Timmermade

The made-to-order lead time is approximately 6 weeks

The lead time is an approximate estimation and not a hard deadline. The time it takes us to work through our list of orders can vary and since we are so small, there isn't much we can do about it. Please leave a buffer when planning trips. The first orders in each month might ship out in a couple weeks, while the last orders in might take the full 6 weeks.

 

Ordering

Since we are small and can only serve a portion of our demand, we use a lottery system to limit our workload in a way that is fair to everyone. Anyone who would like to place an order can enter the lottery below by correctly answering the question(s). One entry per person. On the first of each month, the lottery will close and we will begin to make random selections among the people who answered correctly, until we reach our workload limit. The daily winners will be issued coupon codes and can place orders. However, being issued a code does not guarantee a spot. It is still first come, first served, among winners. Soon after we fill up, we will reset the lottery for the following month so people have plenty of time to enter. We will post the correct answer with an explanation once the raffle has ended. You'll need to check in as the lottery will not confirm whether you answered correctly or not.

Since, we all tend to work on different items here, often we will fill up workload for one person, but not others. In this case, we will issue codes only for those specific items. Also, later in the month, sometimes we will have worked through projects and end up with extra room. In that case, we'll send out more codes later in the month. The majority of the codes go out in the first week of the month, but keep watch for codes all through the month.

Codes do not transfer from month to month or cycle to cycle. This is like a raffle. If you are not there to claim your prize, it goes to someone else. The system is designed to allow you a reasonable amount of time to get your order in before someone else swoops in, but it does not mean we have set aside work capacity for you into perpetuity. It also does not mean you have a winning ticket for any future lottery. That wouldn't be fair for the people playing in that month's lottery.

This lottery is in place in order to make ordering fair for everyone in a limited supply scenario, so please do not email and ask if there is a separate wait list or any other way to circumvent this system. We are taking in the work we can do each month, so obviously putting ten thousand people on a wait list that we can never tend to doesn't make much sense.

Why require the question(s) to enter the lottery? Good performance requires an educated user and our designs are centered around that. One needs to know what strengths and weaknesses each item of gear possesses so that they know when and how to use it. Or, when and how not to use it. We can't ensure a full education with just a few questions, but the hope is that it favors those who are open to thinking critically about their purchases and weed out low effort consumerism, including AI. The questions are likely to be pretty basic and the info clearly available on the website. The lottery will not inform you of a wrong answer.

 

November lottery

Coming soon!

Email your answer to timmermade@gmail.com with the subject " November Lottery ". Quizzes will be formatted in such a way that we can spot and omit AI usage.

 

October Answers

" The SUL and SDUL sweaters are widely considered much warmer than expected for that weight. Briefly outline the reasons why this is. What specific design aspects lead to this? List as many as you can, in order of impact. What are the drawbacks to some of these aspects? "

Before we go over the answers, there are a couple obviously problematic terms that came up.

There are no "baffles" in a sewn through down item. "Baffle" has a very clear and objective definition as a wall, screen, or partition. In down construction, it is also very clearly defined as the vertical fabric sewn between shells, which form the sides of the box. Sewn through construction does not have this. It is simply two shells sewn together to form chambers.

There is no such thing as "overstuff" in sewn through construction. Overstuff is down volume added above the chamber volume. A sewn through chamber has no starting volume, so the term does not apply.

 

The main reason that the sweaters are able to punch above warmth to weight par is down density. This is the fundamental principal that these garments are designed around. Many of you flirted around this aspect, but didn't quite land on it. You cited loft and chamber width, as reasons for the added insulation performance, and those are correct, but I was hoping to get down to the real reason behind those things. Yes, loft is what creates insulation, but you can also increase loft by increasing fill. We specifically want more warmth from the same fill, which is done through releasing density to create more loft from the same amount of fill. Yes, it is wider chamber spacing that creates the room to release density and expand to higher loft, but the chamber width is a means to an end, which is lower density and higher loft from the same amount of fill. The maximum amount of insulation you can get from an amount of fill is at its lowest density and maximum loft. The main drawback to pushing towards lower density is a reduction in fill control. Ideally, you're looking for the right balance of insulation to control for the specific activity.

The second aspect that results in insulation gains is related to the above topic. While the main point of wider chambers is to reduce density and increase loft, the secondary benefit is the reduction of cold spots created by the sew lines.

The third reason is attentiveness to proper fit. Failing to dial in the proper fit can be extremely detrimental to the performance of down products. In some cases, careful consideration of fit can actually increase your insulation performance, instead of just avoiding reductions.

Those three are really the main reasons for the insulation performance of these sweaters. The lack of pockets and zippers are helpful, but not really the main reasons. You could argue that with many down garments, pockets dramatically reduce performance, and not having them could be a "main reason", but it isn't really a design fundamental. The lack of pockets is a recommendation meant to preserve the performance of the design. The added cinch cords aren't really an added benefit that punches performance above. I would say that all down garments have, or should have, cinches to seal off draft intrusion. Having cords on these sweaters is not a unique feature that other options don't have. A front zipper is not really a huge detriment. All the sweaters will have a seam there, which is a small cold spot. Putting a zipper there does increase it a little, and will have a very minimal air transfer, but the lack of a front zipper is a minor component of the overall insulation performance of the sweaters. Pockets are typically significantly more harmful to performance than a front zipper. However, the lack of pockets and zippers is not the fundamental reason for the performance of these sweaters. They certainly are important aspect that affect performance, but not the biggest reasons. Down density, cold spot reduction, and fit are the big three, in order of influence.

Shell weight and high FP down work to reduce the overall weight, which is obviously important to warmth to weight performance, but they are also not the fundamental design aspects that punch the insulation performance up high. All of these aspects matter, but the question was about which aspects matter most.

Lottery Odds

For those who have been trying and trying at the quiz/lottery, here is an idea of some of the odds. It seems like on the easy quiz months, we're sending codes to about 10% of correct entrants. On one difficult quiz month, we sent codes to 100% of correct entrants. As education catches up, the harder months are now looking more like 50% success. There is limited return on the number of codes sent out though, so prioritizing the WordPress winner email is key. Overall, good odds, and if you can nail the difficult ones, the odds get really good.

 

Shipping

International customers - International shipping is less reliable than our domestic postal service. While issues are infrequent, Timmermade does not have the capacity to be responsible for delays or lost items due to customs or foreign postal services. Order at your own risk. FWIW, the issues we've encountered have been mostly Australia and Asian countries.

For domestic orders where there is a risk of theft or loss from the delivery location, we can select signature requirement. However, this is not a default setting. It is up to the consumer to request this option.

 

If you have any questions that are not answered on the site, please email timmermade@gmail.com