#wiggy's

Insulation is a critical component of many outdoor and household products. Goose or duck down is a popular choice for quilts, sleeping bags, and jackets. Advantages of down include its warmth to weight ratio and ability to pack small. Drawbacks of down products include cost, warmth when wet, and care. For me, difficulty in caring for down products, even expensive well made down products, has been a deal breaker. First, down can clump together, particularly during washing, causing insulation gaps. Second, down products are difficult to clean. Dry cleaning can strip down of important natural oils. Machine or hand washing is a delicate and difficult production that takes real time. These challenges often result in folks not washing their down products or sporadically letting them air out in the sun. Cleaning such products, however, is not something you can neglect as body oils left behind attract bugs and cause the product to degrade.

A great synthetic insulation alternative is Climashield. Unlike synthetic insulation that mimics down like PrimaLoft, Climashield is a continuous layer of filament insulation (seen above) that does not suffer from gaps. It is also very thermally efficient, warm when wet, and can be washed and dried with ease at home.

There are surprisingly few big name companies in the United States that use Climashield. The popular Mountain Hardware HyperLamina Flame sleeping bag, however, is the exception. Another mainstream option is Wiggy’s, which is an established supplier to the US military. Wiggy’s carries a range of basic sleeping bags, quilts, and apparel that are all made in the Unite States. Climashield is also popular with cottage industry outdoor companies, particularly those that produce quilt style sleeping bags. Another option is Snugpack from the UK, who uses the insulation in both their civilian and military products which can be found on eBay.