Not Sure if it should go here or in the kit section...
A little tale of a flame and a warning.
I've used Ventile smocks going back to my ex RAF days, and others I've known have used Ventile garments of one kind or another, one feature that we all like is that unlike synthetics around a fire and embers Ventile smoulders and can be put out quickly with only a minor ember mark or hole rather than melting or igniting like synthetics are prone too.
With this in mind and other considerations I had a double layer classic smock made by Snowsled at a cost of £300, last weekend was my 2nd outing with out, standing near the fire an ember landed on my smock it and unlike Ventile garments I've had before it actually ignited just as a synthetic material would burning a 5p hole in the double layer of material in the space of a few seconds.
A friend was with me at the time and we both quite surprised at how quickly it went up.
I phoned Snowlsed who seemed a little defensive and stumped - I asked if the jacket had been treated with a proofing compound as the smock tended to bead with water rather than soak and swell as previous Ventile garments I've owned have. I didn't get an answer regarding the smock being proofed. But was told that if I would send it in they would look at it for me.
It went back to Snowsled, having spoken to them they made the point several times that Ventile is a cotton material and isn't fire proof and seemed to miss the point that I had made in the covering letter that in my experience of Ventile it doesn't rapidly ignite with flame but smoulders - this experience is echoed by Les who I work with and help run bushcraft courses with and students who have bought Ventile smocks on our recommendation.
It did come up that the material was treated with a fluorocarbon compound by Ventile Fabrics and that it was not their problem. I was quoted £20 for repair as it is (being close to the zip) apparently a 'difficult' repair. Needless to say not impressed but I've asked for it to be repaired anyway.
I did contact Mark at Ventile Fabrics to discuss the 'coating' that Snowsled tells me that Ventile Fabrics apply. He was keen to stress that it isn't a coating and that the material is impregnated with this compound. He was quite concerned at what I described and said that if I could give him a week he would contact the dye manufacturer, the fluorocarbon compound manufacturer to ask if they had any changes in process and would also track down a sample of the batch he supplied to Snowsled for testing and come back to me.
So in terms of customer service a big thumbs down to Snowsled, they certainly will not be getting my business again, nor will I be recommending them to any of our students. By contrast Ventile Fabrics deserve a thumbs up mention for at least listening and trying to find out what might have caused this.
Something that did come out of the various conversations was that the impregnation does wear down with a 3-4 good soakings and some wearing of the garment.
If I might suggest that if you have recently bought a Ventile garment make sure it gets some very good soakings before getting close to a fire with it.
As an aside Mark did mention that Ventile is available in a FR (Fire Retardant) version, made for the MoD.
A little tale of a flame and a warning.
I've used Ventile smocks going back to my ex RAF days, and others I've known have used Ventile garments of one kind or another, one feature that we all like is that unlike synthetics around a fire and embers Ventile smoulders and can be put out quickly with only a minor ember mark or hole rather than melting or igniting like synthetics are prone too.
With this in mind and other considerations I had a double layer classic smock made by Snowsled at a cost of £300, last weekend was my 2nd outing with out, standing near the fire an ember landed on my smock it and unlike Ventile garments I've had before it actually ignited just as a synthetic material would burning a 5p hole in the double layer of material in the space of a few seconds.
A friend was with me at the time and we both quite surprised at how quickly it went up.
I phoned Snowlsed who seemed a little defensive and stumped - I asked if the jacket had been treated with a proofing compound as the smock tended to bead with water rather than soak and swell as previous Ventile garments I've owned have. I didn't get an answer regarding the smock being proofed. But was told that if I would send it in they would look at it for me.
It went back to Snowsled, having spoken to them they made the point several times that Ventile is a cotton material and isn't fire proof and seemed to miss the point that I had made in the covering letter that in my experience of Ventile it doesn't rapidly ignite with flame but smoulders - this experience is echoed by Les who I work with and help run bushcraft courses with and students who have bought Ventile smocks on our recommendation.
It did come up that the material was treated with a fluorocarbon compound by Ventile Fabrics and that it was not their problem. I was quoted £20 for repair as it is (being close to the zip) apparently a 'difficult' repair. Needless to say not impressed but I've asked for it to be repaired anyway.
I did contact Mark at Ventile Fabrics to discuss the 'coating' that Snowsled tells me that Ventile Fabrics apply. He was keen to stress that it isn't a coating and that the material is impregnated with this compound. He was quite concerned at what I described and said that if I could give him a week he would contact the dye manufacturer, the fluorocarbon compound manufacturer to ask if they had any changes in process and would also track down a sample of the batch he supplied to Snowsled for testing and come back to me.
So in terms of customer service a big thumbs down to Snowsled, they certainly will not be getting my business again, nor will I be recommending them to any of our students. By contrast Ventile Fabrics deserve a thumbs up mention for at least listening and trying to find out what might have caused this.
Something that did come out of the various conversations was that the impregnation does wear down with a 3-4 good soakings and some wearing of the garment.
If I might suggest that if you have recently bought a Ventile garment make sure it gets some very good soakings before getting close to a fire with it.
As an aside Mark did mention that Ventile is available in a FR (Fire Retardant) version, made for the MoD.
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