I’ve been selective—or snobbish, if you want to be snarky—about down insulation for 40 years. I learned early on that investing in the best stuff was by far the least expensive option in the long run. How long a run? I own a Marmot Gore-Tex Grouse sleeping bag I bought in 1983 that is still perfectly usable and retains at least 90 percent of its original loft. Amortized over 40 years its original, wince-inducing $235 price tag is laughably insignificant. Roseann and I still use two slightly newer Marmot bags bought in the early 90s, filled with then top-of-the-line 700-fill-power goose down, for our cold-weather bags. More recently, I own two beautiful ultra-lightweight bags, one from Feathered Friends and one from Western Mountaineering, each filled with 850-plus fill power goose down. All these bags were made in the U.S. All are of impeccable quality.
So when a rep from an outdoor and hunting clothing company called Forloh offered to send me a jacket described as employing 650-fill power duck down, I almost passed it up. I’d always believed duck down to be inferior to goose down, and 650-fill-power these days seems pretty low-end. Several things, however, caught my eye and stopped me. First, the Forloh ThermoNeutral down jacket is made in the U.S. with a lifetime guarantee—as you know, that’s more and more unusual, especially for garments. Second, and more intriguing, the company uses RDS (Responsible Down Standard) organic duck down sourced from an Amish farmer in Indiana, infused with a DWR (Durable Water Repellent) treatment. Given some of the stories I’ve read about inhumanely raised Chinese down and counterfeit European down, that was a welcome revelation. Finally, rather than stitched seams to control the down, Forloh uses a fabric-welding technique they call Perf-Weld, claimed not only to be more durable than a stitched seam, but also to be more breathable (only the main body seams are sewn). The jacket was also available in a handsome, hunter- and naturalist-friendly olive. Worth a try.
Fortuitously, I had whatever is the opposite of a trial by fire in store for the jacket, since we headed to Fairbanks, Alaska over Christmas and landed in -39ºF temperatures. Thinking that a bit much for a 20-ounce jacket, no matter what it was stuffed with, I waited for a balmy 0º morning and went for a walk downtown, wearing only a flannel shirt underneath.
And I was warm. Perfectly so. I was seriously impressed. Later, I went for a hike at -15º wearing the same flannel shirt and a medium-weight merino undershirt—and still I was warm (helped by beaver-fur earmuffs—highly recommended). Again, impressive. Despite the sewn-through—or rather welded-through—baffles I felt no cold spots, and the fit and cut allowed me complete freedom of movement while snowshoeing or using binoculars. Only when temperatures again dropped past -25º was it time to hang up the Forloh and switch to my Eddie Bauer Peak Xv parka, with its box-baffle construction and 800-fill goose down. But the Forloh remained my go-to jacket for virtually all activities the whole month.
The shell of the ThermoNeutral jacket is 40-denier nylon. Those welded seams give it a bit of a space-age look, but it’s handsome, and incorporates useful features such as dual interior bucket pockets which swallow gloves or notepads, zipped and insulated exterior hand-warmer pockets, plus a zippered chest pocket large enough for my RayBan Aviators but not my modest-sized iPhone—not that you’d want to carry a phone in an uninsulated exterior pocket anyway. A drawcord on the bottom hem prevents cold updrafts, and the hem itself is lower in the rear, so leaning over doesn’t produce a sudden blast of cold up one’s back. The only suggestion I’d have for Forloh would be a fleece lining on the otherwise excellent high collar, just to make it a bit more cozy.
I’ve updated my down standards. Sure, high fill power is desirable, but responsibly sourced fill power is even more desirable. I’m happy knowing exactly where this down came from, happy to support U.S. manufacturing, and happy to have a jacket this comfortable and versatile.
Learn more about RDS standards here.
Forloh is here.