rain wear

OutDry Extreme is what Columbia Sportswear calls their “new” technology applying it to rainwear.

Instead of applying the PTFE film as Gore does to the back of the fabric they are applying a film to the face of the fabric. If you were to use the PTFE film on the face of the fabric it would be white only. However Columbia is using a clear film so any color that the fabric happens to be will be seen.

In their literature they do not specifically name the film but they do claim that and I quote; “OutDry Extreme is the first waterproof ultra-breathable jacket with a waterproof membrane on the outside of the jacket for permanent water repellency and durability.” My question is why is it permanently water repellent versus permanently water proof? Not answered in the literature. They do claim that the fabric will not wet out because there is no DWR applied to the fabric surface since it is the film. They then follow up with and I quote ; ”This is a durable, permanent waterproof layer that actively repels moisture and rain”. Question I have isn’t moisture rain?`

The next paragraph asks the question and I quote; “But does it breathe? My response would be NO since it is not alive. But they follow up with and I quote; “OutDry Extreme is ultra-breathable thanks to microscopic perforations in the membrane that allows moisture to escape while keeping rain at bay”. This sentence tells me what the membrane is, and I believe it is a monolithic membrane. It has been around for many years. I first heard of it being applied to the drape that separate enclosures in emergency rooms. The purpose was to keep body fluids from one person getting to the neighboring person in the emergency room. I believe the Sympatex film is a monolithic film.

They further claim to have a lining in the garment that is moisture wicking, the best I have been able to find out about the lining fabric is that it is nylon. With all of the people in the employ of Columbia and it numbers in the many hundreds maybe a few thousand, you would think at least one of these textile people would know that nylon fabric is incapable of wicking since nylon does not absorb water. But then again they further claim that their film is also capable of and does wick the moisture away from you. And of course you would think they would know by this time in their history that waterproof-breathable material is nothing more than a figment of the imagination of all companies that claim to make such a material.

I encourage one and all to log on to the Columbia web site and locate all of the imaginary information that they are presenting about this new approach to rainwear.

Now nobody has to believe me but I expect one and all who buy these garments will discover when they are very active they will be just as clammy in these garments as they would be in any garment that is advertised as waterproof and breathable.

Notice they all refuse to change from breathable to vapor permeable, because they know their material is not vapor permeable.