The biggest difference between goose down and duck down only comes into play when you start looking at fill power, the measure of how puffy (and thus warm) a given amount of down is. The long answer: There are slight differences between the two types of down, but none that will meaningfully affect your experience. So basically, don’t worry about which bird contributed to the puff of your outdoor gear. Both types maintain their loft and warmth for many years, if not decades, when properly cared for. So is there a meaningful difference between goose down and duck down?īoth types of down insulate equally well, and share essentially the same structure that makes down such an astonishingly good insulator. The growing cost of goose down led outdoor gear manufacturers to seek lower-cost alternatives to keep gear prices down, including synthetic-down hybrid insulations and a shift to more widely available duck down (not surprisingly, duck is more widely eaten worldwide than goose.) The result, of course, is that the price of goose down goes up in response to reduced supply and increased demand. In recent years, demand for geese has declined even while demand for goose down has continued to rise. Down is a byproduct of the meat industry, harvested from the birds when they are killed for food (primarily in China, where goose and duck are more commonly eaten). It’s a trend driven by the basics of supply and demand.įirst, some quick background.
The price of goose down has soared over the past few years, a trend clearly evident in the world of sleeping bags and puffy jackets.Īnd, while exact numbers are hard to come by, I’ve noticed that many gear manufacturers have begun to use duck down instead of goose down in some of their sleeping bags and jackets. Kelly Long/FlickrDuck or goose, it doesn’t really matter.
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