Outdoor Research has long been a top tier outdoor brand with strong credentials in the military world. Starting in 2020, Brigantes and Outdoor Research will join forces and begin development of a new cold weather clothing system, to be introduced throughout the UK and EU.
Building on the core elements of the existing clothing range and using key technical fabrics such as GORE-TEX and Primaloft®, the range of products is designed to target the needs of the European militaries within Norway and Northern Europe.
The Colossus Parka and Tradecraft products have already seen use in the very far north of Norway where the exceptional insulation provided by Primaloft®, enabled operating at much lower temperatures with a far lower pack volume. This far exceeded the performance experienced with alternative items and with the evolution of Primaloft® insulation, products in the Tactical Cold Weather Project are expected to get lighter and warmer.
The cold weather system will cover all layers including mid, insulation and shell. This clothing system will be a significant addition to the excellent gloves and mitts already used by many units and will enable a complete solution built from the combined expertise of both North American and European operators.
For more information contact warrior@brigantes.com
For international enquiries: international@brigantes.com
Why not partner with Arktis? Made in the UK and excellent quality.
Oh well.
Arktis is bombproof gear, but as far as I know – I’d be happy to be proven wrong – they don’t have as much experience with more technical materials and techniques as OR. Things like membranes, no-sow construction techniques (RF welding etc), the various types of insulations, etc. OR also has experience with tactical equipment so it’s not really coming out of nowhere.
Arktis’ technical equipment isn’t really comparable with top outdoor brands. It’s bombproof and definitely ahead of grunt stuff but…
Arktis’ line of waterproof uniforms uses membranes covered with exterior 50/50 ripstop in order to protect the inner membrane from abrasion and cuts. I am personally extremely fond of my sets of this clothing, and it functions perfectly.
Due to having two layers it is somewhat heavier than the current vogue of outdoor technical garments, of course. However, considering that such garments from the likes of OR and Arc’teryx cost four times as much and are infinitely more fragile, not to mention that the uncovered membrane material makes way more noise than Arktis’ exterior ripstop solution, the Arktis kit is far more suitable for purposes other than the ski resort.
Membraned waterproof fabric lamination tends to follow one of three formats. Firstly is two layer. This is the cheapest and is a face fabric laminated to a membrane. Quite often this then has a drop liner behind it. This is quite often the least breathable and heaviest. Secondly is 2.5 layer where a coating is applied to the back of a two layer laminated membrane. It is often used for the lightest garments and appears regularly on high activity products. It has the downside of not necessarily being that robust. The final version is three layer. This offers the best weight to performance ratio. It is the most expensive to produce but is generally the fabric type you will find in high end mountaineering and ski garments. Fragility could refer to puncture or abrasion resistance. On the whole this is a function of the face fabric. The thing to remember is that weight isn’t necessarily related to robustness and that on the whole you get what you pay for.
Technical garment production is certainly the domain of more main stream outdoor brands. We tend to see the technicality with them which is then translated across in to military formats. This is certainly the case with OR. Arktis have recently moved their factory and working on a number of future projects but are focused at a different level to the outdoor brands.
We know Arktis really well and good friends with them. We will let them know your comments.
I want that jacket without any logos.