A bit of an OUTDOORSmagic scoop for you direct from the icy wastes
of, er, Milton Keynes. No really. Ladies and gentlemen, we bring you
the world's first ever entirely windproof, cashmere, camel
coat.
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World's first windproof
Cashemere
coat - and very nice it is too
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Membrane maestros WL Gore chose Milton Keynes indoor snow slope,
the Snozone as the venue for the launch their new Windstopper
fabric and yes, the cashmere coat was for real and very nice it is
too.
Concerned that Windstopper is perceived just as fleece,
Gore has pulled out the stops to combine the latest version of the
membrane with other fabrics in five different areas. The fleece
varieties remain, but it's now possible to to produce windproof garments that don't look
windproof.
Hence the coat - apparently big names like DKNY and Hugo Boss are
going to be producing garments with a Windstopper element.
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Windstopper Man - not only
windproof but
with speacial powers of breathability,
that's what he says anyway
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So what? - Mega Breathable and Windproof?
Okay, here's what we learned:
• the latest version of Windstopper is claimed to be 'Very
Breathable' - an RET of 69 means it's almost 'Extremely Breathable'.
This matters because breathability leading to a clammy feeling is the
main failing of existing windproof garments.
• new versions can be laminated to almost any fabric. There
are new 'knitted' versions for cycling use for example, which use
highly breathable face and lining fabrics to create a more breathable
garment to be worn next to the skin.
• on average there are 228 days per year when the wind in the
UK is over 10 mph, at which point it causes perceptible
windchill.
• the face and liner fabrics - needed to protect the membrane
from damage - also have a big effect on breathability. Polyester
knits, for example, are more breathable than Nylon fabrics.
• Sal is a demon snowboarder, but still couldn't get up
enough speed to properly test the fabric at the Snozone and being a
lass 'glowed' rather than perspiring.
• the production of Gore fabrics is a closely guarded secret,
a bit like the recipe for Coca Cola,
The Bottom Line
It's harder for windproof-breathable garments to work to their
optimum in Britain because our dampish climate reduces the humidity
gradient between the inside and outside of the garment - breathables
work best in cold, dry conditions, like high mountains. The result is
that clammy feeling.
If Gore have got it right, then the new Windstopper might just
offer windproofing without clamminess, head to foot and not just in
fleece guise either. Watch out for the 'knitted' bike kit, which
should also be good for running, as well as a European version of the
Transition windproof baselayer currently exclusive to Mountain
Hardwear.
How Will We Know?
Easy, we have some new Windstopper garments on test now and we'll
let you know over the next week or so just how well they work in the
real world.
Weird Tech Bit
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The Snozone
in Milton Keynes - indoor snow slope with
board and ski hire on site... Mad.
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The Windstopper membrane is made from a PTFE sheet - that's
non-stick frying pan coatings to you and me - stretched into a very
fine, er, membrane with millions of tiny pores big enough to let
water molecules in vapour form pass through, but keep droplets out.
The real trick though is bonding the 'non-stick; membrane to other
fabrics. All Gore will say is that they use some sort of glue.
Gore
Windstopper Website
