Lofting a down item

[silverpac64]

it just crossed my mind about down items , sleeping bags , quilts , jackets etc , its allways been my understanding that they should be stored out of compression sacks , so they can loft . as not doing this will effect ther thermo doo dads . then i thought how long has the item been stored before you buy it new ? and the chances are they could have been compessed for maybe years ? so how come this doesnt effect the thermo rating ? or does it . ? all the best .

 

[Jared]

Can reloft bags by putting them in a tumble dryer with some dryer balls.

 

[FerlasDave]

Not long. For one it’s not good business for things to sit on the shelves for ever, cash flow is everything. How many times have you gone to a store for an item for them to say “we don’t stock those because we don’t sell enough of them”?

Not only that, down items are usually shipped in cardboard boxes to allow for lofting. Down sleeping bags are always kept in that giant pillow case like sack.

 

[Moondog55]

Down is shipped from China Vacuum packed and as dense as iron. Western Mountaineering ship their sleeping bags in the stuff sack, as do most companies because retailers simply do not have the space to store lofted bags. Compression doesn't hurt good quality down, it will hurt the feather component tho. What kills down is the repeated stuffing cycles and damp and poor storage conditions.
Some custom makers may ship locally lofted slightly in big cardboard boxes but most do not, surface shipping is by cubic tonne not by weight, so sending long distances lofted is bad economics