Epic Cotton?

[mark a.]

I got the new Howies catalogue through yesterday (rather worryingly for my bank balance I'm apparently one of their top customers...) and they have a new jacket made from Epic Cotton.

(It looks like a lovely, tempting jacket too, but hey I've already got too many and I've already got an eye on one of their ventile Pilot jackets if they're ever on sale.)

I've had a look online for Epic Cotton and, not surprisingly, the manufacturer's website extols its virtues, saying it's the best thing since sliced bread, and probably before that too.

Does anyone know anything about the stuff? If the marketing blurb is true (which I doubt it fully is) it could beat Goretex, Ventile etc hands down as long as you're not standing around under a waterfall or sprinting up a mountain.

Or is it another "It's OK, depending on what you're doing" type material, like everything else?

 

[addyb]

It's not that great, truthfully. All it is silicone encapsulated cotton. That is to say, the individual cotton fibres have been covered in silicone. The end result is a comfortable cotton jacket that'll fend of a bit of rain. In terms of breathability, it's probably at a midway point between Ventile and any WPB (waterproof breathable) garment on the market.

Next to oilskin and PVC, WPB garments are the most waterproof outdoor garment on the market. No ifs ands or buts.

We all know that Ventile is lovely stuff. I would say that Epic will dry out much faster but is the end result worth it? Probably not.

Stick with your guns, Mark. If it aint' broke, don't fix it.

Adam

 

[mark a.]

Cheers Adam. I was wondering how they can really get away with saying it's cotton when really it's silicone wrapped around a handy substrate. I suppose it still hangs like cotton, but doesn't absorb water. So presumably it's lighter than Ventile.

Anyway, it's interesting, and something I hadn't heard of before. I doubt I'll buy the jacket - it looks really nice, but I don't think I need to spend lots of money just out of curiosity about a new fabric...!

 

[addyb]

You're welcome for the info Mark. I'm definately BCUK's resident clothing idiot.

But look at it this way: The reason Ventile is so expensive is because of the complexity of the fabric. The machines at Talbot take a long time to set up, and when they have to weave the 24,000 seperate strands of cotton that make up a garment that takes time and effort, right?

With Epic brand garments, a company can take a lower grade fabric that isn't as difficult to manufacture and compensate for that by silicon encapsulation. I looked into Epic fabrics a couple of years ago and basically came to the same conclusion that you did. Stick with Ventile and you can't go wrong.

Adam