Columbia Sportswear has spent the last few year project a raw kind of waterproofed clothing applied science calledOutDry Extreme . It ’s a keen reversal of waterproof gear design that promises to deliver unheard of sobriety and comfort . But will it work or is it all marketing BS ?
Good waterproof gear is indispensable in the outdoors . It ’s also really hard to make , especially when you ’re trying to design wearable waterproof material like pelting jackets . AsWes ’ elephantine explainer points out , there ’s a core tension when it comes to rain gear : You ’ve got to keep expectant rainfall out while also admit water supply vapor to get off from within , so that your physical structure does n’t become a dank , uncomfortable , hypothermic mess .
Take for example , a vast gum elastic fisherman ’s rain coating that ’s completely impervious to water in both charge . No water gets in , no water gets out . Sure you do n’t get squiffy from the pelting or from ocean atomizer , but you ’re still soaked because the water vapor your soundbox is always wearying has nowhere to go .
Traditional waterproof gear , like stuff that endure a Gore - Tex label uses a three - layered grammatical construction to get both jobs done : There ’s a waterproofed / breathable membrane sandwiched between two pieces of textile . The outer textile layer is treat with a durable weewee repellent ( more on DWR anon ) , and the inner layer is a liner that produce the water off your skin and help move it to the tissue layer , keeping you nice and wry . It works pretty well , and has for the 45 years since the technology was first introduced .
Columbia ’s novel OutDry Extreme technical school is built differently . In this case , the outside is covered in a weewee - sloshed membrane that makes the jacket crown bet and experience more like a rubber drybag than the common fabric outside of traditional WP / B gear . Columbia ’s external tissue layer repel the big water droplets from rain ( or yes , ocean spray ) , but it ’s not entirely sealed off ; the tissue layer has trillion of tiny perforations that let water vapor evaporate out of the jacket .
Below the membrane is a liner made of a nylon fabric that wicks piss out from your tegument . If the whole system of rules works as publicise , an OutDry Extreme crown will keep you dry , cool , and comfortable .
How does OutDry Extreme compare to everything else out there on waterproofness and breathability ?
For waterproofness , it ’s easier to immobilize down numbers . At bare minimum , a “ rainproof ” jacket should be capable to defy 10,000 mm of water supply pressure before it plume through . According to Columbia , OutDry Extreme can resist 20,000 millimeter of pressure without any job . So it ’s waterproof . By comparison , Wes ’s preferred WP / type B cloth , Polartec ’s Neoshell , can defy 10,000 mm and Gore - Tex starts at 28,000 mm .
Now lease ’s return to the long-lasting urine repellent coating I referred to above . Here , Columbia thinks it ’s solved one of the self-aggrandizing problems with Neoshell and Gore - Tex and the like . These applied science rely on a textile outer layer treat with DWR . This finishing tends to degrade with habiliment and abrasions to the material , which means after you ’ve taken your gear for a few romps in the wood , it ’s locomote to start soaking up water in its outer bed , reducing its breathability . You ’ll have to withdraw your coat from sentence to time . OutDry Extreme meanwhile has no DWR , and thus , is n’t subject to the debasement . The outer tissue layer is tough and does n’t cheapen . It ’s just rainproof by nature of its design .
As for breathability , surprisingly , there ’s no widely accepted methodological analysis for testing this key attribute . Columbia ’s Director of Innovation declined to provide any information I could use to objectively compare OutDry Extreme ’s breathability with the competitors . He ’s convinced in the tech — how could he not be — and hopes that one daylight he ’ll be able to prove his company ’s claims :
With OutDry Extreme we have a dewy-eyed account for how the material breathe . [ It ’s ] “ air permeableness ” and moisture vapor transfer made possible by “ micro - porous ” membranes . In the causa of OutDry Extreme [ Breathability ] at the highest uncommitted levels in the industry and we are currently working on young , 3rd party - validated test that prove this call .
So where does that leave alone us ? Well , for all their shortcomings , three - layer raingear is prove by years and years of experience , while OutDry Extreme is a technology that ’s been announced for just a few day now . The design sure as shooting rings vocalize , but experience is the miss proof .
I ’ve currently got one of Columbia ’s young OutDry jackets in my possession , but I have n’t put it through what you could consider a real trial — it has n’t rained severely yet ! I will say that even on muggy New York days it stays pretty freaking cool and dry inside , which bodes well for the unrequited breathability question . There are also a number of other facet that determine the quality of gear . For example , Columbia ’s gone pretty hardcore with exterior bed that are wholly sealed . The caller also has its own proprietary zip that are either aesthetical differentiators or smooth zipping introduction , depending on how you see them
to boot , remember that there are other young engineering out there vie for your attention . For example , the newNWAlpine Eyebright jacket , which Wes is currently testing . We ’ll keep you posted as we learn more at about these engineering — we’d hate for you to run out shopping right off . Dry is one affair . gamey and dry is quite another .
Photos by Michael Hession
Columbiareview
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