GEAR talk - Institute for Outdoor Learning

GEAR talk Polartec
In 1998, Polartec launched Power Shield®
and the soft shell revolution began. It
was developed in recognition of the fact
that 90% of the time you are outside, the
weather isn’t that bad.
So there is great benefit in giving up a
little weather protection, in order to get a
lot more breathability.
The new Polartec Power Shield Pro fabrics
feature a smooth, tightly woven face for
great abrasion resistance and a polyester
back for a high warmth-to-weight ratio.
The membrane in the middle enables
the fabric to block 99% of the wind.
The remaining 1% circulates within the
fabric which enhances moisture vapor
transmission, improving breathability and
reducing the risk of heat stress.
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Horizons (51)
Autumn 2010
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North Face Kishtwar
The North Face Kishtwar
j a c ke t i s d e s i g n e d
specifically for highaerobic endeavours
i n f o u l w e a t h e r.
Constructed with
new Polartec
Power Shield
Pro, this jacket
offers unrivaled
breathability
d u r i n g
periods of
high exertion
as well as
abrasion
resistance
in rugged
terrain and
durable water resistance in adverse weather
conditions. Features include: alpine fit; fully
adjustable fixed hood; non abrasive molded cuff tabs
and hideaway hem cinch cord.
Montane’s Limited
Edition Chukchi
Shirt
Polartec fabrics
offer a wide range
of solutions for
active outdoor
use. Montane’s
Limited Edition
Chukchi Shirt will
n o t o n l y ke e p
yo u wa r m a n d
snug during the
Autumn/Winter
they will also give
you a warm feeling
inside. It ’s part of
Montane’s 5-strong range
of clothing designed to help raise £50k for Mountain
Rescue England & Wales; over half the sale price of
these items will go to this charity. For those days
when you just need something to pull over your head
to keep the chill off, then grab Montane’s Chukchi
Microfleece Shirt, made from reliable Polartec
material and sporting the Limited Edition colours of
black with red zip detail. To support this campaign
you can purchase the Chukchi Shirt direct from www.
montane.co.uk - rrp. £40 with £25 going to Mountain
Rescue England & Wales; (men’s fit only).
Institute for Outdoor Learning
GEAR talk
also here: www.outdoor-learning.org/GearTalk/gt.home.htm
Power Shield Pro
At the time of writing, Lowe
Alpine only had a workbook
illustration available for its Power
Shield Pro jacket. Designed for
mountaineering, it offers an alpine
fit; helmet compatibility with a
Swivel Sight™ hood; shaped
collar with cinch system; sculpted
hem and reflective piping on the
elbows.
Polartec progress
John Traynor considers a
major development in
outdoor clothing
As the inventors of modern synthetic fleece, Polartec®
changed the way the world dresses for cold weather
and to this day remains the best-selling fleece brand
in the world. Amazingly, Polartec now offers over 400
different fabric styles serving a range of applications
from outdoor performance to home goods to industrial
and military. Polartec has led the way on the use
of recycled materials to creating its original postconsumer fleece long before it was fashionable. And
has developed sources for both post industrial and post
consumer content saving millions of pounds of CO2,
reducing the burden on landfills and conserving critical
natural resources. Recycled fabrics now represent
more than 30% of global production and include every
style offered from lightweight, silky smooth next-toskin fabrics to fleece and softshell fabrics. Polartec’s
manufacturing facilities in both the US and China are
bluesign® certified to guarantee best practices, safe
manufacturing environments and the most efficient
use of resources. This year, Polartec re-commissioned
a 100-year-old hydro-electric dam on the Lawrence,
MA campus that will provide renewable energy for
production. All Polartec fabrics are created to do
something specific - they are active textiles that trap
warm air, wick moisture or block the elements.
Breakthrough softshell technology
controlled two-way air exchange that significantly improves
moisture transport over softshells that do not allow airflow.
The biggest advance of the new PSP membrane is the
addition of a hydrostatic head, a.k.a. real water resistance.
PSP delivers an initial 5,000mm hydrohead (ISO 811,
AATCC 127) and remains durably water resistant to
a minimum of 3,000mm for life. This level of water
resistance exceeds the requirement for seam sealing
on a waterproof breathable shell (3psi or 2100mm).
It’s a laminate that can offer a combination of
poly or nylon woven face fabrics with excellent
durable water repellency (DWR) and durability
characteristics, paired with lightweight to
high loft backs. Sandwiched in between is a
proprietary new hydrophobic, microporous
polyurethane membrane that allows actual
airflow through the entire fabric package but
stops water from penetrating. The combination
of the new membrane and lamination techniques
delivers groundbreaking performance through air channels
that flow through the fabric from the inside to the outer
surface. “The backcountry just got a lot drier and packs will
be a little lighter this fall,” Nate Simmons, global director
of marketing for Polartec told me. “Polartec Power Shield
Pro spans a wider range of weather and activity levels than
any softshell on the market – it’ll get you home dry even
in a heavy wet snow, light rain or high output activity.”
PSP fabrics feature a smooth, tightly woven face for great
abrasion resistance and a polyester back for a high warmthto- weight ratio. The membrane in the middle enables the
fabric to block 99% of the wind. The remaining 1% circulates
within the fabric which greatly enhances moisture vapor
transmission, improving breathability and reducing the risk
of heat stress buildup. PSP fabrics have better breathabil¬ity
than the best soft shells.
Along with a colleague, we’ve been hammering prototype PSP
jackets for the past eight months. From walking in howling
winter storms and Sspring gales on the Northumberland
coast to working hard on ski-tours in the Alps and climbing
in the Pyrenees, the PSP jackets delivered reliable comfort
across all conditions and left us confident that durability and
flexibility matched outstanding performance.
PSP technical highlights
In shops this autumn, new Polartec Power Shield®
Pro (PSP) delivers what is claimed to be ‘the best
combination of weather protection and breathability
ever offered in a single fabric’. “Polartec helped launch
the ‘softshell revolution’ over ten years ago with
Polartec Power Shield, a fabric that offered superior
breathability, durability and stretch with enough
weather protection for everything but the wettest
conditions,” said Karen Beattie, Polartec product
marketing manager. “Polartec Power Shield Pro
dramatically ratchets up the fabric’s water resistance,
while retaining critical breathability.” Thanks to a new
proprietary membrane technology and lamination
techniques, PSP allows true air permeability for a
Institute
for Outdoor Learning
•B
locks 99% of the wind to prevent wind chill but allows
enough air to circulate to prevent overheating
• Highly breathable; relieves heat stress buildup during
action sports
• Highly water resistant
• Water repellent surface sheds rain and snow
• Extremely abrasion resistant face for long lasting
durability; fabric maintains its form and function
regardless of abrasive contact
• Stretch for active comfort
• Creates less noise than a traditional shell
• Provides warmth without the weight and bulk of
traditional insulating fabrics
• Machine washable
n
Horizons
(51) Autumn 2010
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