Sheepskin coat, fur coat or down jacket: scientists have found out what is warmer in severe frosts

With the advent of new synthetic materials in the production of outerwear, significant changes have occurred. If our ancestors wore fur coats or woolen coats in winter, today you can meet a large number of people on the streets who prefer a down jacket as warm clothing. And scientists decided to check whether down jackets are inferior to traditional products in their heat-insulating properties.

In order to find out what is warmer in winter, researchers from the Research Institute of Occupational Medicine compared three types of outerwear: a sheepskin coat, a mink coat and a down jacket. Three girls of the same age with the same complexion were chosen. On each of them put on outerwear, as well as warm boots.

In the first part of the experiment, the girls were placed in chambers with a temperature of minus 25 degrees. The first girl who was wearing a sheepskin coat froze. She spent 10 minutes in the cold and after that asked to let her go into the heat. The second girl in a down jacket could not stand it, her limit of stay in the cell was 20 minutes. But the girl in the fur coat felt better than the others and did not complain about the cold for half an hour.

Researchers have taken into account that a person may have different sensitivity to cold, therefore, in order to exclude a mistake, all the girls alternately tested each type of clothing. It is interesting that the results turned out to be identical: the sheepskin coat kept the heat worse than anyone, and the subject was the warmest in the fur coat.

At the second stage, the girls were sent to the helipad in order to check how the clothes withstand the effects of strong winds. Sensors were attached to the girls, which show body temperature, and for 30 minutes they were under the influence of strong wind currents coming from a working helicopter. After that, body temperature measurements were taken: the highest indicators were recorded for a girl wearing a fur coat, the girl in the down jacket was a little colder, and the sheepskin coat was significantly behind in its heat-saving properties.

Thus, experts concluded that the coat or down jacket is the best clothing for cold winter days, and the sheepskin coat does not withstand competition.

As for which fur coat is warmer, the opinions of experts are divided here. It is believed that the warmest thing is a fur product made of a muton (sheepskin of a special dressing), fox, arctic fox and sable. In second place are fur coats of mink, beaver and chinchilla. And close the list of the warmest fur coats from rabbit, ermine and goat.

Among the down jackets, you can also find different types, depending on the composition. The warmest ones are down jackets with natural fillers: down and feather. Moreover, the fluff content should not be lower than 70-80 percent, otherwise the heat-insulating qualities of the down jacket will be lower. Although a number of experts believe that products with synthetic insulation materials (syntepuh, tinsulate, hollofiber) are not inferior to down jackets in their properties. In addition, they are more practical and easier to clean.