Eli5 how do puffer coats work?

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How do puffer coats (the ones who make you look like a marshmallow) keep you warm? Whether they be down filled or polyester filled..
Are polyester filled coats as effective as the down ones?
I understand layering is best practice in cold weather, but there’s gotta be a reason why puffer coats are still sold. They must be superior insulators or something.

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Air pockets make good insulation, the material in the coat forms thousands of little air pockets around already good insulating materials.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The cheapest insulating material known to humans is actually just air. We measure insulation through what is known as an “r value” . In the equation for r value t
One of the biggest factors we can change is the volume of space in the insulation. That’s what down and synthetic insulation does. In and of itself neither has any special thermal insulation properties, but what they both have is a large ratio of air held on each volume of space.

Anonymous 0 Comments

So-called “puffy” coats, especially ones made with real down, are excellent at keeping you warm in very cold temperatures for long periods of time — especially when you won’t be moving around much. If you’re just going from the car to the house, or the parking lot to a store, a couple of layers will keep you warm enough. But for longer exposures – say winter camping, an outdoor construction job, or walking a long distance – you need something serious to maintain your body temperature.

Down is a better insulator than synthetic puffs, unless it gets wet. Then it’s useless. Down is much more expensive, though, and many people can’t afford it. There are specialty synthetic or synthetic/wool blend fabrics that are used for making base layers for cold weather (long underwear) that are very effective given how thin they are. But the best ones are also out of many people’s budget.

Sorry for the rambling – hope I made sense!