 Ace. About time too. Schoeller seem to be causing quite a stir-up recently what with this and their c_change fabric.
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Reminds me of the tale (or myth) about the differing approaches of the Americans and Russians to the problem of writing in space -- the Americans supposedly spent millions developing a special pen, while the Russians used pencils.
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 Funny you should post a link to military research Parky, as I think ColdBlack is a spin-off from military low IR visibility fabrics... And I think it's more to do with surface finish than colour; which is maybe what that 1961 research shows; only 17% difference between black and white clothing. Surface microtexture (rough vs shiny) has always been more significant than colour in emissivity/absorbency of surfaces (IIRC). Now, the claim that they warm up slower, but also cool quicker when out of the sun; that's interesting, as emissivity and absorbency are usually the same thing... High emissivity (rapid cooling) would seem to be bad for low IR visibility purposes, so maybe my original thought is wrong... And, in an alpine environment, I don't want my clothes to cool quickly when the sun goes down...
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 Sounds like the IR coating you get on modern military clothing to combat night vision equipment. I guess it will ware unlike a just having a light colour...
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 Reminds me of the tale (or myth) about the differing approaches of the Americans and Russians to the problem of writing in space -- the Americans supposedly spent millions developing a special pen, while the Russians used pencils. Except that is an urban myth. Using pencils in a weightless environment would spill microscopic bits of graphite all over the place. Getting lots of little bits of graphite into expensive & vitally important electronics might not be a good idea. What I don't get is why it always has to be black. Don't they do softshell fabric in any other colour?
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 What I don't get is why it always has to be black. Don't they do softshell fabric in any other colour? It's slimming, plus formal - you can wear it to those all important social evening events.
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"Except that is an urban myth" "Reminds me of the tale (or myth)"
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 I have the ME 'Schoeller technology' pants... I still get hot and end up with betty swolllox...
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> Don't they do softshell fabric in any other colour? Schoeller do greys, certainly. I'm not sure about colours. They're not particularly forthcoming about details like that... I have a very pale blue Lowe Alpine MultiPitch, which is a Dryskin-alike fabric.
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TNF do their Apex woven softshell fabrics in a few colours. It's quite good stuff, ime.
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I've got two bits of grey softshell stuff, plus brown if we're counting Ventile. Something like the Patagonia Readymix (albeit not Schoeller) comes in all sorts of colours, including luminous green. I want orange.
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Pata RedayMix came in orange once...
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I'd pay as much for one of them as I would for another Macpac Stealth.
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 Recent research shows that colour has absolutley no effect on the amount of heat retained by clothing. If black was such a bad choice, then the Bedouin tribes would have given it up years ago. The space pen is also a complete waste of time, any regular pen will work in those conditions. I don't want black clothing to reflect light, I wear it in the hope that it will help me to not be seen when wild camping.
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I'm not sure "heat retention" is what we're talking about. Heat capacity will quite probably be unaffected by colour, but absorption of light definitely is (as it is the cause of colour!). As for the Bedouin tribes... pass. I'd guess they got used to black because of the dyes they had available, or the materials they were using, tradition, or similar causes. There's no doubt that wearing black while in direct sunlight makes you hotter than wearing white.
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If black is warm and white is cool .. why do Bedouin wear black and why are many arctic birds white ... ? According to this experiment, black robes are no warmer than white ones, and according to this wind and convection have important effects on things. Here's more.
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 "There's no doubt that wearing black while in direct sunlight makes you hotter than wearing white. " not according to much research done on the matter. the difference is negligible. if the fabric is supposed to keep you cooler then it must reflect infra red, musn't it? is that a good thing though? loose clothing is cooller that tight clothing.
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I think looking through those links, it tells you more about wearing Bedouins robes then soft shells.
"The amount of heat gained by a Bedouin exposed to the hot desert is the same whether he wears a black or a white robe. The additional heat absorbed by the black robe was lost before it reached the skin."
As most modern outdoor clothing isn't loose because it's more rucksack and harness friendly; I don't think it's relevant. If you question this then the best thing to do is test in the real world for yourself. Go out on a really hot day with rucksack and black T-shirt then try a white one and see how you get on...
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or even irrelevant...
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