Down feathers or down of birds is basically a thin layer of soft feathers under the thick layer of tough feathers of a bird.
Young birds are normally found with only these soft feathers all over their body.
Down is basically used as a thermal insulator and for padding purposes.
It is used for bedding, padding, jackets, sleeping bags etc.
Almost all birds are covered with down at some point of their life cycle.
When young, these birds are totally covered with it and when they grow up, down feathers are found as a layer below rough feathers.
Birds use these down feathers as a thermal insulator to help them survive in cold weather conditions.
Because of excellent thermal characteristics, human beings started using these down feathers for their use.
Down efficiently captures the air and due to this helps in controlling the air and provide warmness.
It is a popular filling source for jackets, bedding, pillows, padding and sleeping bags.
Things made with the help of this filling are light in weight, compact and portable.
All this comes at a price.
As the source of this filling is natural and can not be produced in any quantity, it is expensive.
As compared to other types of synthetic filling, down filling is costly.
People, who often travel, go for hiking or trekking prefer down sleeping bags.
The reason is simple.
Down sleeping bags are compact, easily compressed and expanded, light in weight, easy to carry, warm and soft for use.
There are many mummy sleeping bags prepared using down.
With zippers around these bags, they trap the air in small pockets and ensure that the person lying in it gets a warm and sound sleep.
When compressed these bags can turn in to very small objects and hence it is easy to carry them as a part of back pack.
In order to get more comfort, one can add down pad in the base.
These pads are easily available in market.
Now, the question is, how do people harvest down feathers? There are various ways to harvest down.
People do farming of the birds providing down.
These birds can be used for meat and eggs as well.
There is another option available as well.
Instead of killing the birds for down, one can do plucking of breast down of geese and they can be harvested for long.
Down grows again hence there is no need to kill the birds.
On the other hand, people utilize eider ducks also for down.
These ducks line their nest with down, and this down can be easily collected once the young ducks leave the nest.
The last way of collecting down comes out to be the best option as the birds do not die in this procedure nor they need to undergo the pain of feathers getting plucked from their skin.
Down sleeping bags are considered to be the best option for people who love traveling.
These bags can be used for over thirty years if maintained properly.
So, when are you planning to replace your synthetic sleeping bag?