Chicago company Nonetheless Garments has taken a fabric from the traditional alpine world and applied it to the urban bike commuter. Made from Polartec's NeoShell fabric, the weatherproof Compound cycle pants are as stylish as they are functional.
Tag: NeoShell
The waterproof breathable membrane war that began last year is finally coming to a head…
Polartec continues to win awards for their new fabric technologies- first with Power Shield Pro in last year's Kishtwar Jacket from The North Face
, and now with NeoShell in the new ISPO Award Winning Snaefell Jacket from 66ºNorth. The Snaefell Jacket takes a waterproof and highly breathable fabric, combined with innovative design details, to create the perfect alpine jacket for next winter.
At the big NeoShell launch in Boston last November, Polartec gave me a Westcomb jacket made out of their new waterproof breathable fabric. I have put the hardshell jacket through the paces, wearing it for hiking through downpours in San Francisco and ice climbing in Ouray, Colorado.
Yesterday we were given a tour of the Polartec manufacturing plant outside of Boston in Lawrence, MA. The thirty-eight acre campus employs over 1000 people and is continually churning out fabric to be made into base layers, insulation layers or soft shells (and now hard shells) for both the military and consumer outdoor industry.
The Holy Grail of the outdoor industry is to develop a fabric that is waterproof yet truly breathable at the same time. As of yesterday, Polartec has thrown their hat in the hard shell ring with the launch of NeoShell. Directly taking on GORE-TEX and eVent, Polartec claims that NeoShell is the most breathable waterproof fabric on the market.