![]() “The toolbox is so much bigger now,” said Jordan Wand, vice president of product and marketing at Outdoor Research. “This is blown in, just like down, and it looks and feels just like down.” Similarly, Mountain Hardwear redesigns its synthetic Micro Thermostatic Jacket (MSRP $175) with its Thermal.Q Elite, multi-denier filament insulation for both a soft feel and high loft. “A lot of synthetic jackets look flat and plain,” said Rab U.S. See it in numerous pieces, including the Montane Hi-Q Luxe Jacket (MSRP $239), the Dynafit TLT Jacket (MSRP $220) and the Flylow Tamara PrimaLoft Luxe Hoody (MSRP $225).ģM also looks to mimic down with its Thinsulate Featherless Insulation, of which a proprietary version is micro-baffled in Rab’s Nimbus jacket in a lightweight Pertex Quantum outer. For 2015-16, PrimaLoft debuts its Luxe insulation, which is meant to look, feel and perform like down - with better moisture management. While water-resistant down continues to be a big hit with consumers, the race to create the best “synthetic down” continues. The demand has created the “active-insulation” category, which doesn’t just reduce the amount of insulation in a piece, but effectively caters the product to the user’s need, whether that be through new insulations, shell and lining materials, or the overall construction. A big complaint of the standard puffy is that the shell’s material needs to be down proof, which also then blocks moisture from escaping. For these more active pursuits, they’re looking for lighter and stretchier insulation that breathes and wicks better when sweat starts rolling inside. Lately, the answer has been “quite a bit.” Consumers are becoming more aerobic during the winter months, preferring to head out for shorter, higher-intensity workouts - a winter run or some Nordic skiing in the park - versus a full-day hike or resort skiing. How much heat are their bodies going to produce? Rather, it’s about how active they will be in that jacket. Often, the best question for customers isn’t about how cold will it get. And at Winter Market 2015, brands are offering their largest scope of solutions yet. That fact opens a wide playing field for the best insulation piece to send the customer out the door with. It’s the body that provides the heat … it’s the jacket that insulates and manages that heat. Minus the human body (or any independent electric heat), if you throw any jacket out in the cold, none of them will be warm. While it used to be: “Oooh, I’ll take that nice big, puffy jacket and be on my way, ” the customer’s needs are a bit more complex these days and so are the products.įor starters, no jacket is inherently warm. ![]() Plus - scientific or not - it was darn cold for much of the country these past two seasons (minus the West Coast), and consumers flocked to stores looking for that next best “warm jacket.” It’s time to send your local meteorologist a gift basket.ĭespite often misusing the term “polar vortex” these past two winters, the repeated utterance of the term has undoubtedly helped ring cash registers across the country for outdoor specialty retailers selling insulation apparel. 20 – 24. It’s an opportunity for you to catch up on stories you might have missed in O.R.D., and for us to update and upload the articles to our searchable archives. Throughout the next month, SNEWS will recap its coverage of Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2015 with select stories from the O.R. Get access to everything we publish when you
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