$12 Hack Beats Expensive Down Jacket

A Down Jackets major weakness is water. Which is why companies have started treating down with Durable Water Repellent finish. But professionally treated down can be expensive. Which is why I want to see if this down jacket I treated at home with $12 waterproofing can keep me warm when wet?

Check out the first video:

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Cleaning and Waterproofing Tips:

- Keeping your down items clean is super important. Dirt, body oils, and even campfire smoke residue can cause your down jacket to wet out prematurely and lose loft due to the feathers being dirty as well.
- FOLLOW THE CARE LABEL on your down-filled items. This will help make sure you don’t mess up your jacket/sleeping bag etc. If it says to wash on warm and tumble dry low- do that!
- Check your pockets before cleaning! Don’t be the person who washes a tube of lip balm into your jacket.
- Use a front loading washing machine for down items. Top loaders with agitators are harsh on fragile down, and down also has a tendency to float, making top loaders a poor choice.
- Fully drying your down items is also super important. It won’t fluff back up unless fully dry. This may take many cycles.
- Store your down in a nice loose bag. NOT in the stuff sack.
- Never put down away wet.
- Nikwax products are and always have been PFC/PFAS-free so they are safe to use in your home.

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[thedanyesful]

FYI If you ever want to clean your washing machine detergent dispenser again, just push the little lever and pull the entire thing out and clean it in the sink or bathtub. Way easier than trying to clean it in place.

[thistledewoutdoors]

I sprayed a $7 camp packable nylon/synthetic insulation hunting jacket from Walmart with Tent waterproof treatment., .. That thing been awesome for years !!!!

[JamesJones-kbtw]

Asked a retailer about doing this and they said it only works on the more expensive waterproofed ones. Given that it wasn't going to damage my non-DWR puffer jacket, I thought I'd try it anyway. Works a treat. Thank you - you saved me quite a few bucks!

[redshepherdoutdoors]

You just convinced me to clean and treat a couple of jackets we have in the closet. Great stuff. You just keep bringing it. I like that. ✌️

[mage]

Talking about the water on the outside of the jacket freezing, that reminds me. Back when I went to school, I went to a little two room country school, and every year we'd put up a skating rink out back. Now, if you know anything about skating rinks, you know that you either have to put a new layer of ice on the rink for every couple hours of use and every time it snows, or you have to use a Zamboni to remove a layer for every half hour of use. Zambonis are expensive, so we went with the former option. Putting a new layer of ice on is just a matter of stapling a 3 foot strip of burlap to a 2x4 and wetting it continuously with a garden hose as you drag it around the rink. Needless to say, being children, we got nearly as much water on ourselves as we did on the burlap. Our "saving grace", if you could call it that, was that temperatures were generally below 0F, so the little sprinkles would build up over time and create an ice layer over our clothing, especially our legs, rendering the material more waterproof than any treatment you could hope to buy. I'm sure each one of us would carry at least 2 lbs of ice back into the school building after resurfacing the rink. Ironically, the parts of our clothing with the most ice were generally the warmest. Ice is not only perfectly waterproof, but perfectly windproof as well.

[barkingspider]

Great Video! I Thru hiked the AT in 2007. My down jacket kept me warm the entire trip. The test I'd like to see is 38-45 with light rain.
The extreme cold weather is generally very dry. Warmer rainy windy conditions are where the challenge comes from.
I had no problems with the down jacket on my 6-month long trip. Thank you very much for the video! : )

[russstentiford]

Love the genuine real world test. I wonder how many out door retailers would do this? Good on you NickWax. Great test. 👏👏👏.

[markrobinson]

I've found most treatments are a bit hit n miss, the last one I used was Nikwax soft shell proof, two different results on two different brands of jacket, its worth a try but don't expect miracles 👍🇬🇧

[neal]

What an absolute legend, you couldn't catch me soaking my gear no matter what. Keep killing it!!

[JLMLawliet]

I was a believer as soon as you showed how the water was in the pocket. Had the treatment not work it should have just drained itself into the material and out the jacket. Since the water stayed in the pocket until you squeezed told me the waterproof worked.

[NoviceWildCamper]

Hats off to you doing these tests. Awesome to see someone actually put themselves through extremes to test products 👍

[KyleGraham]

This is great! You could treat your jacket 10x for the cost of the Big Agnes jacket. Additionally, you get to reuse something rather than consuming another product. Thanks for the info! Great video as usual!

[brianmcmurdie]

What a concept! I love that you challenge the value of expensive gear. I’ll be sure to treat my gear at home.

[craigrobertson]

That was a great test. It is pretty plain that for 75% of dudes/dudettes that we can treat our own down jackets and not shell $300 for a 'specially treated' one. Most of us will not be having to bet our life on one soaking wet down jacket keeping us from our demise.

[HugoCaen]

Dude, I’m from central Brazil. The coldest we get here is like 18Celsius, but I’m still here learning about how to wear properly for cold, no reason why, it’s just so entertaining and informative xD
Keep up the good work, these videos are great

[sniffmatip]

I know I shouldn't show brand favoritism when customers ask me about care and reproofing, but Nikwax is the go to product from base and tech wash to down proof and tx direct to tent and gear solar proof.

[mtadams]

I have used down for nearly fifty years, and I have never gotten it wet. I think the issue is condensation over many days or weeks. I think its maybe an issue for serious mountaineers. Nice to know the new stuff actually works, I thought it was all marketing. It's also nice to know you can add it to your old gear. Thanks.

[thepixelcatcher]

Very useful video. It is more important to maintain the gear you have instead of continuously purchasing new gear and throwing older gear away.

[SpookyFish]

Quick update: I just used these products on an old North Face down jacket, and now have a new AND WATERPROOF jacket!!!
Many Thanks 🙂
Ps. I used a full bottle of the down proof, not the 150ml indicated on the bottle.

[ViveSemelBeneVivere]

Great presentation, thanks! NikWax is my go-to for washing and treating my down and gore-tex jackets. Hint - I wear my gore-tex shell jacket over my down jacket so it's best of both worlds - dry and warm.