Recognition for down development at Outdoor Retailer
Insulation material provider Allied Feather and Down and antibacterial finishing technology provider Fuze Biotech have secured an Innovation Award at the 2023 Outdoor Retailer exhibition in Salt Lake City for their Expedry down insulation product.
Expedry won recognition for providing a high level of moisture management in down jackets and sleeping bags, fuelled by Fuze’s gold-particle technology.
“This new technology is poised to render current, chemistry-intensive hydrophobic down treatments obsolete,” the partners said at the event.
Traditional hydrophobic down works well when it comes into direct contact with water droplets, they explained. However, in real-world situations, the down in jackets and sleeping bags more often comes into direct contact with water vapour at high levels of humidity, and in these circumstances, they said, “hydrophobic chemistry is far less efficient”.
In contrast, Expedry works to keep this vapour from condensing, allowing it to evaporate more easily, “keeping the entire insulation chamber and the user drier for longer”.
