...THE FROSTLINE SUCCESSORS
...THE FROSTLINE SUCCESSORS
Here are six Links to the few but admirable companies now carrying on the Frostline tradition--- The Rainshed <http://www.therainshed.com/>, in Corvallis, Oregon, near Oregon State University (OSU)... this is one of the most complete stocks of fabrics, patterns and notions that one could ever desire, I myself have purchased from them in the past...they've been around for many years (I have their wonderful, thick 1993 color catalog)......Also in Oregon, and also a place I've visited and purchased from in the past, is Green Pepper <http://thegreenpepper.com/>, which has been around since Frostline times in 1973---their main products are all patterns for outdoor gear (also see mention of them under Canvas Works).......In nearby Idaho state is Idaho Outdoor Fabrics <http://www.owfinc.com/>, which is a truly righteous successor to the Frostline heritiage, with a huge selection and even bulk rates for big buyers. Note: while they do carry patterns, they don't make true Frostline-type kits...... Washingtonians in Seattle are blessed with Seattle Fabrics (SeattleFabrics.com) which stocks many of the very newest, most innovative materials, such as Polartech Power Shield and Spandura. In the South Puget Sound area is a great place in Olympia, WA called "Canvas Works," <http://www.canvasworks.net/> which carries a large selection of outdoor fabrics, including the required zippers and other notions to put together almost any pack, parka, or misc. piece of gear. They also carry a big selection of outdoor clothing patterns from "Green Pepper" .......Also try FabricLine/Rose City Textiles, a Portland,Oregon company with a diverse selection of fabrics, patterns and notions-- on the web at fabricline.com <http://www.fabricline.com/>. Note: although Fabricline carries many fabrics that could be used to construct backpacking/climbing gear, I could find no patterns that might apply to such sewing. However, Annette at Rose City Textiles is really fun to talk with and very encouraging toward any and all would-be outdoor gear creators...... The successors to the Frostline tradition may be few and far between, but they seem to love their mission.....
How to Buy Goose Down--- And here's information sent to me recently by contributor Bill K........"Yes, there are several online sources of good down. Thru-hiker.com, which I mentioned previously, sells 800+ fill-power goose down in 3-ounce bags for $25.95/bag plus shipping. This is excellent down (I made the Whitney Jacket from the thru-hiker kit). Customer service is as good as it gets. Also a good source for synthetic insulation (Primaloft and Climashield) and ultralight fabrics.
Feathered Friends in Seattle will sell down, although they don't advertise it on their web site. As of several years ago, the 800-fill stuff was $8 an ounce in 6-ounce bags. They also sell what they call "floor down," which is what they vacuum up after a day of making sleeping bags. It's half the price, but not worth the extra effort required, as it has to be washed and picked-through, since it contains dust, pieces of thread, and possibly other foreign material (I found a small piece of wood in the batch that I got.) I made a sleeping bag with it, which you can see at:
http://chrome.primelogic.com/gallery/incompletewalker
There's also Feather Industries in Canada, which sells down in various grades. They're a wholesaler, so prices are good, but they have a 2-pound minimum, with a 20% surcharge for anything less than 25 pounds. I've never purchased from them, but I've heard good reports. Also, hungariangoosedown.com, of which I know nothing.
http://www.featherind.com/
http://www.hungariangoosedown.com/bulkb.htm
Please Note: All Material on this page, and in all my "History of Gear" webpages, is copyrighted, and no usage of my material is permitted unless explicit permission is granted by me, Bruce B. Johnson, owner of OregonPhotos.com. ... Editors: Please contact me if you have interest in publishing....Others: if you were involved with one of the old-line, vintage gear companies and have a story to tell in these pages, please contact me soon.....Sponsors: if your outdoor company is interested in sponsoring this site, please contact me for details.
GOOSE DOWN was a key component of the success of both Frostline and Holubar Kits.... both companies created innovative methods to package the down for consumer sewing kits. Goose Down occupied center stage for decades during the History of Gear. It was the clearly superior insulation of choice.
Down terminology--- "fillpower" is one of the main parameters that determines down quality. Down with increasingly higher (better) fillpower costs more and more. Cheap down in department store jackets often has only 450-500 fillpower, and it's duck down with lots of larger feathers and feather shafts, etc. "Normal" down is goose down with a fillpower of 550, as measured in the supposedly standard testing cylinder-- under controlled conditions, how much volume will one pound of down expand to fill up? Typical levels of better quality down are 600, 650, 700, and then the ultra-premium 800. Some folks doubt the truth of claims as high as 800, but in my book, having owned a bag with 800 fillpower down, as you get into the highest grades, it's all mighty fine stuff, soft and luxurious and heavenly light and compressible. You really can tell a big difference, even over 550 down. The exact source of the down (the birds) formerly was held in great esteem, with eider down and Polish down being regarded as the ultimate, but nowadays many say it doesn't really matter where it comes from, as long as it passes the tests, one down is as good as any other--- and nowadays most of the World's down comes from geese raised for meat in (you guessed it) China....
The cleaning of older down garments and sleeping bags--- this is an important subject which I will write about at length at a later date. The brief warning is NOT to dry clean or machine wash older down items, IN PARTICULAR sleeping bags with their delicate interior structures of baffling. Hand washing with a good down soap is the method of choice.
copyright Bruce B. Johnson 2006. Reader
input is welcome.
I hope this sheds some light on the fascinating subject of that
warm puffy stuff we love to cocoon ourselves in.
Shown is a Holubar Kits "Rustler" down jacket kit, which was a sewn-through construction. Those of us who were more daring and skilled sometimes would take such a kit and meticulously add baffling material between the inner and outer fabrics, thus creating a much warmer and infinitely more "braggable" personal creation.
...
Shown is the JanSport "Brass Bed" series, which featured down tops paired with Polarguard bottoms. This unusual design was meant to maximize the powers of down, while minimizing down's two main weaknesses-- compressibility under body weight, and poor performance when wet or damp.
Please Note: All Material above, and in all my "History
of Gear" webpages, is copyrighted, and no usage of my material
is permitted unless explicit permission is granted by me, Bruce
B. Johnson, owner of OregonPhotos.com. ... Editors: Please contact me if you have interest
in publishing....Others: if you were involved
with one of the old-line, vintage gear companies and have a story
to tell in these pages, please contact me soon.
