the suggestion of an insulation

W.L. GORE MAYBE BACK PEDDLING

Each day I receive an online magazine published by SBG or sporting goods business with articles about the goings on in the outdoor industry. Today October 28 had a most interesting article titled “W.L. Gore Launches New Insulation Technology for Fall ‘16”.

As you can imagine when I read “new insulation” I was intrigued, however there was much more in the article than the stuff about insulation. They are venturing into the finished garment market under the “Gore Branded Products” label. They are addressing and I quote; “protection that isn’t necessarily fully waterproof”. According to a product specialist at W.L. Gore Chris Eisenmann; I quote; “The effort to expand into the new water-resistant categories is intended to address gaps between hard and soft shell protection and insulation”. He further states and I quote; “Not everything needs to be fully waterproof”, he said. “We realized in this space of different weather conditions, there are different opportunities for our products”.

I did not know that there was a new water- resistant category of garments now being made. In the 53 years I have been in the textile business I believe all of the fabrics that are made for use in the manufacture of outerwear are processed with a water resistant chemical which we all know as a durable water repellent finish. Considering that the product they have been selling for 40 or so years is not fully waterproof nor it is particularly vapor permeable (they like to say breathable, probably because they do not understand the meaning of the words) is probably what they are finally realizing.

He further states and I quote; “One driving force for the expansion is well informed, smart phone enabled consumers, who have instant access to weather reports. If they see it’s going to rain all day, they will grab their Gore-Tex jacket (the one that is waterproof and breathable as they like to say even though it is neither) and be guaranteed to stay dry, but if they see there is only a slight chance for some light rain, then they want something different”. So I guess they now have the opportunity to own the newest Gore product trade named Gore Thermium. (If you look up the word Thermium in any dictionary you will not find it.) Thermium is a new “insulation shell construction”. Here is the explanation I presume; they are referring to a garment since they state“a new insulation shell construction that offersa two-layer, seam taped, windproof, water-resistant and breathable laminate coupled with the partner brand’s insulation of choice and an inner lining”. At this point they say and I quote; “To be clear, Gore is not developing a new insulation”. They are trying to make the case that using their material Thermium will make the insulation that is used perform better. Why (?) because and I quote; “Gore Thermium is the package that encapsulates the insulation for better performance”. They do not want the manufacturer to quilt the Thermium fabric; they state Thermium must be non-stitched”. At this point they give continuous synthetic fiberfill a boost since they state that it is what should be used with the Thermium. They know that it is unnecessary to quilt the continuous filament fiberfill; i.e. LAMILITE. Of course they would never say that. The may also know that the elimination of quilt stitching enhances the insulating capability of an insulation and doing that will compromise the Thermiums ability to work. I could understand not quilting if the fabric was considered waterproof but by their admission it is not, so what harm will quilting do to the fabric; none. However, the quilting will compromise the insulating capability of the fiberfill used.

Further in the article it is stated the following and I quote; “Gore officials acknowledged they are taking some risks venturing outside of the waterproof-breathable world. They plan to work with retailers to educate consumers on the differences between “Gore” and “Gore-Tex” technology.” And finally this fellow Eisenmann says and I quote; “We feel we have a lot more apparel technology to offer consumers under the Gore name.”

There is no waterproof-breathable world, unless one is referring to living entities such as all of the animals including humans, plants, insects, etc. that are truly water-proof and have the ability to breath since all have lungs of some sort. Fabric made by man is inanimate so it cannot have both of those attributes. Fabric can be made via coating waterproof. If you want fabric to be vapor permeable it is not waterproof coated. However, Gore has demonstrated that they are capable of coating fabrics via a lamination process that is not waterproof.

Recently I received a technical report done by the Canadian Defense R&D LABS.

What they discovered was quite remarkable as far as I am concerned. The study was done to find out why frost builds up in sleeping bags, primarily those insulated with down. When moisture leaves the human body while in a down filled sleeping bag the moisture migrates through the lining of the bag into the down and it gets absorbed. If the moisture cannot get out of the down by evaporation eventually from a few night of sleeping in the bag frost builds up which turns to ice and then of course you will never be warm in the bag. One reason they show is the effect of the cold on the polymer which the nylon is made from. The colder the temperature the more waterproof the exterior fabric becomes.

The higher the material count such as the ripstop nylon needed for the shell of all down bags the worse the situation becomes. I believe every mountain climber using a down bag has firsthand experience with ice buildup in their down bag. I have spoken with a few who told me as much in the past. This report also let me know why the moisture coming out of the human body while someone is using a Wiggy bag gets out of the bag is because I use a low count nylon taffeta meaning that the yarns are not as numerous as the high count needed for a down bag. This same buildup of moisture that freezes in other synthetic bags is because they pack in the fiber building a wall that does not have spaces within the fiber as can be seen with Lamilite. And these companies also like to use high count nylon which further complicates the situation.

So Gore is now looking at getting into the garment business because many of the companies that have sold Gore-Tex jackets have left for their own non-functioning waterproof-vapor permeable product. I guess when you have a large company with significant money you can try anything. So I do see them back peddling somewhat with their new non-waterproof material.