Fabrics
Cleaning
Keeping your gear clean will help to ensure it lasts for years to come, here are a few helpful tips.
- Clean with water and if needed a specialised outdoor cleaning product such as Nikwax. This ensures any coatings on the fabrics are not damaged.
- Clean and dry your gear before storage, and store somewhere dry. This ensures no mould or mildew will grow on your gear.
- Clean and lube your zippers! Dirt will quickly wear out the teeth and sliders on zips. Clean them with a toothbrush and lubricate the slider with a wax based lubricant. Candle wax is fine.
500D Cordura Nylon
A classic in the outdoor industry, 500D Cordura is a tough no nonsense fabric. I have been using this fabric since I started and it is my favourite.
Durable enough to withstand abrasion but soft enough to give a nice hand feel. The fabric is coated with a PU coating on the inside and has a DWR water repellant coating on the inside. This makes the fabric water resistant. Weight is roughly 350gsm.
https://cordura.com/classic-fabric
Challenge Outdoor ECOPAK EPX200
ECOPAK™ is the world’s only durable and waterproof fabric made from 100% recycled polyester fiber and film. Each yard upcycles about 20 plastic water bottles into durable technical textiles.
EPX200 is a laminate fabric comprising of a 200D Polyester face fabric, 45 degree blue crossply and a 70D ripstop backing. Being a laminate this makes the fabric waterproof (note if seams are not sealed water will seep in). Weight is roughly 200gsm.
Challenge Outdoor ULTRA200
ULTRA200 is a fabric woven out of UHMWPE fibres (non-branded Dyneema® or Spectra®). These fibres have a tensile strength 15x stronger than steel making it extremely durable for its weight.
The woven fabric is laminated to a 0.5 mil RUV™ film backing making the fabric waterproof to 200psi. Weight is just 99gsm making this a very lightweight but durable option.
Dimension Polyant VX21 X-Pac
VX21 is a laminate comprising of a 210D Nylon face fabric, 0.25 mil film, Black post-consumer recycled polyester X-PLY® at 22° and a 50 denier polyester taffeta backing.
The fabric is waterproof and weights 210gsm.
Dimension Polyant Liteskin LS42
Liteskin LS42 has a non-woven Polyester face fabric laminated to a 420D Nylon backing via a 0.5 mil film. The non-woven face fabric gives a unique look.
The fabric is waterproof and weighs 288gsm,