geo said:
Don't know about you but was on a rainy range in November. Some had the new CADPAT jackets while others had the OD ones. Didn't take long for the ODs to get soaked thru while I stayed dry through the whole day.... I'm no tech but I know what wet is.... there's gotta be a difference in the specs
Nfld_Sapper said:
Geo I think the reason some stayed dry was the ICE kit has the Gortex waterproof-breathable laminate is actually near the top of the jacket rather than next to the wearer in the IECS jacket. (or so I have been told by my contacts at LFTEU)
The probably reason why your cadpat ICE jacket stayed 'dry' and the OD IECS jackets got 'wet' is due to the DWR (Durable Water Repellent) Treatment given to the new nyco (nylon-cotton) twill shell of the ICE jacket.
All material is given this DWR treatment at the fabric mill and it causes water to 'bead' on the surface rather than be absorbed into the material.
Over time through exposure to the elements and repeated launderings, the DWR treatment wears off and water stops beading on the surface and is is absorbed into the material immediately.
A characteristic of the nyco twill shell is that since there is cotton in the material, it is a great absorber of water. As the DWR wears off, this becomes much more apparent.
In order for a WB (Waterproof-Breathable) garment to work is largely dependent on the ability of the water vapor that is passed through the WB membrane to pass through the shell fabric. A shell fabric that is saturated in liquid water cannot pass water vapor (coming from the inside of the jacket) as effectively as a shell fabric that is not saturated. Wen your surface fabric is saturated, any water vapor passing through the WB membrane condenses when it comes in contact with the saturated shell fabric and the WB membrane thus effectively stops passing moisture from the inside of the jacket through to the outer shell and the wearer starts to feel wet from a buildup of internal moisture, which eventually begins to turn from moisture vapor into liquid, and over time, gives the impression that your jacket is soaking wet.
The best thing you can do is that if you're wearing either the ICE or IECS jackets is to treat them regularly with a water-repellent spray/wash ie. Nikwax, Scotchguard, Granger's, etc. This will keep the surface fabric beading water, and allowing the WB membrane to pass moisture vapor from inside the jacket.
What a far more efficient system is when the WB membrane is laminated directly to the face fabric. This allows for a faster rate of transmission of internal moisture outwards, and when an inherently water-repellent fabric (read a non-cotton/cotton blend) is used that process isn't retarded by wetting-out/saturation of the surface fabric. Additionally, a 'shell' type jacket like this is considerably lighter as you are going from 3 layers of material to 1 as the surface fabric, WB membrane and tricot lining are sandwiched into a single layer.
A good example of such this efficient concept is the ICE Tactical Hardshell jacket (no relation to the CF issued AirForce or Army ICE jacket):
http://www.icetactical.com/hard-shelljkt.html
ICE will be producing a Canadianized version of this jacket in Cadpat temperate. Anyone interested in it please email me for details: matt@icetactical.com