Fabrics
Our experience has shown that improving the quality of fabrics greatly affects the overall performance of your sleeping bag. Helsport has developed a complete range of our own fabrics, specifically adapted for use in sleeping bags. By carefully selecting only the best fabrics suited to the intended use of the product, we are able to ensure the comfort, durability and dependability demanded by the most serious outdoorsmen.
Shell fabrics
Airtex® 75d polyester diamond ripstop: Durable, water resistant and comfortable shell fabric for trek sleeping bags.
Airtex® 50d polyamide: Lightweight, high-quality nylon transports humidity extremely well yet is water resistant and quick drying. The ripstop weave greatly improves durability. Used in PRO and X-TREM sleeping bags.
Airtex® 30d polyamide: Down proof and water resistant shell fabric with high breathability for down sleeping bags.
Airtex® 20d polyamide ripstop: Extremely lightweight, water resistant shell fabric used on the nona series, weight only 30g/m2. This is a no-slide® a polyester/tactel blend, which we use on the underside of selected models to stop the sleeping bag from sliding on the mattress. The material has a high water resistance and is extremely durable making it ideal for high abrasion use.
Liner fabrics
Airtex® 50d micropolyester: Water resistant and quick drying liner fabric that transports humidity out of the sleeping bag. used on TREK, PRO and X-TREM sleeping bags.
Airtex® 30d polyamide: Lightweight, down proof and water resistant shell fabric with high breathability for down sleeping bags.
Airtex® 20d polyamide: Extremely lightweight, water resistant, highly breathable liner fabric offers great comfort when used on the Nona series, weight only 40g/m2.
Thermoguard®6000 insulation
Helsport thermoguard®6000 is a specially developed insulating fiber extremely well suited for sleeping bags. As insulation makes up the majority of the sleeping bag’s mass, developing our own high performance fiber has been critical to building lightweight sleeping bags with excellent warmth retention. Thermoguard®6000 is highly insulating yet has good loft and expansion, allowing us to use less material and produce sleeping bags with greatly reduced packed volume. Thermoguard®6000 is a blend of four-hole fibers and melted fibers. Melted fibres have a lower melting point than normal fibres and the insulation undergoes a special heat treatment that binds the fiber together and produces an even, stable insulating layer. This allows us to build Helsport sleeping bags with fewer seams than most others. Seams pinch the insulation fibers together creating a bridge that allows heat to escape while letting cold air in.
Thermoguard®6000 is also hypoallergenic, water resistant and breathable making for a dryer, more comfortable rest. While we recommend washing at temperatures of 40°c, our sleeping bags can be washed up to 60°c if necessary.
Down
We use only high quality down in our sleeping bags ensuring high loft and insulation for our users. We use a blend of goose down 90/10 (90% down, 10% feathers) with fill power rating of 700 cuin/oz ensuring good return to form after compression.
We work with idfl, the international down and feather laboratory and institute, in order to maintain the high quality of our down blends, fabrics and construction of down sleeping bags.
Fabrics for down sleeping bags
The fabrics that are used in Helsport down sleeping bags are especially developed for this type of use. The fabrics are down proof but still have a high breathability, which is important in order to get a good loft on the sleeping bag and transport moisture from the body out of the bag. Some down leakage may occur with first time use, but will soon subside to insignificant amounts.
Do I choose down or fiber?
Down is a natural material and no synthetic fiber can match the insulating levels of down. Down offers premium insulation with lightweights and small volumes, which is the ideal for any sleeping bag. The major disadvantage with down is that the insulation properties of down can be greatly reduced if it becomes wet. A sleeping bag with fiber insulation however will retain more of its insulation value even if it becomes wet and is safer in the case of tearing of the shell fabric.
