![Is this what game-changing insulation looks like? [Photo] Nancy Hayden](https://backcountrymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/milkweed_embed_1.jpg)
Is this what game-changing insulation looks like? [Photo] Nancy Hayden
The Coast Guard works in partnership with Encore3, a manufacturing company in Québec, to prototype parkas, gloves and mittens made with milkweed insulation. And the appeal of the pod is threefold: it’s roughly five times lighter than synthetic insulation, is hypoallergenic and helps out monarch butterfly populations—milkweed is the primary food source for monarch caterpillars.
![milkweed_embed_2](https://backcountrymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/milkweed_embed_2.jpg)
John Hayden poses with his latest crop yield. [Photo] Nancy Hayden
This year, the Haydens harvested 500 pounds of milkweed, and the funds generated will go toward pollinator education. A new spin on insulation that’s lightweight and wholesome? Outdoor industry, take note.
Milkweed is also an important ally of the respiratory system in Medical Herbalism.