Sometimes my down jacket makes me want to pull my hair out. I got the First Ascent Down Microtherm Hooded Down Shirt about 6 months ago, as a versatile insulating layer for traveling. It’s super lightweight and has a bunch of other cool features… but it leaks!
When I first got my down jacket, I was new to the concept of a jacket leaking. Who would have known that feathers could get out of the microscopic holes in my jacket? I first opened the package that my First Ascent jacket came in, and then… POOF! There were some feathers along with my jacket.
Down leakage is simply the down fill of a jacket coming out of the shell. I have no idea how the down gets out of the microscopic holes in the shell of my jacket, but they just find some way to. It is really annoying, but unfortunately I have no way to fix it.
My jacket leaks chronically, and whenever I take it off I notice down on my shirt. I’ve read that it is normal for down jackets to leak, but I think that mine has particularly large problems. Down leakage may actually be the reason I’m losing loft in the chest area of my jacket… I’m not actually too sure though.
How to fix down leakage:
Whenever I see half of a feather poking out, I always try to pull it in from the other side in order to keep it from completely coming out. According to the experts, down jackets, both expensive and inexpensive leak feathers.
My jacket reminds me of penguins shedding their feather coat, like in this picture of a penguin I saw in Punta Arenas:
And here is all of the down it shed:
On the bright side, I now know (and can see) that my jacket has/had some good quality down inside. If your down jacket has problems, don’t worry, because I can assure you that mine has problems too.
Here are some down jackets on Amazon.com.
Does your jacket have issues with leaking? Leave your comment below.
Jacket Photo Credit: www.eddiebauer.com
Last March I purchased a downfilled coat at 1/2 price, $400. from Danier leather, what a mistake! I didn’t get to wear it b/c the weather got milder so ir wasn’t until Jan. 2016 that I finally had the opportunity to wear it, well, with every wear I am covered in feathers and travelling with a lint brush is a must. I returned the coat to Danier to see what their seamstress could do. Nothing’s, I’m told, I just have to wait until the feathers settle!
My 15 year old down coat is leaking a much better quality feather at a much slower rate. The old coat has increased the loss of feathers but I expect that for an old coat.
Thank you Danier for nothing, I will never purchase another leather or down product with a Danier label ever again!!!
As an update, Danier refunded the full cost of the coat, thank God! I still have a million feathers on clothes that I did not even wear with that coat but on a better note, the coat is gone!
Glad to hear they gave you a refund!
my moncler has never leaked any feathers, as a $1k+ jacket should not. Also, my marc jacobs down has leaked only one feather over 7 years, but it has two layers of fabric on the outside.
Hey Jonathan, my down jacket also has some feathers leak out too. How can you tell whether this is normal or not? I just purchased it and I’m quite worry about it too.
Hey Sirikorn,
I can’t really confirm whether it’s normal or not, since I don’t know the details. A few feathers here and there is usually normal, but if it’s like massive clumps falling out, that is an issue. If it’s leaking really badly, you could probably take it back to where you bought it and see what they can do.
Hope that helps
-Jonathan