Rose Feather quality

[Latt]

Rene over at BPL tested the Rose down and got 700fp with a DIY apparatus. May not be 100% accurate, but that seems reasonable.

Rose Feather have a lot of various qualities of down. What was the claimed FP of the down he tested?

[PharmGeek]

Finished UQ a couple days ago - stuffed with down - I stuffed with 30% overstuff assuming 800fp - I used 1.34 oz per baffle - total 12 baffles.

I think the end result appears now after fluffing and drying on low etc - is adequately stuffed but appears not like 30% overstuff.

I plan to take an ounce of the stuff and let it settle in a plastic bin overnight - measure how high it lofts in the box and repeat that with 1oz of wilderness logics and 1 oz of Dutch

That is not measured fp but would give a relative sense

It’s hard to say - but my sampling appears to be perhaps lower FP - I’d say 650-700fp but frankly this is at best educated guess

The comparison to others will be better


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kayak_Medic]

If RF tests and certifies their down fill through IDFL labs, I wonder why there's so much variance in the assessments of suspected fill power here? I wonder if a double blind test would give the same results if the folks estimating the fill power had no idea which sample they were actually judging. Just thinking out loud.

[Violent Green]

Rose Feather have a lot of various qualities of down. What was the claimed FP of the down he tested?

950fp

[Latt]

950fp

Wow ... that's a bit disturbing

[Carrico]

I am very interested in hearing the results of Pharmgeek side-by-side comparison with more "reputable" dealers. I have ordered from rosefeather 4 times and have been very pleased with the down I've got from them. They're down is inspected and verified by one of the largest textile verification companies in the world. As a side note, the only expensive sleeping bag I've ever bought was a Mountain Hardwear Phantom 32 with 850 fill. This bag was supposed to be rated to 32 degrees and cost over $300 new. I bought it used off eBay, it was in great shape and only two years old. however it did not loft nearly as much as I was expecting and by itself would not keep me warm below about 40 degrees. needless to say I was very disappointed and is what launched me into making my own quilts.

Note, rosefeather has a 30-day money-back guarantee on their down. anybody who's not pleased with it should contact them, they have been very helpful with all the inquiries I have made.

[mathineer]

Note, rosefeather has a 30-day money-back guarantee on their down. anybody who's not pleased with it should contact them, they have been very helpful with all the inquiries I have made.

Well poop! I'm pretty sure I'm past 30 days, and most of the 2lbs of down I bought is in my underquilt. I'm definitely NOT satisfied. I think the tests I did pretty conclusively confirm that the down I bought which was advertised as 850fp, is actually less than 400fp. I suspect that whoever shipped it to me sent me the wrong stuff as they sell a number of different grades. My packages' markings did not indicate fp. Regardless, I won't buy from them again. BTW, it looks pretty "downy", and doesn't seem to have a many feathers. My basement has some errant plumules floating around. I'll be sitting there and one will just float by when the furnace kicks on. :-) Anyway, it is certainly possible that I'm missing something fundamental, but I can't imagine what it might be. You can check out my mathineer underquilt thread if you're interested in the details.

BTW, my wife responded to my carping about it by giving me a down comforter she had to pull the down out of. She claims she's allergic to it, and was going to pitch it. Good thing I complained! Of course I don't know the fp, but when I press down on it, it springs right back, whereas the RF doesn't seem to respond that way. I think I'll use that for the TQ, but I'll probably do some sort of basic test first to get a rough idea of fp.

mathineer

[Levi Tate]

Wouldn't the size of the package it was shipped in correlate somewhat to the size of the fill power? I know you can compress the down, but do you think RF would ship 2 lbs of 400fp in the same size bags as 2lbs of 850fp? I wouldn't think they would.

I would still contact them and explain your dissatisfaction. You have nothing to lose, and you never know, they may surprise you. Its worth a try.

[Scouter_Ken]

this thread got me concerned about the down I need for my underquilt build...

Ordered a pound of mixed down (50% 850 goose, 50% 800 duck) from Wilderness Logistics http://wildernesslogics.com for $75 plus shipping. They have a solid reputation and the last thing I want to be concerned about on a long winter night is getting a cold butt because I wanted to save $15-20.

[Kayak_Medic]

I think the tests I did pretty conclusively confirm that the down I bought which was advertised as 850fp, is actually less than 400fp.

Less than 400FP?!? For 850FP advertised? Did you buy this from Rose Feather or a third party? I would be interested in knowing the details of your test where you came to that conclusion. It just seems hard to fathom that they would advertise the product as 850fp, and then send you something that's lower than anything I've even seen them advertise as selling.

Just curious, but you mention most of the two pounds you ordered is in your underquilt. What are the dimensions of the quilt? I can't help but wonder if you over stuffed it by too much. Pretty sure there's a point of diminishing returns with over stuffing, and putting too much down in a small space would almost prevent it from lofting.

All I can say is, the only thing I've done so far with my RF down is add a few ounces to my Costco throw, and now i can't get it away from my wife. She loves how fluffy and warm it is to lay under on the couch. I really need to just get motivated and make a proper under quilt so I can say for sure how well it works but from what I've done so far, I'd never think it was more than maybe 50 to 100FP off from what was advertised.