My Ventile anorak (pics!)

[addyb]

I hope that some of the more astute of you may have noticed by now that ever since I joined bushcraft, I've always referred to my Ventile anorak I recieved last March. Well, I finally got around to borrowing a digital camera, and taking a couple photos of it. So here they are, plus a little bit of history behind it:

The first photo is of my Dad (holding flag) on top of an un-named 14,000 footer in Afghanistan in 1975. Notice the anoraks worn by both climbers. The three of them at this time, all had matching Ventile anoraks. (The third was worn by the photographer)

[/IMG] (I apologize for the blurry-ness, but it's not a very good digital camera!)

This one is of that same jacket, the one worn by the photographer, in 2005. It's quite battered, and I had to have the cuffs and hem re-done by a seamstress. Sure, it's sunfaded, and the new cuffs are black, but apart from that, this bit of Ventile hasn't stopped working in 30 years. It still keeps me warm and dry. And I know that if I take care of it, it could last ME another 30 years.

[/IMG]

This third shot is of the manufacturer, and as you can see, it's double layer. I have no idea who Bobby Sportswear is/was, but I'd say they made good jackets!

[/IMG]

 

[lardbloke]

Thats a fantasic pic you have there, was it an expo up into the mountains or just a little jolly??

I love the old jackets, they are generally a little more cumbersome than their modern counterparts, but boy they do the job. When I worked with the Mountain Rescue many years back I rmember some of the old boys used to wear those whilst the newer bods wore horrible nylon versions that stank at the slightest whiff of sweat. Obviously today they wear the all singing and dancing breathables.

Here is quick heads up about the ventile:

Ventile was originally designed at the order of Winston Churchill to protect Royal Air Force pilots during World War II when they were shot down and landed on the frigid Atlantic Ocean. Scientists and technologists within the textile industry carried out rigid and exhaustive tests before formulating a series of cotton fabrics matching detailed specifications. These became known as VENTILE fabrics. The name VENTILE derives from the latin word “to ventilate”. And since WWII Ventile has become legendary! The fabric derives its waterproof ability from a patented weaving process that produces an extremely tight finish, allowing the natural Egyptian staple cotton fibers to breath while repelling water and wind. The result is an extremely tightly woven cotton fiber that is totally waterproof but also breathable. Ventile is also warm, windproof and weatherproof, even in extreme conditions. Yet because it is a natural fabric, made from the finest long staple cotton, and not coated or laminated in any way, it breathes naturally and far more effective than any other all‑weather fabric. While at the same time, it wears, looks and feels as only a natural fabric can. There is truly nothing like Ventile.

I wonder if 'Bobby' Sportwear is still going today??

 

[addyb]

Yeah, it's pretty neat stuff. (Ventile) In the past 6 months, I've worn it in some seriously crazy weather, and stayed dry. I haven't even treated it yet with cotton proof, either! One thing I have noticed about the anorak is that after a long time in the rain (2-3 hours) I get about a dollar-coin sized spot of moisture inside, but other than that, nothing. This is because of the seams, I'm guessing. (I've noticed that more modern jackets have placed shoulder and hood seams elsewhere, to solve this problem.) Also, the way the hood is cut is pretty cool, because when I'm not wearing it, but have the collar zipped up all the way, it forms a sortof protection layer. Difficult to explain, but it fits so that no water pours down your neck. I bet if I proofed this anorak with Grangers or Nikwax, it would make it even better than it already is.


It's funny, because when he was my age (20) he was scaling peaks, and I'm going to college. Oh well, to each his own!

Adam

 

[greg2935]

looks like a really good functional jacket, look after it!

 

[havingagiraffe]

There is truly nothing like Ventile.

Here's an interesting quote from pages 50 and 51 of "Design and Make Expedition Equipment" by Don Robertson (ISBN 0 905425 07 3). It's an old book, but Mr Robertson actually worked for the firm which made Ventile, so the info should be trustworthy.

"The large amounts of water vapour passed by Ventile fabrics are the function of cellulose in the cotton fibres.

The waterproof quality is not due to swelling of the cotton fibres. I believe this function is due to the invention...by the original workers at Shirley Institute of the first micro porous waterproof fabric. A photograph under the microscope ...shows how the tight packing of the fine cotton yarns produces a mass of very small holes. Only more experiments will prove or disprove this claim....

Bleached Ventile wets instantly....

One of my contributions to survival was the suggestion that drinking water could be filtered through bleached Ventile....To test the efficiency of Ventile as a filter we put a suspension of rice starch in a bag, the granules of rice are the same size as the cysts of amoebic dysentry...no starch came through the Ventile."

The book's no longer in print, but it's worth trying to find a secondhand copy as it's full of plans for easy to make kit ranging from a ventile anorak to a hooped bivi tent made from sofa packaging and bits of fishing rod.

 

[happy camper]

The book's no longer in print, but it's worth trying to find a secondhand copy as it's full of plans for easy to make kit ranging from a ventile anorak to a hooped bivi tent made from sofa packaging and bits of fishing rod.

hello
just did a search and there's a few available both new and used...ordered a copy for just over £6 with postage

 

[addyb]

The waterproof quality is not due to swelling of the cotton fibres. I believe.....

I disagree with that statement. When Ventile begins to soak up water, that is, after it has gotten past the proofing and the tight weave, Ventile stiffens up. After wearing Ventile in the rain for a good couple hours, you can almost stand it up by itself in the corner of your tent. The way I see it, the only explanation for this is the swelling properties of fine cotton yarn. For me, this provides a feeling of security, almost like wearing a suit of armour.

Another factoid: Army surplus stores sometimes sell cotton wash basins. They leak, until the water you've filled them up with soaks into the cotton fibres; they swell, the leaks stop. That pretty much sums up the so called "Ventile action."

Anyway, the point is, my 30 year old anorak is still just as weatherproof today as it was when worn in Afghanistan. Lets see a Gore-Tex jacket do that!

Cheers guys! G'nite!

Adam

 

[havingagiraffe]

hello
just did a search and there's a few available both new and used...ordered a copy for just over £6 with postage

The book's a bit dated but still highly recommended. Goes into quite technical stuff like "hydrostatic head tests" and " work rates and water evaporation from the skin" in terms that even I can understand.

I disagree with that statement. When Ventile begins to soak up water, that is, after it has gotten past the proofing and the tight weave, Ventile stiffens up. After wearing Ventile in the rain for a good couple hours, you can almost stand it up by itself in the corner of your tent. The way I see it, the only explanation for this is the swelling properties of fine cotton yarn.

Here's another quote from Design and Make Expedition Equipment by Don Robertson (ISBN 0 905425 07 3)

"Some garment manufacturers and papers published from famous test houses say that Ventile is waterproof because the already tightly packed yarns swell up when wet to fill all the spaces. This is not true.

I spent many hours wearing a Ventile dry suit, immersed in cold water, without any water getting into the suit. I can tell you that the Ventile fabric is NOT wet. The water on the surface can be brushed off.

Ventile fabric is very difficult to wet as the cotton used is unbleached and the surface has a water repellent finish. It is possible to wet a ventile garment, but we found that to completely wet garments made from Ventile we had to leave the garments under a cold shower for a week.

When Ventile is wet the fibres do, indeed, swell and the fabric becomes so stiff that a jacket will stand up by itself."

Whatever the science behind Ventile, it's still a really cool jacket.

 

[innocent bystander]

And from the ventile website, which i am sure we are all familiar with :

"In extremely wet conditions a slight darkening and stiffening of fabric demonstrates the 'Ventile® Action' . The change in the physical appearance of the fabric indicates that a small amount of water has been absorbed to allow fibres to swell and thus stop the passage of water through the garment. Drying in normal conditions is fast."

Also:

"The long pedigree of the fabric goes back as far as the late 1930's. With war looming, the British government thought that there would be a shortage of flax that was used in those days for fire hoses and water buckets. An alternative was required and research was commenced into the use of cottons, woven in such a way as to keep water in ! And it worked."

 

[addyb]

Yes, I agree with all of you. Ventile is not waterproof just because it swells. There is much more to it than that.

a) It can be treated with a water repellent finish, which on cotton lasts far longer than a treated nylon

b) It is tightly woven, therefore very difficult for water to soak into the fabric.

c) It swells when wet, making it even more waterproof. I was doing some searching the other day, I came up with a fact about Ventile: Due to the weave and yarn, Ventile only absorbs about 10% of it's weight in moisture.

d) Ventile can be double, or even triple layered.

I offer this as proof to the finish on the garment. As you can see, the water just...sits there, and refuses to soak in. I brushed it off with my hand, nothing soaked into the fibres.