Short but interesting read: Treated / Hydrophobic down vs. regular

[AdventureMyk]

Short read, a bit anecdotal but draws some pretty easy to see comparisons between treated vs untreated down.

http://indefinitelywild.gizmodo.com/we-tested-waterproof-down-by-jumping-in-a-frozen-lake-1694953456

[kwhowell]

WOW! In the name of science. Lol.

Now we know.

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

I guess that is one way to go about a test. I had the option of going for the water resistant down when I purchased a Zpacks bag, but stuck with the regular non-treated option. I do have a sleeping hood with water resistant down and it's warm, but doesn't seem to have quite the same loft and it seems that the down clumps together more readily compared to regular down, but not a true side by side comparison. I've also found it's pretty difficult to actually completely soak a down bag / jacket, although of course once you do it does take forever to dry. Interesting, just checked the ZPacks site and they've actually discontinued the water-resistant option for their bags.