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Furnace Tech Talk - Image 1

Tech Talk: Bushbuck Furnace Waterproof Puffer Jacket

Overview

The Bushbuck Furnace Waterproof Down Puffer Jacket is a high-performance, lightweight, compact puffer jacket for your outdoor adventures.

It's 100% waterproof, packs down nice and tight, and brings the heat — hence the name. In this Tech Talk blog, we'll cover the key features of the Furnace as well as some general care instructions to help you get as much life out of it as possible.

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Bushbuck Furnace Puffer Jacket | Tech Talk

The Adventure Puffer Jacket

Our mission with the Furnace Waterproof Puffer Jacket was to create a puffer jacket that delivers all of the warmth, durability and protection you need on serious outdoor missions, but in a more compact, lightweight package. We had solved the durability puzzle with our Polar X Canvas Puffer Jacket, and we'd created an innovative technology for making our Igloo Puffer Jacket 100% waterproof. But the heavy-duty canvas and amount of down insulation in those jackets made them quite bulky.

For the Furnace, we wanted to design a 100% waterproof puffer jacket that's nice and light to wear on the go that packs down to compact size for carrying on multi-day hikes. The Furnace is a bit like your rain jacket and puffer jacket in one. It's still super warm, but we've added in features to help you offload heat. And it's still durable, but we've used lighter fabrics and less down insulation to make it more practical when you're on the move. It's the best option for hikers, hunters, and active adventurers who prefer lightweight, compact convenience over the heavy-duty toughness of our other puffer jackets.

Furnace Puffer Materials and Features

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Our main focus with the Furnace was finding the right balance of warmth, weight, and durability for wearing on a hike or hunt. It didn't have to be as heavy-duty as our canvas puffers, but it still needed to perform under pressure.

The Outer Layer

As we already had the Polar X and Igloo, which have a hard-wearing canvas face fabric, we wanted to go with something more lightweight. A lot of puffer jackets on the market are made from delicate materials that rip easily. We opted for ripstop nylon, which is commonly used in the outdoor industry for jackets, tents, and packs. It's more lightweight and than polyester and offers a similar level of durability. The ripstop construction means it's more resistant to tearing and ripping, which is what you need in the outdoors. It's also fully waterproof.

The Inner Layer

We used the same inner layer as the Igloo, but we can't be spilling all our engineering secrets. In short, we created a unique inner membrane for the down baffles that's fully waterproof and breathable. The inner lining of the jacket is a soft waffled ripstop nylon, which is comfortable and durable.

The Down Insulation

The Furnace had to be warm enough for alpine conditions, but the priority here was an optimal warmth-to-weight ratio for multi-day hikes or hunts. We opted for 160 grams of 800 loft, RDS duck down. It's 100g less than the Polar X and half the amount of the Igloo, which makes it much less bulky. But ask anyone who's used the Furnace in freezing conditions, and they'll tell you it packs plenty of heat.

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The Waterproof Rating

Igloo Tech Talk - FuseArc

The Furnace Puffer Jacket is considered fully waterproof and has a 10,000mm waterproof rating. This is unique for a puffer jacket. We achieved this by developing what we call FuseArc Technology. Essentially, it's a way of fusing the down baffles together without using stitching, so water is unable to penetrate from the outside. Each of the down baffles are essentially watertight pockets of insulation.

The nylon canvas face fabric is naturally water-resistant, but we treated it with C6 DWR to boost its water-repellency.

Anywhere stitching was required — such as attaching the hood and sleeves — we've used a waterproof seam tape. We're pretty proud of this achievement.

Furnace Features

Furnace Features

  • Adjustable Hood: We designed the hood to be adjustable, allowing you to customise the Furnace to suit your needs. In cold conditions, you have the option to tighten the hood closer to your face, helping to retain more warmth.

  • Armpit Zips: We added armpit zips to the Furnace to allow you to offload heat on the go. This is one of the features that makes it more adventure-friendly.

  • Chest Pocket: The Furnace has a chest pocket and two regular pockets for storing your essentials close at hand.

  • Compact Design: The Furnace packs down nice and compact into its own chest pocket. It takes up barely any space in your pack so you don't have to think twice about bringing it on your adventures.

  • Quality Hardware: We've used YKK zippers, which have a reputation for long-lasting functionality. They should last for ages, just like the jacket.

Down Puffer Jacket Repair and Care Instructions

Our down puffer jackets are much tougher than most, but they're not indestructible. If you get a small rip or tear in your puffer jacket, follow the instructions below to repair it yourself and keep it in action for a whole lot longer.

You'll just need to get hold of a gear repair patch or some ripstop nylon repair tape. These solutions are super heavy-duty and are used to repair the likes of tents and boat sails. They should only cost about $10 and they're handy to have in your pack so you can repair your jacket immediately.

How to repair your down puffer jacket

  1. Clean the area around the rip or tea using an alcohol swab or a clean cloth.

  2. Cut your repair tape or patch to a suitable size and round the edges.

  3. Apply the repair tape or patch to the rip or tear so that it's completely sealed.

  4. Continue using your puffer jacket for many more adventures to come.

How to restore your puffer jacket's waterproof coating

All of our puffer jackets are treated with a DWR water-repellant coating, which can wear out over time. To restore the water-resistant or waterproof qualities of your puffer jacket, you can use Granger's Clothing Wash and Repel Waterproofing, or a similar product, when you wash your puffer jacket.

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Mark Holder

Mark Holder is Marketing and Events Manager at Bushbuck. His job is to plan, create and execute all of Bushbuck's marketing and organise the events and shows we attend. Mark's the host of Bushbuck's "Tech Talk" video series where we provide in-depth gear reviews. He also gets roped into a fair few Bushbuck photoshoots. Mark was born in Geraldine and now lives in Christchurch. Outside of work, he's a keen outdoorsman. He enjoys snowboarding in the winter, wakeboarding in the summer, and tries to get out hunting with mates as much as possible. His favourite wilderness spot is the Orari Gorge waterfall in Geraldine. It was his local swimming spot as a kid and an amazing place to hang out over summer. He's also a big fan of the lakes around Twizel. Something that not many people know about Mark is he used to be a professional wakeboarder.

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