or show report

OUTDOOR RETAILER SHOW PREVIEW

This first article is interesting since primaloft to the best of my knowledge has never been used successfully in any sleeping bag since its inception in the late 1980’s. It was tried and as expected failed to perform. However, in their small minds they think they have something that is the answer to an old problem. Their answer is to mingle sand (aerogel) with their chopped staple fiber that will perform by adding warmth to the bottom of the sleeping bag when combined with the klymit ground pad. The klymit ground pads consist of air chambers which perform quite well in swimming pools, but not as ground pads. These people obviously do not understand that the air in the chambers gets cold so you have a cold back. In addition that cold factor will be enhanced by the fact that the primaloft is as inefficient a material for insulating purposes in sleeping bags as any material I have ever seen in 50 plus years of being in the insulation business. I think the reference of an r-value comes from the thin air one breaths at altitude.

1. The weakness of most sleeping

bags is the underside: When

fills are compressed by body

weight, they lose their loft and

insulation. PrimaLoft’s new

answer to this old problem

involves mingling its Gold Insulation

with dense aerogel. The

resulting material, called Cross

Core (available in L.L.Bean’s

Ultralight Aero Sleeping Bag for

fall ‘18), maintains its insulating

properties while compressed,

adding warmth to the

bottom of the bag without big

costs in weight or bulk3. The Klymit Insulated V Ultralite

SL ($120) is the winter-ready

version of the brand’s popular

V Ultralite SL. The pad has an

R-value of 4.4 for winter warmth

and features whisper-quiet

synthetic insulation, all in a lightweight

package (15.9 ounces).

The pad is made with a 20-denier

ripstop polyester fabric and

uses Klymit’s body-mapping and

V-chamber design for weightefficient

Warmth

Lifalof is helly’s own name for primaloft, do they think by calling it their own name it will work better? Think again, as primaloft doesn’t work at all. There is no difference between primaloft black and the primaloft gold with respect to performance and I suspect there is no difference in the fibers used to make the stuff. Helly has a revelation stating that the polyester fiber used to make the lifaloft is hydrophobic, well of course it is a synthetic material i.e. a plastic. Duh!

1. Helly Hansen’s LifaLoft Hybrid

Insulator Jacket ($185) is an

evolution of its popular Lifa

baselayer that uses PrimaLoft

Black active insulation for extra

warmth. According to Helly

Hansen, LifaLoft insulation is

naturally hydrophobic and traps

more air than polyester.

A silent down jacket makes sense to me. The ducks and geese were killed for their plumage so they obviously can’t make noise. The way they use it by quilting it in small spaces also lets you know it will not keep you warm as it did the birds when they were alive.

2. Patagonia’s Silent Down

Jacket for women ($249) is

stretchy for everyday comfort.

Seventy-percent-recycled

polyester taffeta and 700-fill

duck and goose down reclaimed

from other products keep this

jacket green.

Wool is an absorber of moisture, so the product termed merinoloft is 100 percent wool. They call it puffy like patagonia calls their quilted jackets puffy. Neither is actually puffy unless you compare it to a flat piece of nylon fabric. They use a two sided brushed wool material for the body and a one side brushed material for the sleeves. I take exception to the term “warmth without the bulk” if worn in a cold environment like the N.E. U.S.A. is experiencing the last thing you will experience if you are outside in one of these garments is being warm.

3. Channeled fleece provides

warmth without the bulk in

Icebreaker’s MerinoLOFTinsulated

Descender Hybrid

($270)—which is part wool puffy

in the core and part brushed

merino blend in the sleeves.

The next primaloft is a clone of the two previously mentioned. The reality of eco friendly fiberfil is basically a misrepresentation of its ability to work. The polyester materials that are reprocessed come up with the same product as new polyester. If the chopped staple polyester fiberfill doesn’t work when it is made from new material what makes them think (something they don’t do anyway) that a reprocessed polyester fiberfill is going to work.

4. Picture Organic Clothing’s

women’s Chloe Jacket ($160)

features PrimaLoft Silver Eco

insulation, an outer shell made

from 100-percent-recycled

polyester, and is treated with

PFC-free DWR. The puffy is also

reversible, with a bold solid on

one side and bright print on the

other, so you get double the

style in just one piece.

It is obvious that the adidas people have no particular knowledge of insulation because they too are using primaloft. You also know that you cannot have warm feet with this shoe because it has a waterproof membrane in it. You would think they knew that ALL of the moisture from the foot of the person wearing these shoes would stay in the shoe. You know the rest of the story.

3. The adidas Outdoor Terrex Heron

Mid CW CP for men uses PrimaLoft

insulation for superior warmth—even in

wet conditions—as well as a Climaproof

membrane for waterproof protection.

The Stealth rubber outsole provides an

unbeatable grip, while the molded EVA

midsole offers lightweight cushioning.

What is GORE-TEX® Product Technology?

Products engineered with GORE-TEX® fabric are durably waterproof and windproof, combined with optimized breathability — enduring products that maximize protection and comfort for the wearer.

Waterproof, windproof and “optimized breathability”. Gore is looking for a new identity because the old has worn thin.

There were also a number of base layer garments being shown and ALL of them swore that they are breathable and wick moisture. The same story that has been told for the past 20 years or longer, so what makes these companies think (do they) that in the year 2018 something different will take place when someone wears the new garment that is supposedly different from the old.

Also shown is the newest and greatest socks even one with batteries. All are made I believe of wool and all are fashion statements with the array of colors, but worn inside of the waterproof boots you are guaranteed to experience cold feet.

Will report tomorrow on what they publish tonight.