Gabardine Vs. Ventile

[leatherneck]

With all the talk of Ventile in my other thread I was wondering if there is a huge difference between Gabardine and Ventile. I don't any clothes of either clothe, but I have looked at Ventile smocks and they are way out of my price range. I was wondering if any of you have owned any gabardine SAS smocks and notice if they too adequately block the wind and resist rain. Gabardine was good enough for Mt.Everest, so I wonder if the differences between Gabardine and Ventile are marginal and relatively insignificant? Can anyone post comments on this matter?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5076634.stm

 

[addyb]

I'll do my best to explain this with as much details as I can without typing up a huge post. (Although I do claim to be the forum's expert on textiles. Don't ask why)

Gabardine is a twill weave that is usually finished with a heavy-duty water repellent finish. It does not swell and stiffen like Ventile due to the nature of the weave. It does however, have a much higher surface tension than Ventile, and this allows water to bead on the surface of the fabric much better than Ventile. It's also a tougher fabric. Unfortunately, it's very reliant on that water repellent treatment, without it the fabric loses a lot of it's water shedding ability.

Ventile is an oxford weave. It's entire purpose is to get wet so the fibres expand to prevent the further passage of water. Ventile does not normally have a water repellent treatment as such a treatment can actually impede the swelling properties of the fibre. Unlike gabardine, Ventile is not very reliant on a proofing treatment.

Both fibres are windproof, although an oxford weave is much easer to snag, rip, tear, or hole than a twill weave.

Gabardine is a perfect acceptable substitute to Ventile if the latter is out of your price range. Just remember to regularly proof the garment.

I hope this helps!

Adam

 

[TheGreenMan]

Hello leatherneck,

My Ventile Smock arrived today from Bison Bushcraft: http://www.bisonbushcraft.co.uk/page6/page6.html
So, as you can imagine I’m full of enthusiasm for it

My immediate impression is that is very light in weight in comparison to garberdine, and it will pack down to a much smaller size in your pack.

Despite what you may have heard about gabardine, is soaks up water like a sponge (At least mine does), stays wet forever, well OK, not quite that long, which means you’re going to get very cold and miserable if you remain stationary for any period of time (Violent exercise will keep you warm even when wet, but when you stop exercising you’re body temperature starts to drop, as you probably know) and gabardine is heavy when wet.

My opinion is if you can afford it buy Ventile. Another option is to treat a gabardine garment with one of the Nikwax products if the cost of Ventile is too painful.

A slightly more economical option (But not much) to the Bison smock can be found here: http://www.snowsled.com/clothing/classic.htm

Happy shopping!

Paul.

 

[Spacemonkey]

I've had two SAS smocks made by SASSkit, one in OG gaberdine and one in OG ventile.
The gaberdine would get wet easily and then so would I. The ventile is a bit heavier and stiffer, but water beads really well on it's surface and nothing has got through yet. I would vote the ventile as far superior to the gaberdine, and for me, it was only about £20 dearer. Right place at the right time...