Humane Innards

The Outdoor Research Helium Down Hoody’s 800-fill down comes as a result of a partnership between Outdoor Research and  a supplier who sources its down globally from farmers who have pledged allegiance to the Responsible Down Standard (RDS).

Before I dive into the review, I think it’s worth mentioning how the down in jackets and other down-insulated products comes to be, the varying types of down and its origins. It isn’t always a process that is as warm and cozy as your down jacket or sleeping bag.

Lucky Geese vs Unlucky Geese

In a perfect world, the down in your jacket, sleeping bag, gloves and comforter come as the byproduct of the food industry. Geese and ducks are raised on farms with good food, fresh air, clean water and warm beds. When big enough, they’re slaughtered for their meat and the sleeve of a down jacket is filled. These are the lucky birds.

Unlucky geese are forcibly live-plucked several times a year for their entire lives to increase their meat production and their down is collected post-humously. The really unlucky geese are the ones who get live-lucked up to six times per year while being force-fed and then slaughtered for their bloated livers.

Responsibly-sourced Solution

These grisly practices have prompted the outdoor industry to search for a more ethical solution to obtaining down. Which ALLIED Feather & Down, a supplier who sources its down globally from geese farmers who only raise birds for meat and sells to companies, has done. ALLIED Feather & Down has responded to this scourge of animal abuse in two significant ways:

1. Created the Responsible Down Standard (RDS) which certifies and oversees a global network of goose and duck farmers that adhere to the standards and supply their partners with responsibly-sourced and processed down.
2. Created Track My Down, a program that enables ALLIED partner products like the Outdoor Research Helium down hoody to include a TrackMyDown.com hangtag with a lot number that traces the origin of the down (Europe or Asia), content (goose vs duck), fill power, care tips and information on the differences between European and Asian down.

TrackmyDown.com Hangtag

Think of the TMD hangtag as the 23andMe of your down jacket or sleeping bag.

My Outdoor Research Helium down hoody’s down comes from the perfect world side—as told by its TrackmyDown.com hangtag of 1508L19F2577 where I learned its full story and then some:

• The down in my Helium came from Europe. European birds live longer, grow larger and produce a higher quality down. Their Asian counterparts aren’t as lucky due to the need to feed the denser Asian population. Plus, birds in cold climates naturally grow warmer down.
• The down in my jacket is 100% grey goose! Goose down is better than duck down.
• Its verified fill-power is 810 fill power, which traps more air for its weight than 800 fill power. Bonus warmth. Woot!
• The specific break-down of the 810 fill contents is 91.3% down cluster, 4.3% down fiber, 1.8% feather fiber and 2.1% waterfowl, 0% broken feathers and quill, 0.4% landfowl and 0.1% residue.
• The differences between European and Asian down, old geese and young ducks. For example, a mature goose that lived on a farm Northern Norway will have a denser down than the youthful duck in Southern China—but a mature duck from Southern China will have a higher-quality down than a youthful goose on a farm in Northern Norway.

Warmth

Outdoor Research states that the Helium Down hoody offers 800 fill power; however, per its Track my Down hangtag, my jacket is actually insulated with 810 fill power.

So far this fall and winter, Minnesota has had an odd variety of normal seasonal temperatures (high 30’s) and abnormal (high teen’s, snow and gale-force winds to seventy-five degrees and sunny). On the high teens days, it has translated to a very warm jacket that performs well running around town on errands, walking outside and even a late fall hiking trip on the Superior Hiking Trail.

The hood is phenomenal and, when its bungee cords are tightened, stays on even in gusty 30-mph winds. It’s also helmet compatible for you ice climbers and mountaineers.

Fit

The Outdoor Research Helium Down Hoody performs as expected in this category. It’s designed to be worn as a stand-alone down jacket or as an insulating midlayer under a rainjacket or softshell.

Since fit is oftentimes aligned with size, I feel it is sized correctly. I’m a size small in general so that’s the size I went with. It was the right call. What impressed me the most in the fit was the length of the arms. They’re plenty long enough to cover my wrists when I’m stretching or reaching.

Packability

There is no reason to ever leave the Helium down hoody behind. If you don’t plan to wear it out the door, it packs down into a hand pocket so that you can stash it in any pack or bag. I’m dating myself by saying this but I consider the Helium down hoody to be in the “down sweater” category—but on caffeine. Unlike other 800-fill down sweaters I’ve had that easily stuff into their own pockets, the Helium takes a little more effort. This came as no surprise. The Helium has more down, it has a hood and its exterior fabric has more oomph to it (more on that in “Durability”).

Anyway, to make what could be an unnecessarily long story short, I did get the Helium packed into its own pocket—but was afraid to zip it all the way in case it ripped from its own girth. And as you can see from the photos above, despite having more insulation, a more durable exoskelten and a hood, it’s still just as packable in size as the unhooded, 800-fill Patagonia down sweater.

 Weather & Abrasion Resistance

The Outdoor Research Helium down hoody blew me away here. Like really blew me away. It actually has waterproofing in the shoulders and hood, thanks to the Pertex® Quantum Diamond Fuse technology. It is the same technology found in Outdoor Research’s Helium Rain products. To be clear, the Helium is not a rain jacket. But if you’re outside hiking, climbing, snowshoeing, winter camping, etc, and it starts to snow, the waterproof Pertex® Quantum Diamond Fuse technology will ensure snowflakes that melt on you hood and shoulders will not seep into the lining.

This also translates to increased durability and abrasion-resistance. Pertex Quantum is essentially very tightly woven yarns with diamond-shaped fibers that resist snags, block wind and have beading properties to repel rain and melting snow.

Final Thoughts

Warm with responsibly sourced down from Europe, versatile, packable, durable, weather- and water-resistant, the Outdoor Research Helium down hoody blew me away.

The post Outdoor Research Helium Down Hoody appeared first on gritandgearonline.com.

So next time you’re in the shopping mood, consider looking deeper and further beyond those colorful patterns, the warm down in that parka and the wool in your baselayers.

Toad & Co Merino Merritt Hoodie

The Toad & Co Merino Merritt hoodie is soft and itch-free and has the certified non-mulesed label. Mulesing is a horrific practice. Right up there with declawing cats.

The wool around sheep’s butt can become rancid with poop and pee, which attracts flies that lays eggs and turn into maggots and start eating the sheep’s butt.

During the mulesing process, strips of wool-bearing skin are removed from around the animal’s bum so that wool doesn’t grow. You can feel good –both physically and metaphorically—knowing that the wool of your Merino Merritt Hoodie came from sheep that happily graze in the high pastures of New Zealand, with the skin around their butts fully intact. Toadandco.com | $199

Patagonia Dusty Mesa Fleece Parka

Wool and cotton are my preferred fibers (over polyesters and nylons) because they’re biodegradable and not oil-dependent. But once in a while, a synthetic piece comes along that is made from recycled and repurposed fabrics. I get on board with these because the end result reduces the amount of toxins and chemicals used across the textile industry.

The Patagonia Dusty Mesa Fleece Parka is made of 100 percent recycled half-inch pile fleece. The nylon trim and lining is also 100 percent recycled from the waste of weaving mills. The fact that Patagonia managed this feat should come as no surprise. They were the first outdoor apparel company to use fleece made from recycled plastic bottles, which lessens our dependence on petroleum, reduces landfill waste and causes less air, water, and soil contamination compared to using non-recycled nylon.

As a parka, the Dusty Mesa Fleece parka hits at mid-thigh, is warm and snuggly and its relaxed fit means you have room for a base- and midlayer for those colder days. Full review coming soon. Patagonia.com | $199

Prana Sonatina Dress

At one time, ethical fashion meant drab, style-blind clothes made from hemp or scratchy organic cotton worn only by a niche following. The Prana Sonatina dress is made from 100 percent organic cotton and is Fair Trade certified. What exactly is organic cotton (as opposed to non-organic cotton)?

Organic cotton is handpicked to allow the purity of each fiber to be preserved and undamaged in the process. This results in a softer and more durable product. Organic cotton also comes from natural seeds, uses no pesticides or other harmful chemicals and bugs are controlled with insects that kill the pests instead of chemicals. This makes organic cotton safer for you skin. Farmers who raise organic cotton rotate the crops from one soil to another each growing season, leading to healthier crops.

Regular cotton starts with genetically modified seeds to build resistance to bugs. Over time bugs build resistance and require pesticides. Regular cotton is usually machine-picked to feed the appetites of the masses.

This rush-job degrades the purity of the fibers and damages the fibers in the picking process, leading to loss and waste. And unlike organic cotton, which is rotated each growing season, regular cotton is grown on the same soil which degrades the soil quality and nutrients.

When you see the Fair Trade certified label, and you wonder what it means, it means that the garment abides by the Fair trade guidelines to promote trade that is equal and just and not made using unethical practices such as sweatshop or child labor. prana.com | $90

Helly Hansen Verglas Long Insulator

It’s what’s inside that counts and the Helly Hansen Verglas Long Insulator 700-fill down comes as a result of a partnership between Helly Hansen and ALLIED Feather & Down, a supplier who sources its down globally from farmers who have pledged allegiance to the Responsible Down Standard (RDS).

In a perfect world, the down in your jacket, sleeping bag, gloves and comforter come as the byproduct of the food industry. Geese and ducks are raised on farms with good food, fresh air, clean water and warm beds.

When big enough, they’re slaughtered for their meat and the sleeve of a down jacket is filled. Unlucky birds in imperfect worlds are forcibly live-plucked several times a year for their entire lives–then slaughtered for their meat and bloated livers.

That’s what makes this parka so special. Its down comes from the perfect world side—as told by its TrackmyDown.com hangtag of 0808L18F046 where I learned its full story. hellyhansen.com | $300

Duckfeet Arhus Boots

If Nordic style is your thing, the ultimate form of hygge in footwear is the Duckfeet Arhus. Handcrafted from vegetable-tanned leather, its smell, feel, the way it changes color with time is simply dreamy. Plus it’s also considerably more environmentally-friendly than chrome-tanned leather.

Chrome tanning, which began in the mid-19th century to mass produce leather products en masse uses chromium salts. If not managed correctly, these chemicals and other substances (like arsenic, acids and lead) can end up in the local water supply contributing to devasting consequences for humans and the environment. In terms of timing, a batch of chrome tanned leather can be completed in one day.

Vegetable tanning is the most natural tanning method. It has been around for centuries. Vegetable tanning uses tannin, a substance that naturally occurs in the bark of trees like oak and chestnut for example. It is these tannins into which hides are immersed for several weeks.

However, the method is costly due to the traditional process, the need of highly skilled craftsmen and the long production time of around 60 days for a batch. duckfeetusa.com | $298

The post 5 Must-have Ethically-sourced Fashion Pieces (for the Outdoorsy Woman) appeared first on gritandgearonline.com.

Most of us think of the down in our down jackets and sleeping bags as a byproduct of the food industry. Geese and ducks are raised on farms and slaughtered for their meat; the sleeve of a down jacket is filled.

And that’s the ethical way down makes its way into your jacket (or sleeping bag, comforter, gloves, etc). As a solution to the unethical, ALLIED Feather & Down is committed to moving the industry forward as much as possible with responsible sourcing and sustainability initiatives. When you look at the carbon footprint of some of these animal by-products, many are far less impact than their synthetic counterparts – recycled or not.

The unethical way? Live geese are forcibly restrained and live-plucked several times each year to contribute down throughout their lives. Live-plucked down also has a higher quality because it hasn’t been “degraded” by the slaughtering process.

ALLIED Feather and Down hangtag lot # 0808L1F046 on a Helly Hansen Verglas long parka

Others are force-fed to increase their meat production, their down collected posthumously. The really unlucky geese are the ones who get live-plucked up to six times each year while being force-fed and then slaughtered for their bloated livers.

These grisly practices have prompted the outdoor industry to search for a more ethical solution to obtaining down. Which ALLIED Feather & Down, a supplier who sources its down globally from suppliers who only raise birds for meat and sells to companies, has done.

ALLIED Feather & Down has responded to this scourge of animal abuse in two significant ways:

1. 

   Enter your hangtag lot # at trackmydown.com

   Worked in conjunction with The North Face in the creation of the Responsible Down Standard (RDS) which certifies and oversees a global network of goose and duck farmers that adhere to the standards and supply their partners with responsibly-sourced and processed down.

2. Created Track My Down, a program that enables ALLIED partner products like the Helly Hansen Verlgas long parka – many of which are also RDS-certified– to include a TrackMyDown.com hangtag with a lot number that traces the origin of the down (Europe or Asia), content (goose vs duck), fill power, care tips and information on the differences between European and Asian down.

Warmth delivered via 100% Chinese Gray Goose

The quality of the down is dependent on several factors and the beauty of the TrackMyDown hangtag is the information you learn:

• Species (goose down is better than duck down but down from a mature duck is better than down from an immature goose)
• Region (European birds live longer, grow larger and produce a higher quality down. Their Asian counterparts aren’t as lucky due to the need to feed the denser Asian population)
• Climate (Birds in cold climates naturally grow warmer down)
• Age at death (a mature goose that lived on a farm Northern Norway will have a denser down than the youthful duck in Southern China—but a mature duck from Southern China will have a higher-quality down than a youthful goose on a farm in Northern Norway). Make sense?

35 grams of bonus down!

In some cases, the European and Asian lots are blended, a la Eurasian fusion-style to make a more affordable higher quality fill.

For the record, this is all stuff I learned as a result of my Helly Hansen Verglas long parka, whose hangtag lot number is 0808L18F046.

When I traced the lot number, here’s what I learned:

• The down in my jacket came from China.
• It was processed in Anhui, China at one of 2 facilities owned and operated by ALLIED Feather & Down. The facilities recycle approximately 65 million gallons of water annually and are Bluesign certified.
• It is 100% grey goose!
• Its verified fill-power is 735 fill power, which traps more air for its weight than 700 fill power. Bonus warmth. Woot!
• The specific break-down of the 735 fill contents is 87% down cluster, 6% down fiber, 3% feather fiber and 3.4% waterfowl, 0% broken feathers and quill, 0.4% landfowl and 0.2% residue.
• The differences between European and Asian down, old geese and young ducks.

The 23andMe of my Helly Hansen Verglas Long parka

Think of the TMD hangtag as the 23andMe of your down jacket or sleeping bag.

If you’re shopping for down products, I highly recommend down jackets who partner with ALLIED Feather & Down to ensures the down was responsibly and ethically sourced.

The post ALLIED Feather & Down: Geese the World-over are Honking Sighs of Relief appeared first on gritandgearonline.com.