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What is the Senja Jacket?
The Senja is an ultra-warm, weather-resistant yet lightweight and packable down jacket for trekking and mountaineering excursions. The high quality 700 fill power down and tough Drilite Loft outer keep you warm and protected in hostile environments.
What is it made of?
Insulation: The stuff that’s keeping you warm inside this lovely jacket is M.E’s high quality down rated at 700-fill power. What’s fill power? It’s an internationally recognised measurement of how well down will “loft”. Loft describes how “fluffy” the insulation is, the “fluffier” down is the more space it can occupy and the more warm air it can trap in all those fine filaments. Down simply doesn’t work when compressed. The number used in Fill Power describes the amount of space one ounce of down will occupy in cubic inches when allowed to reach its maximum loft. So, in the case of the Mountain Equipment Senja Jacket, one ounce of down will loft up to fill 700 cubic inches.
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 are taking the whole process to another level. The waterfowl (geese and ducks) are all by-products of the food and meat industry; every supplier wishing to work with Mountain Equipment must accept the terms of their Down Codex and allow a full audit of all parts of the supply chain — that means everything from farm to factory. On top of all of that, you can even trace your down on their website right back to the source using a unique 12-digit code printed on the label inside every Mountain Equipment down product. In fact, Mountain Equipment are so proud of how ethical their down is, they’ve sewn a label to the inside telling you all about it, and there’s even a leaflet in the pocket with the full story.
All that lovely, ethical down is kept in place in stitch-through baffles to keep it close to your body to maximise performance. In fact, each and every baffle has been optimised for down distribution and fill weight to maximise performance.
Fabrics: The outer of the Senja Down Jacket is constructed with Mountain Equipment’s own Drilite Loft fabric. Drilite Loft is an extremely tough, breathable and water-resistant Nylon fabric with a microporous Polyurethane coating that provides a hydrostatic head of 1500mm to keep the insulation dry in hostile environments. It has also been treated with a Durable Water Repellent (DWR) to help water bead up and run off, but even though the fabric is incredibly weather-resistant and windproof, it is not 100% waterproof, so always carry a shell jacket, because it will rain!
What are the Senja's features?
Starting at the top, the Senja features a fully adjustable, insulated hood with an insulated collar to keep your neck warm with the hood down. A two-way main zip means it's easy to slip the jacket over a climbing harness or simply answer the call of nature. Two zipped handwarmer pockets and one inner security pocket store all the usual bits and bobs. Finally, a dual-tether hem drawcord seals in warmth around your waist and can't get caught on an axe like a traditional looped drawcord.
How does it fit?
The Senja fits into Mountain Equipment's 'Alpine' fit block, meaning there's enough room underneath for additional layers, yet it sits closely to maximise warmth and performance.
Where does it fit in the layering system?
The Senja is designed primarily as an outer layer. The Drilite loft outer fabric will cope with light showers and is totally windproof, but if it does begin to rain heavily it's not so bulky that you won't be able to fit a shell over the top.
- Drilite Loft 40D outer fabric
- Windproof and water-resistant (not waterproof)
- 700 fill power down insulation
- Stitched-through construction
- Adjustable mountain hood
- Insulated collar
- Two-way main zip
- Two zipped hand pockets
- Zipped internal security pocket
- Adjustable cuffs
- Dual-tether hem drawcord
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.