Bad Weather Gear - Fabrics Overview?

[Barblade]

Hi All

This is my first post on the forums so I hope this is the right place to post this topic.

Basically I love camping, have done since I was little(-er) kid (I'm still early 20's so not that long ago), but haven't been since I left scouts so around 10 years, and have just started getting into bushcraft and getting out and about again.

My main sort of aim from this post is to clarify my own reseach into basically what sort of Outdoor clothing would be best for me, I have quite a lot of the kit I need already but am still unable to find an adequate comparison between the different types of fabric available for outerwear - this is the best I can come up with myself:

New outdoor gear basically falls into 4 main types of material:

1) Waterproof/Breathable - I.e. Gore-tex, HYVAT Etc.
From the majorty of reviews this style of outerwear is Waterproof > Breathable and tends to sweat when doing anything active. Comes in various flavours with slightly different characteristics (I.e multiple layers, XCR, HYVAT I believe is a slightly less robust material)

2) Pertex & Pile - I.e. Buffalo, Paramo etc.
This is an interesting concept for me, to care less about staying dry and more about staying warm and drying our faster though it does make a lot of sense. Seems more robust than Goretex, is water resistant and wind-proof

3) Waxed Cotton - I.e. Barbour
Old style waxed jackets. Very heavy but "Bombproof" - will probably need re-waxing periodically. Should keep the wearer relatively warm and dry. Should also be a "quiet" fabric

4) Ventile - Erm...
Basically my understanding of this is that it is an older style material made of long cotton fibre which is hardwearing, water-resistant, windproof but soaks up water like a sponge and takes forever to dry - not to mention being pretty expensive.

I'm hoping someone can check I've got this information corrct, and help me with some brand names and good UK suppliers. My criteria for choosing the clothing is basically

Durability - hardiness is a MUST for me, as I expect to be traveling through some pretty rough terrain and don't want to have to be field repairing too much kit
Comfort Level - (i.e keeps me at least warm and water-resistant enough for me to make/find shelter should it pi** down)
Noise Level - Ideally I would like a silent fabric, as I expect to be doing some wildlife tracking, but if the performance level of a garment is much better I can always throw a smock over the top to dampen sound.
Price - I do have a budget to get my gear in, I was hoping to pay around £350 for a REALLY good set of gear (I.e Trousers + Jacket), but if something was completely perfect I might be able to stech this a little further.

Hope someone can offer me advice with this difficult decision

Thanks

Barblade

 

[addyb]

Barblade,

There are two things that you need to know about "bad weather fabrics."

1) You're going to get wet, no matter what you wear. The name of the game is to not get as wet as everyone else on your expedition.

2) There is no perfect fabric for weather. Each fabric marketed by each different gear manufacturer has it's own unique advantages and disadvantages. It is up to YOU, the consumer to decide which one you need.

Anyway, here's a bit of info for you:

Gore-Tex, eVENT, Entrant waterproof breathable fabrics are either laminated or coated membranes to a face fabric of either polyester or high-tensile nylon. Gore-Tex is a PTFE membrane. Entrant is a polyurathane coating. WPB fabrics function extremely well in rain, but only if they are kept clean. Sweat, oils and dirt reduce their effectiveness dramatically. As well, they are not very useful in cold environments. In below freezing temperatures, they stop breathing. If you're working hard in cold temperatures, you will get soaked by perspiration that would normally escape in humid weather. Most WPB fabrics are resistant to a hydrostatic water pressure column of 5000mm, though some go as high as 10,000mm resistance. They are also completely dependant on the Durable Water Repellency (DWR) applied to the face fabric, which protects the fragile membrane. Once the DWR wears off a WPB fabric, body vapour is unable to escape, and your own sweat soaks you.

Pertex-Pile and Buffalo fabrics essentially fall into what's known as a "soft shell" garment. They are meant to take the place of an insulation layer (fleece/wool/fibre pile) and a protection layer (WPB) They are showerproof and very windproof, therefore are suitable for 90% of the weather you will encounter in the outdoors. However, it is still a good idea to pack a proper shell jacket just in case. This is why soft-shell garments are quite close fitting, they layer quite well underneath a "hard shell."

Ventile is OLD SCHOOL. For whatever reason, it's being remarketed to the outdoor consumer market as an alternative to WPB and a soft-shell garments. It functions best in cold winter weather, which is why the British Antartic Survey team endorses it. But, it is also extremely showerproof, totally windproof and lasts for eons. I have a Ventile anorak hanging on my coat rack that is 36 years old and it is still in perfectly workable condition. I have since stopped using my WPB jacket in favour of Ventile. It is heavy, especially when wet. It also doesn't stretch. I absolutely love the stuff, and seeing as it's World War Two technology that is still perfectly acceptable today just shows how utterly genius it is. Yes, it IS slow to dry. But it still dries much faster than if you wore a cotton sweatshirt. If you can get your hands on one, do yourself a favour and proof it with Grangers, Nikwax, or Storm Proofing. It makes a huge difference in drying times of the garment, as well slows water absorbtion to a crawl. It is waterproof to a column of only 750mm, but Ventile can be had in double, or even triple layer garments. You WILL get wet in it eventually, but if you layer yourself properly, you'll be fine.

I hope this helps you in your quest for a "bad weather fabric"

Cheers,

Adam

PS: If you have 350 pounds laying around, I'd suggest going to an Army Surplus store and outfitting yourself out head to toe. While Army Surplus may not be as good as the rest of the gear out there, I'm quite sure you'd be able to buy a DPM Gore-Tex jacket, a fleece sweater, some long johns and some over trousers, too.

 

[jay120970]

i use the buffalo fiberpile top which is great
in the very cold weather and airs off quick
when you have sweated so ive not had the problem
with sweat freezing
over the top if needed i use a genuine m65 field jacket
this is very hardwearing as the buffalo is expencive

 

[wolf]

i would go for the wool option,with some sort of waterproofing for heavier showers. :

 

[addyb]

Wool is good, yes. If it's got lanolin in it, it'll be showerproof too. And because it's so warm, it makes a helluva thermal layer. Except for one little problem: It's heavy as **** when it's wet, and takes almost forever to dry. That aspect right there is why many outdoorsman choose not to wear it.

I personally prefer Helly Hansen Fibre Pile, which is basically polyester "artificial" wool. It's tougher, thicker, warmer, faster drying, more elastic and far more hard wearing then Polartec Fleece. (Looks a lot different though)Two problems with it, though:

1) It starts to look natty VERY quickly. (That's one of the reasons Polarfleece is so popular; it has "Corporate Appeal"

2) It isn't windproof worth a damn. You've gotta put a protective layer on top if it's windy outside. If the outside air is still, then you can get away with no protective layer.

I don't mind wool, I have an excellent US army M1951 wool sweater/jacket type thing hanging off the back of this chair. It's about as warm as my HH fibre-pile, and quite windproof as well. It's just itchy as all hell, and although it repels water, when it's wet, it weighs about as much as I do.

Adam