Quiet, warm, water beads up on the surface, very breathable, lasts about 20 years (apparently). Turns almost solid when soaking wet!
A lot heavier than, say, pertex, but more water proof, and much more breathable. They are still favoured by dear stalkers, so I guess bird watchers would find them handy, not going to get shreded on twigs etc. There is a certain quality feeling from the lovely soft cotton, which pertex could never emulate!
The acid test is when do I wear mine, well...if it rains i wear a waterproof, if i'm running in the wind i wear pertex...I tend to wear mine more casually than technically if you get my meaning. And as for price, got mine in a sale!
James - thanks for your reply, i reckon i know what you mean when you describe the times you wear it, i.e. Its too heavy when working hard, especially since there is more choice of lighter fabrics these days such as like you said Pertex (which Jon also pointed out in his review).
I used a Ventile parka-thingy quite a bit in the Cairngorms in the 80s. It was made by a company called Survival Aids and I was seduced by the advertising about natural fibres and how it was used by pilots downed in the North Sea during the war.
I had the double layer version, which must have been pretty much windproof, but unfortunately the waterproofing relied on the outer layer getting soaked and hopefully not getting through the second layer.
My memories are that it was heavy, tough, good in wind, fairly stiff, pretty cold to the touch and an absolute nightmare in heavy rain, as it got totally wetted out, took about a month to dry and left you feeling completely miserable.
I tried proofing it with whatever was available at the time, but I just ended up with white streaks all over it and no significant improvement in performance. The Nikwax Cotton stuff around now would probably work though.
I still see it in the hall cupboard and used it for a while around town, but it will probably end up on Ebay as an interesting old jacket that people used before Paramo came on stream.
Yes, I have a one by Snowsled. Quite the best all round jacket I've ever bought and I've had them all, with the exception of Paramo. Very comfortable material. Worth a light sweater and great just over a shirt.Nothing comes close to its 'breathing'. Not 100% waterproof but then nothing that breathes is, but keeps heavy rain out for many hours.Snowsled's are generously cut, many sensible pockets, good hood, cuffs, drawstrings etc.,quite smart too and good length - I was told in a major outdoor retailer that the reason for the skimpy length of a jacket was " not to hinder you while climbing." Yeah, I wonder how many climbs Joe Brown failed on because his jacket was too long. Not cheap but IMHO, pound for pound beats all the other £240 fluorescsnt monsters.
Country Innovations do a couple of jackets in it, aimed largely at bird watchers. Not cheap though...
I tried the old fashioned cycling panniers made out of 'Cotton Duck' which works in the same way and found that whilst the contents didn't get exactly soaked everything got very damp, the panniers took ages to dry and doubled in weight which put me off trying ventile jackets.
in the forces i used a ventie smock , ideally suited for cold dry conditions ie scottish winter but if its a single layer will work ok in rain ..i like them - think of them as soft shell..yes in a downpour you wil get a soaking but otherwise you have a highly breathable , robust bit of kit
Sorry Jim, but I don't think the gear issued to the armed forces is what we're talking about, it's mostly done to the cheapest price; do the words boots and Falklands ring a bell?
No you will not get soaked in a downpour. I've just done a morning walk along two of the Pentlands - rain started throwing it down just after I left the car and it's pretty torrential at the moment and although the Snowsled jacket holds a lot of water I'm still bone dry inside it and no condensation.
I think there's a bit of confusion here. As I understand it 'Ventile' was developed and trademarked in Switzerland. At one time Unilever owned it,certainly the Air Force used it in the 2nd world war and later, however I believe the name Ventile went into the public domain and anybody can call a cotton material ventile.
I know, in the past, I've seen "Ventile" anoraks in Millets that you could blow peas through. Made to the original design, high quality cotton, very dense weave and correctly stitched it does everything a plastic job does.
And why, in this community of green and ecologically concerned people are we all so committed to the products of the refinery?
Because of advertising, of course. As an industrial customer of mine remarked concerning a Gore salesman - "Aye, all their eggs are double-yokers"
as it goes fencer it was not issue in fact like most of our kit it was bought from a sepcialist civvy supplier..thus being well aware of the differance between civvy and issue kit :)) .. i see you purchased from snowsled and knowing of their reputation im not surprised your jacket serves you well.im actually looking at the smock ,any ideas on its performance ?
Jim, I hate smocks or any garment I have to pull over my head - it's too big you see - so my comments on that item would be useless. I have their, what would I call it, standard jacket? Not their heaviest which they say is mainly for static use, e.g. burding and I've been delighted with it. Hardest test was probably last year on the round of Quinag, wind and rain most of the day and it stood up to that. The worst I've suffered is a slight dampness at the shoulders which was much less than the condensation I've had with any other jacket. And as James says above there is a lovely feel to it. But yes, the £££ is a consideration. By the way I find it dries quite quickly.
> As I understand it 'Ventile' was developed and trademarked in Switzerland
No. Ventile is All British (huzzah!) and was developed by the Shirley Institute in Manchester. It is still a registered trade name, so cannot be used generically. However, anyone can make an equivalent close-weave, long staple cotton Oxford fabric.
Don Robertson (formerly of DCTA Farnborough) waxes lyrical about Ventile in the DoE book 'Workshop'. He contends that its water resistance comes not from the expansion of fibres as they get wet, but the combination of dense weave and natural water resistance of the unbleached cotton. Tests he performed whilst at DCTA (Defence Clothing and Textiles Agency) suggested that, whilst Ventile did eventually soak up water in this manner, it took days, and, when it did, the fabric became as stiff as a board.
Due to the expense, I've never tried Ventile, but I keep thinking of buying some seconds quality fabric from Point North and knocking something up to try out. Even the seconds fabric is between £10 and £15 per metre, though.
The last time I saw something made of Ventile for sale was, of all places, in Debenhams; one of their fashion brands was using the genuine article to make a parka. I think it was supposed to be a copy of one used by Hillary's South Pole by tractor expedition in 1958
Mine is a howies pilot jacket, more casual cut than most stuff. Howies only make stuff thats eco friendly, thats why they went for ventile. Special forces troops get issued ventile Fencer, known in the forces as SAS smocks, and all squaddies wanted to get their hands on them!
I really love it, it feels great to wear, and often wear it to the pub etc if i think it may rain on the way, but i must be honest and say that when actually setting out in wet weather i have a montane superfly (which is every bit as good as they say).
The only time it has ever totally wetted out is when i washed it! Then it goes stiff as a board!
Captain, I'm sure what you say is correct although the name sounds more Swiss than Mancunian but I've seen some pretty poor items made of "Ventile" in fact I had one many years ago, more a casual dress jacket than an anorak and it had little water resistance unlike my present Snowsled.
Where I live I'm almost surrounded by Army and frequently meet them in the hills. Recently found three guys trialling Buffalo but they said it was far too hot on a hard trod and with the vents open they froze. James i can imagine the squaddies would love it.
Oh, and, cotton grwoing is an intensive farming activity, and uses the full range of biochemicals such as weedkillers and pesticides. So, unless it's grown organically, not as 'green' as is made out.
Polyester can (and is) be spun from recycled PET bottles, so might be considered to be actively 'green'... (although the original PET feedstock is of course a petrochemical product).
No Cap, you're right. I'm not an active 'green', we have too many of the unelected idiots in our wee parliament objecting to everything under the sun but proposing nothing practical - it was merely a comment on the almost total acceptance of the products of the petro-chem industry.
I had a survival aids Ventile Jacket, double layer as well - it was great, waterproof, windproof - bombproof but took days to dry, packed down size was massive and when it was below freezing it froze solid! Also the weight was at least doubled when wet. It’s an incredibly hard wearing material.
im really intrested in the west wind cairngorm jacket now ..i run really hot thus im a great lover of soft shell ie pertex and pile , im not too bothered about being slightly damp as it cannot be much worse then sweating inside a "breathable" anyway ...anyone have any reports on west wind??
