Austrian brand Carinthia is well known for their excellent cold weather clothing, sleep systems and shelters. This year at IWA they exhibited a new insulating garment based on their -30 Deg C capable, ECIG, which features a shell made from WL Gore & Associates’ Pyrad FR process. The process is applied to fabric such as Gore-Tex windstopper before it is sewn into a garment. It gives a distinctive look, seen below, to any fabric which has received the process. But what is remarkable, is the performance. Pyrad is a self-extinguishing fabric technology that adds heat and flame protection properties to non-FR textiles. What’s more, the inherent qualities of the base fabric are retained. Fabrics still insulate, still wick and are still durable.
Carinthia isn’t the only company incorporating Pyrad into their line. I’m seeing it more and more in the States and IWA opened my eyes to new uses in Europe.
