Two years ago, WL Gore launched Katana, the first fabric in their Advanced Combat Fabric line. This latest version is called Excalibur. While Katana was dialed in for hot weather use, Excalibur is more a broad utility fabric. Think cold to hot weather. This is thanks to its 18% ePTFE fiber content combined with NYCO. It also offers high durability due to the construction which features twisted ePTFE adding strength by increasing tear and snag resistance. Also, it dries faster thanks to lower water weight gain. All of this combines to a higher strength fabric for a given weight.
(Pictured is Katana to the left and Excalibur to the right)
To put this in perspective, current NYCO fabric used in ACUs is 6.5 oz. Katana, which is primarily for hot weather is 5.3 oz and Excalibur is 6 oz per square yard. What’s more, NYCO’s air permeability (how well it breathes) is 8 cfm, while Katana is 70 Cam and Excalibur is 40 cfm. Katana allows you to radiate heat very rapidly promoting evaporites cooling. Excalibur on the other hand hits the sweet spot for cooling while keeping cold wind from blowing right through your clothing.
Excalibur is currently undergoing evaluation by all of the services.
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