What are the Lightline Down Pants?
The Lightline Down Pants are designed to meet the demands of modern mountaineers and all outdoor enthusiasts who require reliable, warm and durable insulation.
What are the Lightline Down Pants made from?
The outer is made using Mountain Equipment's own Drilite Loft fabric. Drilite Loft is a tough, windproof and highly water-resistant Nylon fabric with a microporous Polyurethane coating that provides a hydrostatic head of 1500mm to keep the insulation dry in hostile environments.
This fabric has also been treated with a Durable Water Repellent (DWR) to help water bead up and runoff.
Between these layers of fabric sits 210g (size large) of M.E's 700 fill-power (FP) Down.
What makes Mountain Equipment's down so special is their Down Codex programme. Most companies are now taking steps to make sure their down is coming from ethical sources, but Mountain Equipment is taking the whole process to another level. You can even trace the down on their website right back to the source using the unique 12-digit code printed on the label inside every Mountain Equipment down product.
What are the main features?
All that lovely, ethical down is kept in place in stitch-through baffles to keep it close to your body to maximise performance and keep weight to a minimum.
The Knees are articulated for greater comfort and freedom of movement and have been reinforced, along with other high wear areas such as the seat and kick strips.
To make the pants easier to take on and off, there are 2 full-length 2-way side zips, while the elasticated waist and adjustable (and removable) brace help to ensure they fit nicely and stay in place.
Finally, last but not least, you also have an external thigh pocket for anything you'd like to keep handy.
Where do the Lightline Down Pants fit in the layering system?
The Lightline Down Pants are designed as an over the top piece to throw on and keep you warm when you are kicking around base camp or while moving during high altitude mountaineering.
- 210g (size L) of 90/10 Pure Down with a fill power of 700
- Stitched-through baffle construction throughout
- DRILITE Loft outer; totally windproof and highly water-resistant
- Adjustable and removable braces
- Semi elasticated waist
- Articulated Knees
- Full-length 2-way YKK moulded side zips
- 1 external thigh pocket
- Stuffsack
How to wash your down products
Having spent years talking to people about down products, whether that’s a jacket, sleeping bag or even a pair of slippers, very few have had the confidence to go ahead and wash the product on their own, especially when they have just spent an arm and a leg on it. This small guide is here to explain that it’s not as daunting and utterly terrifying as it first appears.
Step one: Before you even get near that washing machine, wipe off any excess mud or dirt that may be lingering on the surface of the jacket, as this will clog up the washing machine, eventually rendering it useless.
We recommend the use of Nikwax Down Wash Direct for down products as it’s one hundred percent environmentally friendly and will wash and re-proof the garment without the use of bleach or any other nasty chemicals. What household washing agents can (and often do) is remove the water repellent coating on the fabric of the jacket, whilst also damaging the delicate array of feathers inside.
Step two: We’ll assume in this instance that you’ve been washing other products prior to your down jacket and have used a bleach based detergent. Therefore it’s a good idea to run the washing machine for half an hour or so without anything inside to rinse it clean before adding the Nikwax or putting the jacket in. Also, don’t forget to remove the detergent drawer to give it a wash inside, outside and behind, as detergent can clog up and still enter the washing machine if not cleaned out thoroughly. This ensures that any remnants of detergent are removed and that the Nikwax products will work effectively.
Step three: Set the washing machine to a cold wash (check the garments care label, most tend to be around 30°C) and as delicate as possible. Most washing machines have a “wool” cycle which is ideal.
Step four: If using Nikwax Down Wash Direct, place 100ml in either the tray or directly into the washing machine inside a small pot/ball. If you choose to use another washing product, place the appropriate amount in the machine in the same way.
Step five: Set the washing machine to run on a slow cycle, allowing plenty of time for the jacket to soak up the cleaning/re-proofing product. Most washing machines will have a pre-set time for different washing cycles.
When the cycle has finished be prepared for a shock, your precious bit of kit will come out looking like a soggy ball of material. But don’t worry, you haven’t ruined it, it’s just that all that fluffy down insulation has become water logged and has clumped together. The trick is to now get all that down nice and dry to reinstate its superb insulating properties. Simply hanging it up in a warm place will not work that well. It will take days to properly dry and you will have to constantly break up the clumps to get it thoroughly dry. The best way is to use a tumble dryer; either a domestic one for smaller items or a commercial drier for sleeping bags.
Step six: Pop the garment into the dryer and make sure to select a low heat; a high heat runs the risk of melting seams and fabrics within the garment. It sounds weird, but shove a few tennis balls into the drier with the garment; the tennis balls will bounce around and help to break up the clumps of down. Every 20 minutes, pull the jacket out of the dryer and lie the jacket down on a table. Run your hands over the jacket until you find a 'clump' or ball of down; tease apart this down clump and spread it evenly into the baffle. Once you're confident you've pulled apart every clump to the best of your ability, stick it back in for another 20 minutes. Keep repeating this until there are no more clumps left.
Step seven: When the cycle has finished and you are sure that you have got the garment as dry as possible, hang it up in a warm dry place, an airing cupboard is ideal, for 24 hours. This drives out the last of any dampness and allows the down to loft fully. Take it out and give it a good shake and, hey presto, it’ll be as good as new.