Baffles in a down jacket have an Achilles heel. The seam where the baffle is stitched has no feathers and thus almost no insulating value, so heat pours out. Columbia solved that issue by designing baffles that overlap each other, so one set of baffles fills the dead space between the other set of baffles. If that weren’t enough, the baffles are stuffed with 900-fill water-resistant down, and a layer of synthetic insulation is stitched through the middle, giving the jacket a mix of down and synthetic insulation properties. Columbia calls the construction TurboDown Wave. In our experience with the early season samples, the extra material boosts the weight a bit, but the result is an even warmth with no cold spots.
Jan
2015
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