Outer Layer

Outer Layer

Waterproof / breathable technology

Goretex has such a strong brand that it has become synonymous with rainwear, used as Hoover is for vacuum cleaners or Kleenex for tissues. At one time this was a true reflection of the market for lightweight waterproof / breathable jackets, but Goretex is now just one of many WPBR technologies, and perhaps no longer the best.

For their water-resistance WPBR jackets rely on, among other things, the tendency of water to bead on porous hydrophobic (water hating) materials. A Goretex membrane is a stretched sheet of PTFE that has gaps which allow air / water vapour to pass through the membrane, but water will bead enough on the membrane to sit on it rather than pass through it. Additional layers are used by Goretex to protect the membrane from contamination from oil and dirt, which can reduce the tendency of the water to bead and start to leak.

EVent is another stretched PTFE membrane that uses a treatment to the membrane itself to repel oils and so remove the need for a protective layer, so increasing breathability.

WPBR coatings have always been seen as a cheap alternative to a membrane but are reportedly approaching or exceeding the breathability of Goretex and even eVent (Entrant GII XT), but have yet to appear in the high quality jacket market.

For the time being then it's Goretex vs EVent (and possibly Patagonia's Velocity) at the top end of the market and the choice comes down to the outright breathability of eVent vs the tried and tested technology of that extra protective layer on the membrane used by Goretex. For the military market in particular the popular choice would probably be Goretex.

Duvet Jackets

While the choice of WPBR technology may be a tough one, choosing the fill of a duvet jacket is comparatively straight forward. For warmth in dry conditions down is still unbeatable, while for wet conditions a synthetic fill is recommended as down quickly becomes useless when soaked through. For most military and police uses therefore synthetic fills are preferable. This Tribe's jackets include three synthetic fill jackets - Snugpak's Sleeka elite and Sleeka Multicam and the Keela Belay jacket are all particularly well suited to military use.

Primaloft is probably the Goretex of synthetic down. Developed in the 80s it is the market leader and retains many of the characteristics of down. There are plenty of alternatives with many manufacturers offering proprietary alternatives.