New From Gore-Tex - Comfort Mapping

We're just back from an, ahem, gruelling weekend in Tenerife where Gore, the manufacturers of Gore-Tex, took us to unveil their latest cunning development which they're calling 'Comfort Mapping Concept'.

Tenerife was ideal for testing purposes, being ridiculously hot and blessed with large numbers of five star hotels along with Spain's highest mountain, the volcanic peak of Pico de Teide at 3,718 metres. The idea was that by going up the mountain, we'd encounter temperatures of around freezing at summit level, a nice idea but one comprehensively nullified by a combination of crazy hot weather and an uncooperative cable car.

So... not much testing yet, but a lot of theory and luxury.

Comfort Mapping

The creation of zoned clothing's very modish in the outdoor gear market right now. Mostly though it's been confined to base and mid-layers rather than shells, but Gore is looking to change that.

The theory is that your body is composed of different zones which run at different temperatures, so by matching fabrics to the zones - insulated areas where you get cold in the main - you can increase comfort.

And look, three different fabrics joined and taped for waterpfoofing :-)

Gore product specialist John McDonald, a keen climber and based in Scotland used mountaineering as an example. A combination of practical field testing - a good excuse to go climbing if you ask us - and infra red photography showing heat outputs suggested that when Gore-Tex clothing is wet and most prone to transmit heat, the areas which were most affected were the shoulders and upper arms.

The infra red image below shows the Gore-Tex Soft Shell fleece fabric in the shoulders has reduced heat loss - blue is colder, yellow hottest.

By adding insulation to the shell in those areas prone to heat loss, runs the theory, Gore could increase comfort while not compromising breathability too much. Tests showed that a mere 1 to 2mm of gridded fleece laminated to XCR fabric made a significant difference. With normal XCR heat loss of 450 watts was recorded, but using the gridded fleece insulated fabric, that figure dropped to 150 watts.

In reality, claims John, that translates to warmer feeling shoulders and upper arms when it does get wet and cold, but without any significant hindrance to moisture vapour transfer the rest of the time. You can make out the shoulder insulation on the inverted garment below.

You could similarly cover the sensitive kidney area for example as well as combining the insulated XCR, and non-insulated XCR, for example, with say, Stretch Paclite in areas where stretch would be an advantage. Men's and women's jackets could have increased insulation in different areas to cater for physiological differences. And here's a close-up of that insulated softshell fabric.

And Airvantage Too...

Also pulled into the Comfort Mapping system is an older technology called Airvantage that we first saw around four years ago. It's a cunning system which uses inflatable channels within the jacket - below - to create instant warmth.

When you need more insulation, you blow into a mouth piece and the jacket inflates for near instant warmth. When you don't need the extra heat, just deflate the jacket and bingo, a normal-ish waterproof jacket.

Up till now the technology's mostly been used for snowsports where it can be inflated for, say, use on the lift then deflated when you're slamming down the piste and working harder, but this autumn, it will also appear in a Gore Bikewear jacket again so you can pump up the insulation when heading downhill, but deflate for a cooler experience on the climbs.

You can see from the infra red imagery that the insulated areas are signigicantly cooler - blue - than less protected areas like the arms.

As with other Comfort Mapping fabrics, it can be used selectively in areas which will benefit most from extra insulation. Gore also say that the air channels have a surprisingly minimal impact on breathability.

It's not been done yet, but we think it would also be an interesting technology for a winter climbing jacket. Simply inflate as soon as you stop climbing and settle into a frozen belay ledge then deflate and vent once you start moving and sweating again. No need to add or remove layers when you can simply add or remove air.

Don't expect cheapness though, the Airvantage snowsports jackets out there come in at around 350 quid and are also quite weighty. Looks kind of weird too, which you'll either like or not...

Just Hype Or Of Real Benefit?

Thanks to the unseasonably warm conditions in Tenerife it's hard to tell, but we have a Gore Test Team jacket which uses XCR fabric with the insulated, softshell panels in the shoulder area and we'll be reporting back once we've used it in typical British mountain conditions.

What we would say, is that most of the comfort mapping concept seems to be about adding insulation in strategic areas rather than increasing breathability in others, so if you already find Gore-Tex fabrics aren't breathable enough for you, the same's likely to be true of the Comfort Mapping Concept.

If that's less of an issue and, instead, you feel you tend to get cold wearing shell clothing in the wet - not surprising since water conducts heat 23 times better than air - then Comfort Mapping may work for you.

When's It In The Shops?

Comfort Mapping is due out this autumn / winter 2006 which means you'll find it in the shops from late summer onwards. Brands available in the UK using the technology include Berghaus, Sprayway, Lowe Alpine, MHW, Nike, TNF and Marmot.