Anorak wind/water proof wool

[edispilff]

Hey everyone.. long time gone. Hope everyone is happy now that winter is here. Posted a thread over at another forum, and thought this might be of interest to some of the folks here:

This took me quite a while to get all the material combinations right, but it turned out spot on for those outdoor endevours.
Materials:
- 3.5 yds. woven wool (w. german army blanket)
- 3.5 yds Entrant poly microfiber (backing) breathable membrane.. this is the good stuff; makes goretex fell like a plastic bag.
- 3 sq. ft. 3oz. buckskin
- 30-40 yds. 80 lb. spectra braid thread
- 80-100 yds. heavy duty polyester outdoor thread
- 4 teak toggle beads
- 5 ft. latigo lace
- 40 yds. 5/8 seam tape

This thing is built like a tank yet still lightweight and non-bulky (primarily due to the pattern cuts)

>>>

Full shoulder yoke to reduce seam stress and prevent water entry (Like thats gonna happen!)

Toggle loops are adjustable to accommodate different layers. Just tighten up the leather lace on the bottom, and everything cinches up smoothly. Oh yeah, The toggles are big enough to operate with mittens on!

Double topstitching through out.

With all the scraps left over, i managed to squeek out a neck gator with a cinch at the top to convert to hat.

"bundes - Eigentum" = Federation property or, as i like to think of it, League property.

Pick the most inclement weather nature can provide this time of year and wait for a happy photo op. Temp = -12F

Gentlemen (and ladies), i highly recommend combining these 2 materials if you're into outdoor winter pursuits. the combination of wool and entrant is second to none in terms of stagnant stalking or high endurance hiking.

The wool wicks moisture so quickly, that if you place your goggles on your arm, they will bead with perspiration in less than 5 minutes of hiking uphill... This is the first time i've ever experienced a product which lives up to all the breathability hype!

Combine the quietness of wool, the windproof/waterproof qualities of Entrant, and the durability of buckskin in the high wear areas... and it makes a bombproof jacket which doesn't leave you looking like a full time hunter ( which i am during the winter )

Comments are definately welcome as far as thin gs that could be added... So far, these "extras" seem like good ideas:

- large leather bellows pocket on the front left chest for good 'ole bush essentials
- inner flap plaquet inside the collar to completely block unwanted weather
- Hand pockets? (not sure about this since i cut the sleeves a little longer so that cold hands can retract)

Definately looking for some more ideas from people who spend as much time outdoors as possible.

Thanks all, and if you would like the patterns (yes, i saved them... not going to destroy any more molds)... let me know, and i'll try to calculate for your body frame.

 

[Shewie]

Welcome back

Cracking job on the wooly pully, when are you taking orders ?

 

[topknot]

Hi, looks real good.

 

[Mesquite]

Excellent job Ed.

Any chances of some pics of it fully spread out so we can see the whole thing?

 

[addo]

Looks a top bit of kit. Exposing the warm layers to the british rain would bother me, but if it works cause of the plasic then great stuff.

 

[edispilff]

Heh, enquiries for orders will be filed in the "tutorial-for-anoraks-section" Spent nearly 35 hours making this thing over the past month... and all that hand stitching on the leather is something better left for a machine!

As for a full size spread:

Addo... I torture tested quite a few top-of-the-line water/wind proof breathable materials before finally choosing Entrant. Gore, Gore XCR, DWR's, Entrant (5 different pore structure models), and several other "up and coming" were just a few of those put through:
1. Steam test: steam the fabric from both sides at moderate pressure and then high pressure. nylon backed materials caused a sever separation (bubbling) under intense pressure. The polyester based laminates did not change. The entrant saturated the polyester laminate the fastest. Meaning, the vapor was transfered to the environment faster than the others based on the amount of water left on the underside of the fabric (if any at all)
2. water retention: half mtr. squares are filled with 1 pint of water and hung upfor 24 hours (24 hours at room temperature, and 24 hours at outside temp). All of the materials exhibited excellent waterproofness for outside temps... probably due to the water beginning to freeze where it met the material; inside temps show that Entrant/poly far surpassed all gore and generic DWR products.
3. Windproofness: All of the laminates (with exception to DWR's) performed more than adequately. It is impossible to breathe through these materials and can cause suffocation if they restrict a breathing passage (just like a plastic bag).
4. Real life: A small 4 panel wool hat was made so that laminate liners could be switched in and out for testing individual laminates. the control situations were slow downhill walks in the snow (temp @-10 -0C) for about 1km and a fast uphill return.
a. DWR's are worthless for breathability and left my head swimming in a pool of sweat regardless of travel rate.
b. Gore/XCR were perfect for slow rates but began to get clammy halfway through the uphill.
c. Entrant performed as well as goretex, but had a faster rate of vapor osmosis (diffusion?.. i forget)... meaning less clamminess in the head when all was said and done.

Under these conditions Entrant (i think it was the HB edition... check out more entrant facts here: Toray industries Entrant ) performed the best based on the conditions which befall the 38th parallel in the Rocky Mountains Autumn to Easter. For a comparison of commercially available laminates breathability, check out this PDF: Breathability (first chart, lower is better, second chart higher is better) .. entrant is in the top 4... and these are 5 yr. old laminates!!

One thing to add: The wool blanket was washed several times on a heavy agitation cycle in very hot water to shrink it and increase the knap. During both wash cycles, i used no detergents or soaps, but only added around 4 oz. (~100gr) of pure lanolin. This was the smartest/luckiest thing i think i could have ever done. The wool came out buttery soft, smelled great, was nice and tight (maybe shrunk less than 14%), and had the natural intended water repellancy prior to being made into a blanket!

It's funny because snow builds up on this thing as though no heat is escaping at all... and only after rigorous activity does it show anything more than water beaded up on the outside (i.e.- no saturation noticeable).

....Buuuuuut, as you say addo, it will be interesting to see how it fares once the rainy season hits this upcoming spring... worse comes to worse, there's always that veritable oilskin for the seafaring days

I appreciate all the comments and let me know if anyone else has ideas about how to make it better

 

[sasquatch]

Top job there fella, looks great! Sounds like it's the biz. 35 hours well spent!

 

[Ogri the trog]

Damn that looks good Fflip,

I have a few blankets waiting to be morphed into other things here - inspiration indeed. How do you think the two layers would work if worn as seperate garments?

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[treadlightly]

That is impressive.

My only suggestion is a pocket or two for stuff especially given that as it is a waterproof you won't be wearing anything on top with pockets.

 

[Gill]

that is great,looks better for the job than my Swannie.

 

[Tiley]

That looks great. I wish I had the skill to piece it all together. Where can you get German army - or any other suitable - blankets from? Endicotts? Somewhere else? Actually, a few clues about sourcing the necessary materials for such a garment would be really useful.

I definitely think I'll have a go. I just hope I'll be able to get it done before the cold weather finishes!

 

[edispilff]

Thank You for the great comments and ideas!

Here's some info on where most of the materials came from (US based):

armynavysales.com cheapest price for German blanket... If you've got a little extra cash to spare.. grab a pair of the german wool pants... you will not regret either purchase... free shipping through Christmas on 50$+ orders. The Swiss blankets (if you can get the real thing) are the next best thing.. followed by Italian and Dutch varieties. Wash them several times on a med agitation, with a little lanolin and, after further testing, baking soda. Dry them on high heat for about 45 minutes and then let them air dry. They will shrink about 10% and increase the "loft" .. as for a good weight/size comparison, the German blankets weigh 6.5 lbs (~3 kilo) are 80"x86" (200 x 215cm) and 6mm thick.

The Entrant can be found on ebay occasionally (overstock or end of roll lots) it should cost no more than 5$ per yd on a 50-60" wide roll. as always, watch out for the shipping gougers. If they won't send everything for less than 6$.. give'em the finger and look elsewhere. This stuff is so light, that 1 yard of it can be folded and put into a standard legal envelope and sent for 42 pennies. Other stores like seattlefabrics.com and owfinc.com carry entrant.. but they nail you on the prices... and the outrageous shipping is just another cherry on the cake.

AH, leather... Would highly recommend Leather Unlimited and if the they have light leathers in stock, Brettuns Village. The commentary on their leather stuff is hilarious. ebay occasionally has decent prices on leather... but make sure you get some good pix prior to purchase.. you never know what you are going to get with some of those sellers.

As for threads, the diameter/strength rating on them seems to change every damn year. i would suggest getting a heavy duty upholstery/button thread (polyester) when working with JUST wool. When you are ready to start adding leather trim, head down to the local fishing shoppe and get a spool of 65 - 80 lb. braided superline fishing line; like power pro, spiderwire, firewire etc.

....and unless you've got a leather sewing machine, have a hand awl stitcher ready... this will take the longest and produces the most amount of explicatives (am i ever going to finish this damn thing?!?!??)

Small acoutrements like beads, seam tape (seam tape is a light adhesive used to affix materials together prior to sewing.. beats using needles and helps prevent stretching when sewing 2 different types of materials on a machine), etc. can be had through ebay.. try to get them all in one place to save on shipping. Better yet, head down to the local thrift shop and haggle the parts yourself.

as for the pattern... hmmm. well, there's average proportion, and then there's real world proportion. Our finger tip to finger tip length should be the same as our height ... unfortunately, i'm 6'1" and tip to tip is 6'6"... this leaves me with a lot of shirts that look a little small for me. er. so i guess if i were to modify the pattern; we'll need:
1. Height
2. finger tip to finger tip
3. waist
4. head circumference

The convenience of the pattern is that it is not gender specific (or at least thats the way it appears). The cut for the arms compensates for chest measurements while also producing enough "give" to keep the back of the arms from stressing the seams.

I'll work on conversions for a pattern tonight and see if i can't get them converted to a pdf.

Ogri... I've got several yards of the entrant left and will be experimenting more with other materials. Personally, i think it's a great product when used in conjunction with wicking materials like wool, polyester, capilene, etc. By itself it leaves me thinking that it would be a tad on the clammy side. The laminate side of the material feels like a sheer rubber, and as the company suggests, is better lined... or sandwiched rather, between a breathable synthetic. The manner in which i've used it consists of the liner with polymicrofiber towards the skin and the laminate facing away from the body.. followed by the wool. Plenty of testing showed that MOST laminates work in both directions regarding vapor transmission. How long the laminate will survive being in constant agitated contact with the wool is anyones guess. I wear wool pants most of the winter with only shorts underneath. The wool wears the hair off of my legs in contact areas looks funny and took me forever to figure out what was going on. Wool, the natural depilatory ... On the same note, The original test hat is still being worn, and keeps my head toasty warm... As long as it's not very windy outside. There are some articles about processed wool that has teflon impregnated fibers for water resistance.. but none, so far, that remit the possibility of creating a windproof woollen. Would be interesting to see whether it's possible to sandwich a laminate between 2 layers of wool (say, a tweed on the inside > laminate > weave on outside).. this would be the cats meow!

Thanks again everyone.. and will be working on adding a pocket or two

 

[MartinK9]

Gread thread, thanks for posting

 

[Melonfish]

Pattern would be fantastic this is something i think alot of us are going to try

 

[treadlightly]

That looks great. I wish I had the skill to piece it all together. Where can you get German army - or any other suitable - blankets from? Endicotts? Somewhere else? Actually, a few clues about sourcing the necessary materials for such a garment would be really useful.

I definitely think I'll have a go. I just hope I'll be able to get it done before the cold weather finishes!

Endicotts have some Dutch Army blankets which are supposed to be very high quality.

 

[edispilff]

ladies and Gentlemen... Jump on those Dutch blankets... AaBe, in my personal opinion, make the softest most luxurious mil blankets in the world. I have a 1969 old stock blanket in use for 10 years.. and it is without a doubt the lowest maintenance of all wool blankets. The German and Swiss take the cake in terms of thickness. The Italian and French versions are nice.. but their storage in napthalene is less than welcome for the "out-of-box" experience. While a majority of them are weave and weft loomed (with the weft yarn being smaller than the weave), the dutch blankets are tweed... and tightly woven at that. and at the price they are offering these for, it would be senseless to pass up this opportunity regardless of future application (just use it as a blanket!).

If shipping doesn't et me.. i'm getting a couple of these .. they are almost non-existent stateside

 

[Buckshot]

Really impressive sewing on the wool
How did you manage that?
A machine of course but what technique?

Cheers

Mark

 

[Tor helge]

That is one fine piece of clothing. From the look of it it is superb craftmanship as well .

I was playing with the idea of making one myself earlier this autumn, but I went chicken and bought a wool set (jacket/trousers) from Jahtijakt instead.

Tor

 

[edispilff]

Was hoping to get a pdf pattern layout that can be converted to different sizes... am still working on it.

Mark - Yes, the machine is an old kenmore picked up about 10 years ago at a garage sale. It is a single amp motor. Snapped around 9 needles going through the wool, and actually figured out a way to get it to sew through the wool AND the leather at the same time with unsatisfactory results on the bobbin stitch side (didn't like pulling the thread through 7-8mm of goods)
Stitches used:

Green=wool, Red=stitch

A- sides of main body
B (lapfell)- All main stitching
C (flatfell)- Underarms and neckline (for comfort and reduced bulk)

Hope this helps visually

 

[gunnix]

Very nice!! When clicking on the topic I hadn't expected to see a woolen anorak with such good looks! That's exactly what we need, woolen clothes which are practical and don't make you look like your grandparents