Synthetic VS Down. Which is best for you? | Rab Insulation Inside Look
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Have you ever wondered what the insulation inside your jacket looks like and how it works? Thanks to Rab and their custom insulated jackets we can take a proper inside look into what makes them tick. Join Ben as he goes through the different types of insulation on offer and a brief overview of some of Rab's range of Insulation. Hopefully this video will help you narrow down your choice and point you in the right direction for your next Rab jacket.
We have to give a huge thank you to our friends at Rab for sending us over these very special jackets for this video. After seeing them at Kendal Mountain Festival, we knew they were pretty special and thanks to a cheeky email and Rab's generosity, we were able to make this video.
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A very clever and clear way to explain the differences between insulation types. Well done to Trekitt and RAB.
We have to give Rab all the credit for making the jackets, such a great resource for our purposes! We're glad you found the video useful.
This video was super helpful! I'd love to see a follow-up on how to wash and care for different types of insulation. Specifically, I'm curious if synthetic blown fill clumps up like down when it's washed?
We're glad you found this video helpful.
Great idea for a follow-up!
Synthetic blown fill can clump like down, but won't to the same extent due to the construction of the insulation. Generally, synthetic insulation is made of hollow polyester fibres (sweeping statement here!), those fibres can hold their structure better than down when wet. But the physical action of washing in the machine can lead the insulation to clump a little and move to one end of the baffle so you might have to break apart some of the bigger clumps and redistribute it around the baffle, but in a less time consuming manner than down, it will also dry and re-loft quicker.
We'll see what we can do about a video on this topic 👍
What I’ve learned over the last few years, I love Rab coats & jackets, I’ve spent over £2k on them, should be more but I bought them all from their factory outlet and saved over 35%.
I can afford them so I don’t mind, but I have a few really cheap throw about coats from Primark, synthetic filled and do you know what I’ve worn them in all weather conditions, I’ll be completely honest, in this country there ain’t that much difference, for a few days in the Peak District or the Lakes, there literally isn’t that much difference, in fact with the cheap Primark jackets you can chuck them in the wash and tumble dryer and you don’t even have to care about them!
Again it’s just food for thought and my own experience, I’m a gear nerd too and as mentioned I buy them cause I can afford to, don’t get to hung up about all these high end brands, it’s no big deal.
After what happen to me 3weeks ago il stick with synthetic. I unfortunately slipped and fell into a canal in cold conditions and as luck would have it was wearing my Rab nebula that day. And I truly believe it made a huge difference to me getting home. It was early hrs and pitch black and nearly an he from home. This jacket still kept me warm until I could get home and get in a hot shower. Thank you Rab. My recommendation is any activity nest or on water go synthetic I’m sure if it now.
I’ve got the Nebula - great piece of kit - I use it around town etc mainly as a bit hot for hiking with a pack. 👍🏻
Sounds like a pretty spicy situation! We're glad you made it through ok. Really putting that synthetic vs down theory to the test. Hopefully that's the last canal swim you have the pleasure of going on.
Great explanation enhanced by the "transparent" jackets you wore! 👍
We're glad you enjoyed the video. The transparent jackets are cool, totally impractical, but very cool as an experiment from Rab to show off just how an insulated jacket works.
Not just to convince them to make a sleeping bag like this...
Great little vid on the differences - cool demo jackets. I’ve been an Arcteryx fan for a long time but since trying some Rab kit this year I believe they are now better (and a bit cheaper £$) than Arcteryx. I’ve got the Xenair alpine and Xenair alpine light - streets ahead of the Atom range.
Great little vid on the differences - cool demo jackets. I’ve been an Arcteryx fan for a long time but since trying some Rab kit this year I believe they are now better (and a bit cheaper £$) than Arcteryx. I’ve got the Xenair alpine and Xenair alpine light - streets ahead of the Atom range.
Thanks! Glad you're enjoying your new Rab kit.
A drop outer liner like the one on the ME Kryos will be more durable and breathable than Rab's
gimmick aluminum lining, which makes you sweat like hell.
If you're referring to the FIRESTORM construction on the Kryos, it works in a slightly different way to TILT, the Kryos uses a Gore-Tex Windstopper membrane to enhance the weather resistance and increase the warmth by cutting down on heat loss through wind penetration (and some fancy baffling techniques for an optimised fit), TILT relies on reflecting radiant body heat back to the user.
ME do also have a similar technology in their Aetherm insulation, featured in the Oreus Jacket and Vest - ua-cam.com/video/lBX3H5SniPE/v-deo.html
The sweating situation is something we haven't heard in user feedback before, what conditions were you using one/both options in, and what other layers were you wearing? The primary function of insulation is to keep you warm, but if it works too well and you start to sweat excessively that can lead to a very bad time out on the hill when you have to de-layer and get moving again.