Thirdly, value for money, they really are unmatched. My duvet had over 1kg of eiderdown fill and when compared with elsewhere, IcelandicDown was at least 30% more inexpensive.

This video prompted some companies to adopt what is now known as the global traceable down standard.

Handling the boat with expert care, Alexíus guided us across the narrow stretch of water, scattering the seabirds on its surface. As we approached the island, I could hear the cries of his children playing in the water under the gaze of his mother. “It’s nice for them to be free,” Alexíus said, before we heard a high-pitched wail. “We get the occasional argument.” Tufts of eiderdown have neither quill nor any other hard components, so they are extremely soft and give off a unique cuddly feeling. Long lifespan One of the biggest threats to eiders in recent years is the warming climate. A study published in the journal Biological Conservation in 2018, found polar bears were eating eider eggs as ice melt makes it difficult for the bears to hunt for seals, their main food source. They need the ice to take them out to sea to find the seals.

One is a veterinary certificate guaranteeing the origin of the eiderdown and stating that the eiderdown is collected from healthy birds. As first I must say that the quality is excellent. Nothing you could get better elsewhere I would say. Here we have selected 19 Canadian outerwear brands for their superior craftsmanship, years of expertise, and designs that are as attractive as they are functional. Canada Goose Since the Norse settled Iceland in 900 AD, Icelanders have collected this down. Jon Sveinsson's family have been involved in eider down collection for the past century. It might be the case that these ecological changes would increase the price of Canadian down,” Dey says. Price increases would make it less competitive, and, even, less desirable.

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Eiderdown harvesting mirrors truffle hunting more than it does typical down production. It’s collecting, a quiet art of observation and focus. It’s a meditation. In the middle ages, pelicans were thought to pierce their own breast to draw blood to feed their young. The mythical act was known as vulning, a Christ-like act of self-sacrifice. On the pastor’s land, the eider, too, makes herself vulnerable for her offspring, although it is down, not blood, that she draws from her breast. From this down she builds a nest for her eggs; her own bare skin, freshly revealed, covers them with warmth. She sits on her eggs for some 28 days, during which she may lose a third of her body weight; some mothers starve to death.

We are quite worried about this for our Inuit partners. It’s a cultural activity,” Dey says. And if the eiderdown becomes increasingly difficult to source, that could mark the beginning of the end. “It can weaken the connection with people and the natural landscape they live in.”Another scenario could see efforts to stop polar bears from hunting the eggs. And with the bears already critically endangered, human interference could lead to further population declines. Eiderdown demand Technology has brought a number of synthetic down replacements in recent years. Many can perform better than down when wet or compressed. And now alternatives are proving just as warm and breathable as down. Another bonus: they’re a lot cheaper. There have been other concerns over the years, including sedating eider predators — a practice that was once widespread across Iceland — approved and employed by the government as well as farmers. With brands such as Canada Goose and Arc’teryx gaining the status of cold-weather “it coats” worldwide, Canada is making its mark on the global outerwear industry with performance that stands up to the elements without skimping on style. And their work islabor-intensive. Collecting just one kilogram of eiderdown can take a skilled worker almost half a day, and that's before the cleaning process starts.

The concept for Arctic Bay was born from the northern Canadian region of the same name, which experiences some of the world’s harshest winters. Arctic Bay parkas were inspired by the Inuit people of Canada, and the traditional garment-making techniques they passed on through generations. Premium components such as Canadian coyote and beaver fur, leather, and high fill power down insulation ensure warmth levels. WuxlyOutdoor gear is a huge business. Keeping people alive is even bigger business and, for so long as there are expeditions to cold climates, down will have a part to play. At least for the foreseeable future. I was late for the eiderdown season, but the pastor offered to lead me around the land and re-enact his summer ritual as he had done for the Japanese film crew. Dressed in an old Polish military uniform, he headed off across the flat plain towards the beach, hunting for any nests that he had missed. It was a still day, the silence broken only by the call of an oystercatcher, alarmed by our presence. According to Posnett, the recent history of the Westfjords, where the bulk of Iceland’s eiderdown is harvested, is really the story of rural depopulation, “of a vanishing culture next to the Arctic Circle,” he says.