The removable sleeves are a bit of a nostalgic touch in the world of outdoor clothing, but by combining them with cutting-edge Alpha Direct materials, I think we’ve managed to create a new piece of winter wear that will keep you warm no matter where you are or what you are doing.

As the snow starts to melt, it’s easy to feel hot with a regular fleece jacket when the sun comes out, even with the superior breathability of Alpha Direct. But once the sleeves come off, you immediately feel cooler while the vest keeps your core warm. Once the sun goes down, put the sleeves back on for added insulation.

I’ve been wearing a prototype of this jacket in the fall and winter for the past few years, and I’m excited to finally be able to give people the opportunity to wear and enjoy this jacket that I’ve been testing for so long.

November 5, 2019

When I was looking for a new fabric, I thought that thermal clothes should be as breathable as possible, because good ventilation was supposed to create better comfort when on the move. Some companies released new ultra-breathable products using new materials such as Primaloft Next or Octa with no outer fabrics, and in fact, we also had been developing a similar product. We discovered, however, that superior breathability did not always mean better comfort when hiking. Breathable often meant being cold. What’s important is the level and extent of ventilation, the optimum breathability largely depends on each hiker, the duration and intensity of the activity, what he/she does and how much he/she sweats.

Is this newer Pertex Quantum Air a better product just because it is more breathable? I welcome the higher ventilation, but it was so breathable it could get cold. In this respect, it could almost be said that the previous version was better for the fall/winter season. I wondered if there was a way to compensate for this drawback.

As I am hiking, handling hiking gear daily, I sometimes feel that the goal of all outdoor clothing and gear is how to protect and control the body heat.

Heat transfer mechanisms are mainly classified in “conduction”, “convection”, and “radiation”. When you touch something, and if you feel if it’s hot or cold, that’s because of thermal conduction. Thermal convection is the transfer of heat by air or water. The heat from the Sun or a stove is transferred by radiation. The clothes made of Pertex Alpha Direct trap air to keep you warm, so usually conduction and convection are the major factors. Additionally, I decided to improve the product by the remaining radiation; The answer was titanium coating.

When I was wearing the titanium-coated prototype, it seemed warmer than the conventional product. But to be honest, when I tried it out in the field, I was not fully sure if it was warmer or it was simply more comfortable because of the superior breathability. I was not convinced that this was the answer.

So we created another prototype that we named the “Two-Face” prototype. If you like Batman, I’m sure you will understand what I mean. The right half of the Anorak is made of different material from the left half. Through a series of actual field tests, we were able to check the differences between the conventional fabric and the new titanium-coated one.

The “Two-Face” Anorak actually taught us that the new fabric was more breathable, yet a little warmer when not moving. We also tested it on a snowy mountain ridge with wind speeds of about 36-54 km/h and found that the wind resistance did not significantly decline compared to the previous version, even though it was more breathable. But please note that over 54 km/h of wind can penetrate the fabric.

We like experimenting and are extremely happy to be able to deliver a better product because of it. We had fun with the “Two-Face” prototype and will probably do many more in the future.

April 2021