Down vs. Synthetic Insulation

When choosing a down jacket or down comforter, one of the first decisions you'll encounter is whether to opt for traditional goose down or newer synthetic down alternatives. Both types of down insulation have their merits and drawbacks, which should be considered carefully depending on your specific needs and preferences. In this pillar page, we’ll provide a comprehensive overview of synthetic and goose down, the pros and cons of each, and guidance on determining which insulation type may be the better choice depending on the context.

Down insulation broadly refers to the layer of fine, fluffy filaments found under the tougher exterior feathers of ducks and geese. This specialised plumage works to trap air within its structure, creating pockets of heat that allow birds to maintain warmth even when floating on cold water. When used in jackets, comforters and other bedding, both natural and synthetic downs work the same way by capturing body heat within tiny air pockets, preventing heat loss and keeping you nice and toasty. Goose down has traditionally been favoured due to its superior warmth-to-weight ratio compared to synthetic alternatives. Ounce for ounce, goose down provides better insulation and compressibility, creating puffy garments and duvets that pack down small for travel and storage. However, synthetic downs have improved greatly in recent years, closing the performance gap with innovations that mimic the clustered filament structure of natural down.

Now that we’ve highlighted the benefits and drawbacks of both natural goose down and synthetic down alternatives, how do they stack up against one another when directly compared? Here we drill deeper into how these two insulation types differ across the most important performance factors:

This measure looks at how much warmth insulation provides relative to its weight. Since reducing weight while retaining warmth is crucial in products like winter jackets, higher numbers are better.

• Goose Down Wins — Premium goose down still reigns supreme here, providing the highest warmth by overall weight among any insulator, natural or synthetic. The highest “fill powers” indicate more loft and insulation per ounce.

• Synthetics Fall Short — PrimaLoft, Thinsulate and other synthetics lag slightly behind in providing equal warmth at equal weights. But fabric advancements are helping to close the gap.

How much insulation compresses down in size while retaining the loft correlates directly to packability and practical storage convenience. Think stuffing puffy jackets into tiny sacks or compressing comforters into compact spaces.

• Goose Down is Supremely Packable — When pressed down, natural goose down compacts incredibly small, bouncing back to fully lofty form as soon as compression stops. This packability is unrivalled for stuffing into tight spaces.

• Synthetics Continue Improving — Synthetic alternatives formerly were far inferior here, but modern clustering manufacturing techniques let newer synthetics achieve 90%+ of the compression ratio of premium natural downs.

Insulation materials that maintain stable loft and consistent performance over years of regular use provide better durability and longevity. How long can you expect the warmth to last before degrading?

• Goose Down is Longer Lasting — With proper care, high-quality goose down maintains stellar insulating properties and resilience over many years of use. Only serious abuse or improper cleaning diminishes longevity.

• Synthetics Lose Loft Faster — An area where synthetics still fail to match natural down is long-term durability and stability. Over months and years, synthetic downs gradually lose loft and insulating capacity at faster rates.

When insulation gets wet, including from perspiration, its ability to retain warmth quickly gets compromised. Therefore maintaining warmth when damp is a useful performance metric.

• Goose Down Turns Useless When Wet — A glaring Achilles’ heel of natural down is it loses almost all insulating ability when soaked through. It also takes forever to fully dry out and recover warmth capacity.

• Synthetics Keep Insulating When Wet — By engineering for water resistance and quicker drying times, brands like PrimaLoft introduce goose-down-style fibres that retain far more warmth than the real thing when damp. Huge win for synthetics.

Let’s face it, cost matters when choosing insulation types. Which option gives you better performance and value per dollar spent?

• Goose Down Comes at a Premium — Due to the costs of sourcing, harvesting and sorting delicate down clusters, natural goose fill demands a higher price for both the raw materials and end products using it.

• Synthetics Are More Budget Friendly — Pound for pound, synthetic insulations can replicate many of Goose Down’s desirable qualities at a fraction of the cost. The manufacturing processes are far more efficient. It’s easier to produce desirable attributes affordably through engineering fibres.

Lastly, insulation materials have an ethical footprint in terms of animal welfare and manufacturing processes. Which types align better with evolving consumer values?

• Goose Down Faces Ethical Questions — Natural down relies on birds being raised and kept exclusively for harvesting feathers. Live-plucking and force-feeding are concerning practices that persist in some supply channels.

• Synthetics Are Guilt Free — Made using entirely manmade fibres, synthetic downs avoid animal sourcing altogether. Synthetic production has a lower environmental impact, uses less water, and ensures humane treatment.

Despite advances in synthetic alternatives, for a breadth of applications goose down still provides the ultimate combination of peerless warmth, plush comfort and supreme packability. Natural down remains tough to beat across many fronts. Here are the key factors that make Goose Down potentially the better choice:

• Cutting-Edge Cold Weather Outerwear — If staying toasty in frigid temperatures is the top priority, then only premium goose-down insulation will do. For use cases like expedition parkas scaling Everest or other extreme environments, the unrivalled warmth-to-weight ratios of 800+ fill power down are crucial. Synthetics still can’t quite achieve the same level of heat retention per ounce.

• Optimising Storage and Travel — When packability and compression matter above all else, goose-down blows synthetic alternatives out of the water. It squishes down to incredibly compact dimensions, letting you stuff a goose-down sleeping bag or puffy into tight spaces a synthetic couldn’t possibly achieve. This becomes important for certain travel scenarios like bike touring or backpacking.

• Sensory & Aesthetic Preferences — Between heavenly soft fibres and billowy loft, for those who adore the sensory and visual qualities of insulation, goose-down looks and feels superior. The elegantly fluffy aesthetic and cloud-like texture provide additional sensory delight with some view as a key purchasing factor over and above technical performance.

• Long-Term Use Case — Since goose down maintains stable warmth and loft considerably longer than synthetics when properly cared for, it justifies the higher upfront investment if you intend to use and keep the product for many years rather than replace it frequently. Why not treat yourself to lasting performance?

While the origins of its unbeatable natural insulating properties are of the wild, goose-down technology has achieved incredible sophistication when implemented thoughtfully into textile and bedding applications. And there remain good reasons why Goose Down retains trust and favour among discretionary buyers and performance purists alike.

Of course, for as exceptional as natural goose down can be when sourced and used conscientiously, it is certainly not without compromises. Nor is animal-based insulation inherently appropriate or preferable for every person or purpose. This is why synthetic alternatives were developed in the first place and continue gaining ground against goose down across a range of factors. Here are the key considerations that make synthetic fill the smarter choice:

• Vegan Principles & Sustainability — For people who live plant-based lifestyles or prioritise animal ethics, synthetic downs are the only insulator aligned with vegan principles. Synthetics also have a smaller environmental footprint compared with raising geese at a commercial scale solely for feathers. The manufacturing processes require less water, land and overall natural resource consumption.

• Wet Weather Performance — Synthetic’s advanced water-resistant properties maintain insulating performance admirably when damp, whereas natural down becomes utterly useless when soaked through. For humid environments or applications likely to encounter rain, sweat and other moisture, synthetics lend a clear advantage.

• Frequent Care & Laundering — Let’s face it - some people are rougher on their gear than others! For bedding and clothing likely to demand frequent cleaning, synthetic down's increased durability to repeated laundering gives it a leg up over fussier and more delicate goose down. Just take care to follow specific care instructions for the synthetic fill used.

• Children’s Outerwear & Bedding — Similar to care and laundering, kids can be rough on their clothing and bedding over time. Synthetic insulation tends to tolerate a child’s often careless use better. And since their gear gets quickly outgrown, the longevity of the loft matters less making cheaper synthetics a practical choice for kids.

While goose down undoubtedly retains superiority by certain performance metrics, synthetic technology has advanced impressively enough to largely close the gap across factors directly impacting real-world use. For plenty of shoppers, the synthetic advantages now outweigh the remaining downsides compared to natural goose fill.