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What Is Primaloft Gold Insulation Material

Last Modified: 12/01/2023

Several items presented in this site are with PrimaLoft Gold insulation. So what is PrimaLoft Gold? In this text, you can read a bit more about it.

What is PrimaLoft brand

First to say a few words about the PrimaLoft brand. This is a brand of microfiber insulation developed for US army in 1980s. The initial idea was to develop a water resistant alternative to goose down which would be used in military equipment, like in sleeping bags and gloves.

The North Face Men's Plasmatic Jacket Medium with PrimaLoft Gold insulation.
The North Face Men’s Plasmatic Jacket Medium with PrimaLoft Gold insulation.

Later, this was introduced in the outdoor market for the similar outdoor equipment, for jackets in 1989, gloves and bags in 1992, and for footwear in 2000. You can see it used in these Adidas Outdoor Men’s Terrex Conrax CH CP Hiking Boots presented in my another text.

The yarn was also developed as 100% polyester, or a blend of 45% polyester and 55% merino wool, and it is used for socks, base layers, and sweaters.

In general, this is a synthetic material which keeps its insulation properties even if it gets wet (like a wool, and contrary to natural down), while it is reasonably comparable to down regarding its weight and compressibility.

But let me be clear, there is no problem with natural down regarding water, I have never seen a goose soaked to the skin! Their bodies produce materials that repel the water without any problem. The problems with down appear only when it is used by humans, this is then just a material and not a body part of a goose.

Another good feature of this material is that it is machine washable and does not require a special care.

A negative feature is that in time this material is prone to bunching. Therefore it performs less good in sleeping bags.

So far PrimaLoft has produced Gold, Silver, and Black series.


PrimaLoft Gold

PrimaLoft Gold is the best material ever produced by PrimaLoft. This insulation is considered to be among the best synthetic materials. This is due to particularly tiny fibers which trap the air and warmth very effectively. But it is fair to say that there are some close competitors on the market, like Polarguard, Thinsulate, Thermolite, and a few more.

The most important features of PrimaLoft Gold are:

  • water resistance,
  • warmth without bulk,
  • breathability,
  • packability,
  • lightweight,
  • softness.

Here is one practical demonstration showing how it behaves when completely soaked with water. Due to the air which is trapped by tiny fibers, the water does not penetrate the material, and it stays almost dry:

There are several PrimaLoft Gold series:

♦ PrimaLoft Gold down blend. This is a combination 30% of PrimaLoft Gold and 70% water repellent goose down. It is hard to imagine something better. I have added a few lines about water repellent down in my text about Sierra Design Backcountry Bed sleeping bag. This blend has been used in Adidas Terrex Climaheat Ice Jacket.

Note that similar blend exists also in Silver (60% down, 40% synthetic) and Black (50-50%) series.

♦ PrimaLoft Gold ceramic blend. Here you have ceramic particles added in order to radiate warmth back to the body.

♦ PrimaLoft Gold Eco. At least 60% of the recycled material being used.

♦ PrimaLoft Gold stretch Active. As the name suggests, here you have stretch material used with full recovery and for full freedom of movement.

You can see about it in this video:

Here is a video about PrimaLoft Gold used in Bergans of Norway PrimaLoft jacket:

PrimaLoft Gold is used also in Mountain Equipment Mazeno jacket, while in The North Face Mountain Light insulated jacket for men you have PrimaLoft Silver.

PrimaLoft Gold is used in the gloves described in this site, like in Outdoor Research Highcamp Gloves, Black Diamond Guide gloves, and in several others presented in the same post.


Conclusion

To conclude this text about PrimaLoft Gold insulation material, this is indeed among the best on the market. While the jackets with this material can indeed come at a price, the gloves mentioned above are really inexpensive in view of their quality and all features.

I wish to stress that regarding durability, compressibility, and warmth, no synthetic material is a match for the goose down. Obviously, Mother Nature has had millions of years of evolution to come to such a perfect material like down. But humans are doing great with technology, and PrimaLoft Gold shows this.

Thank you for reading, it will be great if you share this text with others.

I shall be happy to have some comment from you, there is a comment box below. Have a nice day.

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Mountains for Everybody site is reader-supported. This means that some of the links in the text are affiliate links, and when you buy products through our links we may earn some small commission to keep running the site. Filed Under: FAQs Tagged With: what is primaloft, what is primaloft gold insulation, what is primaloft insulation

Comments

  1. Miles says

    05/30/2016 at

    Thanks very much for sharing such helpful information. You are obviously an expert on the topic.

    Your content is well organized and the video matches the content perfectly. Demonstrating the highlights of the products really adds a helpful touch to the content.

    I do a lot of cycling in the winter time. Is there a particular jacket that would suit that type of activity? Is there a particular pair of gloves that would be better than others?

    Finally, cycling outside in the dark brings up a safety concern. Are there special ways to help other traffic see me more easily?

    Thanks for taking the time to consider my questions.

    All the best,

    Miles

    Reply
    • Jovo says

      05/30/2016 at

      Hi Miles, thank you for kind words. Cannot say much about equipment for cyclists, not my field. But just in general terms, there are now the most advanced Gore Tex Active materials developed for this type of activity, which provides the best possible breathability and waterproofness. You can read about it in my another text.

      I have texts about waterproof gloves but I am not sure if those are for your type of activity. Cannot answer about safety.

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