) which uses down in the torso and Primaloft in the arms. We like.