Q. Shield DOWN: The New Down Technology

Anyone whose own a down jacket knows what to expect. It's warm, lightweight and comfortable- until it gets wet. There are probably a number of stories where someone goes out on a camping trip, skiing or something else with a nice warm jacket and comes back with a heavy, wet one.

Though, that is to be expected.

The plumes that down jackets are made of, while incredibly efficient in maintaining warmth, are incapable of resisting moisture from soaking in, no matter the quality. And when it gets wet, that superior ability to maintain warmth goes out the window. It's a bit of a letdown when the material makes for such a nice, warm jacket otherwise. Of course, that was before Mountain Hardwear changed that little fact.

Mountain Hardwear knows from experience that down is a great material to have on skiing or expedition trips for warmth, but also know that that warmth only lasts for the first couple days. To fix this, they developed Q. Shield DOWN Technology. This new level of down performance has the down fibers infused with durable water repellency (DWR), which allows the material to maintain its insulating ability even when exposed to moisture.

And that doesn't mean just a little rain and moisture, Mountain Hardware has tested their products made with Q. Shield DOWN against harsh weather conditions, including heavy wind and rainfall. Needless to say, they came out just fine, successfully enduring and keeping out the elements.

What does this mean? This means that you don't need to worry about whether or not you should bring that down jacket along for the ride because it will just get wet. With this new technology, you now have a quality down jacket or coat for your trip that will stay as warm, light and dry on the last day of your trip as the first day. This is a superior down performance that takes away down's one weakness for a material that is warm, light, comfortable and now, water resistant.