brunton`s play to tap into the sun`s energy is warming up a market

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P O W E R
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POWER UP
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BRUNTON’S PLAY TO TAP INTO THE SUN’S ENERGY
IS WARMING UP A MARKET FEW THOUGHT EXISTED.
w
BY TOM PRICE
HEN IT COMES TO PORTABLE POWER, BRUNTON IS SPREADING OUT SOLAR VOLTAIC
CELLS FASTER THAN SNOW FLAKES IN A BLIZZARD. AND THAT AGGRESSIVE APPROACH
TO DEVELOPING PORTABLE RENEWABLE ENERGY IS MAKING BRUNTON THE FIRST, AND SO FAR
ONLY, RECOGNIZABLE COMPANY TO TAP INTO THE POTENTIAL MARKET FOR POWERING ELECTRONIC GEAR IN THE OUTDOORS.
While there are many who still wonder if the greater public is
ready for or even cares about portable power in the outdoors,
John Smithbaker, president and CEO of Brunton, cites the bottom line as proof they are.
“It is probably in the top of our fastest-growing categories,”
Smithbaker said. “It bridges all markets—family camping, outdoor, marine, you name it. It’s expanding pretty fast.”
While the idea of creating tools to run portable electronics may
seem to make sense now, Smithbaker said, “when I first brought
up the idea internally, people giggled.” But he stuck with it, correctly reasoning that with laptops, lights, cell phones and other
electronic gear becoming more and more prevalent in the field,
the ability to replace single-use batteries with rechargeable solar
power had huge potential.
His hunch has paid off: In just 18 months, the company has
created a whole new market sector—portable power—and a slew
of products. “We are up on the curve now of combining tradeoff
between cost, size and functionality. The larger the panel, the
more power, but it also increases size and weight. I think we
have that equation maximized, but not out of people’s price
range,” Smithbaker said.
Because it’s a new sector, continual consumer and retail education is required. For example, with only two exceptions, the
power generators recharge batteries, rather than running products outright. The exceptions are the massive Solaris (retail
$399), a tri-fold 25-watt panel, which works in concert with the
SOLO ($639) to both store power and convert it to 110 volts.
The other product that’s “plug and play” is the new-atSummer-Market SolarRoll ($399), a flexible, 14-watt solar
panel. “Right now we’re using rigid solar panels, but with the
SolarRoll, you can put it on the side of your tent, and then roll it
96 »THE BOOK »SUMMER 2003
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up like a paper towel,” Smithbaker told
GearTrends. It’s also durable and waterproof. The SolarRoll was specifically
designed to run a SAT phone, which
should make it popular with all kinds of
globe-trotting travelers. Meanwhile,
Brunton is upgrading the popular
SolarPort to 4.4 watts, which will also
include a USB port.
While other companies are making
rigid solar panels, “no one else is doing
portable. We’re not beating our heads
against the wall with a dozen competitors,” but that’s not to say Brunton’s not
having problems. “In the year and half
since we’ve started, we now have over
600 dealers and several large chains.
Everything comes with headaches, and
this comes with all the good headaches,”
like keeping enough products in the supply chain to keep customers and retailers
happy. Who knows, with problems like
that, it may not be too long before other
companies see the light, and jump in
with their own portable power plants.
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F A B R I C S
FABRIC AND FIBER TRENDS ARE SEEKING TO APPEAL TO A
MORE DEMANDING AND INCREASINGLY ACTIVE CONSUMER.
an
OUT
THE CLOSET
EPISODE OF
“Monster House”
got me thinking. With no closet
space remaining to store that
millionth shell jacket, I imagined the show’s mad-scientist
builders throwing up a threestory closet—with an elevator.
Yeah, that’d do the trick.
Wisely, we’ve decided it’s
easier to just narrow the
wardrobe to a few pieces that
take us everywhere. But, we’re
not the only ones rethinking
our duds. This one-for-all
approach was one of the
trends that popped up when I
checked in with the fabric
gurus at Event, Gore-Tex,
Schoeller, Wellman, Noble
Fiber (X-Static), DuPont,
Polartec, 3M (Thinsulate),
Outlast and Primaloft. We
asked them what today’s consumers are demanding, and
what they would suggest to
meet those demands.
MAKE IT VERSATILE
It is becoming increasingly
clear that active outdoorfocused consumers are losing
patience with having to purchase one garment for this
and another garment for
BY MICHAEL HODGSON
that. Closets are, after all, limited in size. The jacket they are
wearing on a hike needs to be the jacket they wear to watch the
kids play soccer, to work in the yard, stroll for morning coffeeor shop at the mall.
This clothing, which serves many purposes, must be technical
yet stylish. Oh, and lest we forget that consumers are a demanding lot, they also want their garments to be softer, quieter, lighter
and sport a more flattering silhouette. As a direct result, synthetic insulations have become more quiet, softer and silkier to the
touch, resulting in better drape and improved performance.
Thinsulate and Primaloft insulations are being embraced in garments, footwear, gloves, hats and, of course, sleeping bags.
MAKE IT DURABLE
Light and fast movement is driving developments of fabrics
emphasizing durability-per-ounce. In other words, lightweight is
great, but only if it will last or hold up to the daily abrasion of
pack straps, snags from branches and underbrush, and tears and
scuffs from simply being worn by outdoor athletes. DuPont’s
new Lycra T-400, in tandem with polyester-based fabrics, offers
better fit, increased tear- and abrasion-resistance, less shrinkage
and, for the fashion conscious, it’s also wrinkle-resistant. So
many companies are offering proprietary fabrics in their light
and fast garments as well as hardgoods it is tough to keep up. As
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MAKE IT A SOFT SHELL
Soft shell, softshell, or softshell (the hyphenated term
now a Schoeller trademark
that no one really appears to
notice) is a category that continues to morph and search for
an identity that consumers will
support. Price points are coming down, thankfully, for those
garments that offer comfort,
varying degrees of insulation,
wind-resistance and waterresistance. As a result, consumers are responding.
But more changes are on the
horizon. Those suppliers that
offer seam-taped and waterproof technologies, including
W.L. Gore, Event and now
DuPont with Aquator Weather
Protection Systems, are working very hard to address the
softshell category with stretchable, comfortable and fully
waterproof yet highly breathable garments. If a supplier can
come up with a garment technology that fits within the softshell paradigm—admittedly a
moving target—and will mean
consumers will only need one
garment for all weather and climate conditions, that’s not
such a bad thing is it?
MAKE IT FASHIONABLE
More attention is being paid
to fashion, and it is about
time. The fashion industry is
embracing technologies previously thought to be the exclusive domain of the outdoor
marketplace, and gaining consumer rewards as a result.
They’re doing this because
our technologies improve performance for lifestyle garments. Hmmm, think a touch
of fashion can draw attention
and consumer excitement for
a traditionally functionWWW.GEARTRENDS.COM
PHOTO COURTESY OF PRIMALOFT
C L E A N I N G
a result, communication of
the feature benefits, in a simple, understandable and easily
digested format, is more critical than ever.
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focused industry?
For the 2004/2005 seasons, metal and
matte sheen are back. Pattern mixes are
in, with textured and smooth surfaces
combined in one fabric. Most everyone
believes that warm earth tones, combined with lighter base colors and multicolor arrangements, will be the trend.
Also, look for synthetic fabrics that
mimic the look and feel of wool, underscoring the increasing popularity of wool
at the retail level in the last year.
MAKE IT MOTHER NATURE-PROOF
Fabrics that ward off the effects of living
with Mother Nature will continue to gain
traction. The properties found in antiodor (for the fabric, not the user) and
anti-bacterial fabrics will be finding their
way into insulations. Silver-impregnated
fibers, such as those by X-Static, reportedly offer increased insulation at less
weight, anti-static properties to reduce
fiber migration, odor-fighting properties,
and the ability to fight bacteria, which
breaks down insulations. Fabrics that
fight off stains and are easier to clean,
including a very interesting development
from Schoeller utilizing a treatment
called NanoSphere, are also being developed and you’ll see those on the market
this year. Outlast finally appears to be
learning to communicate the message of
temperature management and more
manufacturers are beginning to embrace
the technology as a result. If you haven’t
yet heard of Wellman’s Holofiber
because you’ve been hanging out in the
basement too much, you will. Lab and
medical studies have shown that the
fiber actually helps to increase oxygenated blood flow which, as one would surmise, is said to help increase athletic performance. Wickers and SuperFeet are
big believers already.
MAKE IT SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE
Over the last year, retailers and consumers have bombarded GearTrends
with emails and calls declaring they’re
fed up with fabric technologies that are
difficult to understand and fail to deliver
on claims and promises. Perception is
king, and lab tests “proving” one fabric is
better be damned.
The reality is a shopping world filled
with choices of good, better and best.
The “best” had better deliver clearly on
the multitude of claims, from climate
control to waterproofness, fit, design
and comfort. If it doesn’t perform, consumers will simply opt for “good
enough” and choose the garment with
the lowest price.
»THE BOOK »SUMMER 2003
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WHAT’S UP IS DOWN
THE FILL POWER CLAIMS FOR DOWN ARE SOARING. DO CERTAIN LAB TESTS FLUFF THE NUMBERS?
What’s curious is that just six years
ago, 850 fill power was considered the
Holy Grail and virtually unattainable
except in very limited quantities. That
was the consensus of several experts,
including Randy Verniers, director of
hardgoods and R&D for Marmot; Wilford
Lieber, president of the International
Down and Feather Laboratory and
Institute (IDFL); and Gary Schaezlein,
president of Western Mountaineering.
So how on earth can there be such an
apparent abundance of down with exceptionally higher fill powers? Did global
warming or a change in diet cause geese
to sprout volumes of higher grade down
in the last five years?
Actually, it’s a numbers game. We’ve
read and heard claims that manufacturers have, through extensive personal
research and investigation, unearthed
exclusive supplies that come only from
private farms—thus the reason that fill
power claims are dramatically higher.
Other assertions are equally creative,
leaving us to wonder—as one of our writers, Clyde Soles, intimated in an article in
this magazine—if the marketing departments of some manufacturers aren’t actually out there hand-plucking down.
What’s really happened, according to
Lieber, is that fill power numbers have been
gradually creeping up over the last five
years. He says several of the world’s major
down suppliers have managed to refine the
way they collect, separate, wash and treat
the large clusters of down.
While fill powers of 800 and more are
now quite commonplace, Lieber is quick
to point out that, with very few exceptions, any claim of 900 fill power is simply not legitimate.
“We believe that several of our clients,
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»THE BOOK »SUMMER 2003
including Marmot, have a lock on the 900
power fill supply in the sleeping bag and
down jacket market,” Lieber told
GearTrends. “We are very skeptical that any
other 900 fill power claims are accurate.”
The general assumption is that fill
power correlates with better quality of
down, and on the surface that is essentially true. The higher power fill the down
is, the bigger the down clusters and the
better the warmth to weight ratio. Less
down will fill more space and when combined with super light and downproof
fabrics such as Pertex, the overall weight
for a sleeping bag dips even as the temperature rating remains the same.
What’s in a number? You may be wondering how companies arrive at a fill
power number. In the United States, labs
use the cylinder method to determine a
number that indicates the volume that
one ounce of down will fill. So, an 800 fill
power means that one ounce of down fills
800 cubic inches of volume.
But here’s the rub—depending on the
test used, the fill power for a sample of
down from the same lot can vary widely.
There are three tests that can occur: Box
Conditioning, where the down is placed in
a climate-controlled box for three to five
days to loft before testing; Tumble Dry
where the down is tumble dried before box
conditioning—this test is International
Down and Feather Bureau (IDFB)
approved as a worldwide standard; and
Water Rinse, where the down is first water
rinsed in a home washer, then tumble
dried, and then box conditioned. (Water
rinsing is not an approved standard.)
One supplier shared certified results of
recent tests from IDFL. Tests from the same
sample were evaluated using both the box
conditioning method and the tumble dry
method. Standard conditioning garnered a
fill power of 850. Adding the tumble dry test
raised that sample to a fill power of 890.
If the manufacturer that shared its tests
with us had opted for the water rinse test,
it could have raised the fill power of his
samples to 905, according to Lieber. But
that manufacturer will have none of it, and
claims only 850-plus in its literature.
The problem is not with the tests. The
logic behind the tests is scientifically sound.
Consider that the circulation of air, coupled
with warmth and humidity, will open up a
down cluster, meaning that fill power will
actually increase for a jacket when it is
worn or a sleeping bag when slept in.
By tumble drying samples, the testing
labs attempt to restore the down samples
to the original loft that was claimed prior
to them being compressed in bales,
shipped and then blown into chambers or
baffles. The IDFL also offers the washing
test, because Lieber believes that by first
water conditioning, he can more accurately reflect the original testing numbers
a supplier uses.
However, there are no controls on
which number a manufacturer can actually claim, so even Lieber acknowledges
that very often, power fill claims in catalogs and on hangtags aren’t necessarily
comparing apples to apples.
Things to remember: Retailers should
first insist on knowing what tests manufacturers are using to arrive at their
power fill numbers. Second, retailers
shouldn’t get caught up in the power rush
to boast higher power fill numbers.
“Any power fill rating above 750 is very,
very good, and the difference between 750
and 900 power fill is so imperceptible that it
is very unlikely the consumer will ever know
the difference,” Lieber told GearTrends.
Finally, it is very important that you
pass on to your consumers that regular
care and cleaning of their down products
will help to maintain the power fill values.
The IDFL recommends the following:
» 1. Regular shaking and lofting of down
sleeping bags and jackets (don’t ever store
them stuffed).
» 2. Simply tumble drying a jacket or sleeping bag will add warmth and air circulation
to the down and help the clusters to loft.
» 3. Washing the down in plain water or a
very mild down soap will add moisture and
then tumble drying will add warmth and air
circulation restoring the original loft.
WWW.GEARTRENDS.COM
PHOTO COURTESY OF PRIMALOFT
Fill power, shill power. Browse the catalogs
of sleeping bag manufacturers, and you’ll
see fill power claims from 650 all the way
up to 900. Just about every company
claims at least 800-plus fill power, with
many claiming 850-plus. The North Face
joins Marmot this year in claiming 900.
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SHOULD YOU INHALE?
EPA report sparks concern over products
made with PFOA, including PTFE laminates
for waterproof/breathable outerwear.
On April 14, 2003, the Environmental
Protection Agency released a preliminary
risk assessment report expressing concern over the widely used chemical perfluorooctanoic acid, more commonly
known by its acronym PFOA, and sometimes by C-8. The report has helped fuel
suspicion that products containing PFOA
may produce vapors that cause illness.
PFOA is used in the manufacturing process of Teflon products known as fluoropolymers. They are everywhere in our
lives—electrical wires, carpets, plumbing,
food wrappers, ski wax and, yes, outdoor
waterproof/breathable garments using
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) laminates
—commonly known as Gore-Tex. While
fluoropolymers cannot be manufactured
without the use of PFOA according to
EPA documentation, finished products
are not expected to contain PFOA.
Why all the hoopla? An organization
called the Environmental Working
Group has pointed out cases where people have fallen ill when they used PTFE
tape before smoking. Others got sick
inhaling vapors from perfluorinated
hydrocarbon ski waxes.
Front-page stories in major papers
across the country, including USA
Today, carried headlines highlighting the
Teflon risk, and mentioned Gore-Tex,
DuPont and Teflon in the first paragraph. Our sister publication, SNEWS
(www.snewsnet.com) received emails by
the dozen asking us to investigate, with
more than just a few Gore-Tex competitors gleefully touting the news and pressing us to run major feature stories.
But this isn’t just about Gore-Tex, gang.
Any ski wax or PTFE laminate, and that
includes Event, is subject to the scientific
review. Even the EPA is very clear that, to
date, there is no empirical data that would
prove that products manufactured with
PFOA are hazardous. The EPA has said it
“does not believe there is any reason for
consumers to stop using any consumer or
industrial related products.”
Of course, GearTrends suspects that if
you got the urge to roll and smoke your
PTFE jacket, or stick your head over a vat
of melted ski wax and breathe deeply,
some adverse health affects might be realized. However, until the EPA completes
its process—which involves public hearings and scientific testing—we heartily
suggest that everyone take the foot off the
panic accelerator for a while.
»THE BOOK »SUMMER 2003
Exped, Seattle, introduces Skylight, a solar-powered, rechargeable LED. Made in Switzerland from high quality components,
the case is an impact-resistant material that makes Skylight
weather-proof. The eco-friendly lithium battery charges in any
light and burns brightly up to 3 hours. The beam is visible at 1/2
mile and boasts an average 8 candlepower rating. With its onoff, multi-function switch, Skylight offers additional power mode
features. And, Skylight weighs just 0.7 ounce. For information,
contact Carl Brody at 888.609.7187 or [email protected].
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