Mountain Hardwear Dry.Q Waterproof Breathable

Mountain Hardwear Dry.Q waterproof breathable

One day after Polartec announced their new NeoShell waterproof breathable fabric, Mountain Hardwear has officially announced their own suite of waterproof breathable technologies called Dry.Q. Add these to Columbia's own Omni-Dry waterproof breathable technology and recent OutDry acquisition, and it seems like everyone is trying to find an alternative to GORE-TEX these days. 

Dry.Q Elite, the premier of the waterproof breathable technology family, is similar to Polartec NeoShell in using air-permeability to bring breathabilty to a durable waterproof fabric. Dry.Q Elite supposedly breathes instantly, allowing air and moisture to pass outward through the fabric without you having to work up a sweat first. 

Dry.Q Active sounds more similar to the new GORE-TEX Active Shell as it is a lightweight, stretch, waterproof-breathable fabric meant for highly active daily sports such as trail running. Dry.Q Core is a more versatile and durable fabric that will be used as the foundation across all categories. 

"Having our own waterproof-breathable technology allows us to take a more holistic and innovative approach to designing each garment,” said Mountain Hardwear President Topher Gaylord. Many brands are looking for a way to get away from the rigorous design restrictions that Gore puts on its customers.  

With Mountain Hardwear being owned by Columbia, I am curious how much technology is being shared with Omni-Dry or if this is a totally new membrane and lamination process. The Dry.Q waterproof breathable technologies will be featured across Mountain Hardwear's Fall 2011 Alpine, Snowear and Mountain categories.

So get ready for the waterproof breathable wars next year. What do you think-is all this new fabric technology exciting or just confusing?

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