My passion for outdoor clothing (1/2) – Let’s Talk Clothes #45

Published at Mar 17, 2021

Ma passion des vêtements outdoor (1/2) – Parlons Vêtements #45

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Exceptionally, and given the density of the subject, I suggest that you treat the outdoors in two parts. This is dedicated to the PCU, the seven-layer system of the American military. The next one will deal with prices, brands and CSR, a vast subject. Benedict.

The differences between civilian and military outdoor

So in this video, for me, it's really going to be very important to include military clothing, because these are obviously people who are faced with very big challenges in terms of waterproofing , heat or cold.

And there are still some differences with brands for civilians.

The intensity of use is not at all the same.

You understand that a soldier on a mission for several months will wear his clothes much more often than a civilian who goes skiing twice a year for a week , that he will more often be in contact with brambles and branches because he must be able to take paths off the beaten track.

So obviously, you need something sturdy, even if it means having heavier clothes?

On military equipment, there are major challenges in terms of abrasion resistance.

When you wear a tactical vest, in Cordura , or a very heavy backpack, the friction can be very abrasive for the garment , so you need something stronger even if it means being less light, a less present problem as a civilian, unless you carry around all the time with a loaded bulletproof vest.

Moreover, this is why the Combat Shirt was invented , this garment with sleeves in a very robust fabric, but a torso made from a very stretchy and breathable fabric to be comfortable under a plate carrier.

You also need clothing that manages humidity very well for several days, or even several weeks, because they will not necessarily have the opportunity to dry their insulating jacket near a very hot radiator at the end of the day and every evening.

That's why you don't have down in military clothing, because it's a material that becomes difficult to manage as soon as it gets wet and completely loses its insulating power , but we'll come back to that.

There are also issues with fabrics relating to heat resistance.

If you are affected by an explosion and the heat has melted the sleeve of your combat shirt , it's dramatic, so you need materials that have a very specific behavior in the face of flames .

And we're going to come back to this, there is also a whole subject on water, where a civilian, if he is a little soaked, will consider that his rain gear does not work, or is of poor quality. It's a little different among the military, as we'll see.

Generally speaking, these are clothes that must be comfortable, because it affects the morale of the soldier: how do you want to have the motivation to cross a snowy mountain if you think that your parka will not keep you warm enough ?

But on the other hand, what is common to a civilian outdoor brand and a military brand is that everything is based on a layering system.

The PCU: the “all-terrain” s -layer system

So for a long time, I stuck to the three-layer system that is very well known for hiking :

A first layer next to the skin to wick away perspiration
A second to keep warm
And a third in waterproof membrane against the rain

Well… things have changed quite a bit

I'm talking about PCU, the clothing system used by the US military.

What changes compared to 3 layers is the supremacy of waterproof membranes which has seriously wavered.

1. The evolving role of waterproof and breathable membranes

They are criticized for a certain fragility, and a breathability which drops if the pores of the membrane are blocked precisely because of too much perspiration.

And some say that whatever you wear, after a day in the rain, you will be wet, and that's just the way it is.

But if the water wets, the water dries too!

So, the new philosophy is to have clothes that are very breathable, moderately waterproof and which dry very quickly.

We say to ourselves: “you might as well get wet and dry very quickly”.

Basically, it's summed up in one sentence: " cook yourself dry" and it is said that you fall into the water, and you walk an hour behind , normally you should be dry and above all warm , even if it is less than 10°C.

So don't get me wrong, the use of Gore-Tex is still there, but it's really reserved for full rainy days and heavy downpours, not for the occasional drizzle.

As for civilian brands, it's a little different. Because we will consider that a breathable garment but which does not protect very well from the rain is failing, and that it is absolutely necessary to remain as dry as possible so it is a market which is still very influenced by Gore's marketing- Tex , me first! And with great pleasure when I see the Gore-Tex pieces from Acronym .

And this layer system , this PCU, it inspired me quite a bit, and I'll explain to you why .

2. What is the PCU?

It is a system designed for cold, windy, rainy or even snowy climates . But if you're going to hike for a day in spring or summer in good weather, there's no need to worry so much .

And in summer, quite frankly, if you just want to be comfortable for a short day's walk, a sports t-shirt is more than enough. Obviously, take a warmer layer in the backpack and rain gear if the weather is uncertain.

So, what is this system made of? You have 7 layers! Be careful, it is not designed for all 7 layers to be worn at the same time, the goal is not to transform a human into a thousand sheets .

3. Level 1: the base layer

The first is the base layer, the clothing that you wear next to the skin.

Its role is to evacuate water vapor.

For us, this is clearly the role of our merino wool t-shirts : it dries quickly, it doesn't take on odors , it's super thermo-regulating, in short, you know the song.

For the military, it's another matter, because with the very intensive friction of bulletproof vests , merino wool is not sufficiently resistant. They therefore have a fabric , or rather a mesh, from Polartec which dries extremely quickly and which resists abrasion well. In fact, it's very close to a technical sports t-shirt that you can find almost everywhere.

4. Level 2: a thicker base layer

The second layer is still a base layer, but a little warmer , so the role is still to wick away perspiration.

This is where the P olartec Power Grid has “changed the game” , it is like a small, very light and gridded fleece to let the air circulate , perfectly suited to physical effort when it is cold. Today, it's a staple of any serious military brand or hiking brand .

So for BonneGueule , it would be equivalent to either an overshirt, or a slightly thick denim-like shirt to wear over a t-shirt, or our cashmere sweater if you wear it next to the skin.

Except that recently, I have seen that certain brands, like Wild Things or Arc'teryx Leaf , replaced the Polartec Power Grid with… with… Polartec Power Stretch, the same one that we used to create a bomber jacket a few years ago .

This piece was an abject failure for us and I'm sad about it because it's an absolutely fantastic subject in terms of sweat and heat management. I wore this piece in Mongolia , at festivals, in the mountains, it is one of my pieces that has traveled the most.

And I'm not at all surprised that the Houdini brand has a flagship piece in their collection, and for almost ten years.

In short , powerstretch is life!

4. Level 3: “active insulation”

I really like the third layer because in recent years there have been a lot of innovations regarding it.

Basically it's the good old fleece that keeps you warm from Polartec , very warm, limits movement a little too much.

And this is where this type of piece has evolved enormously, where we know how to make very warm layers but which manage the alternation of effort/static position much better.

In English, they call it “active insulation”, that is to say clothing that keeps you warm and which manages well the moments when you have a heat stroke.

Among the kind of technology, the famous Polartec Alpha, which was invented expressly for this military use and which was widely used at BonneGueule , for example with our camo overshirt in Japanese fabric .

I even think that we must be the only “non- outdoor” French brand to have used it for coats or over-shirts .

And the other great technology that I really like is obviously the ClimaShield . So, normally, it comes in another layer which we will see in a moment, but since it manages perspiration well, it is also used for this use where you are moving in the cold.

In the outdoors, the most emblematic piece that uses C limashield is a jacket from Arc'teryx , called the Atom LT, and which is surely one of the most famous pieces of this brand , with their Alpha jacket.

They use a 67g weight of Climashield Apex. Which is the same thickness as the removable ClimaShield lining of our Ventile jacket .

There you go, this allows you to concretely understand how the outdoors inspires me for our clothes.

Our sleeveless vests, also in ClimaShield, could totally fit into this layer n°3.

And for me, the BonneGueule piece which comes closest to this use is our Climashield sweatshirt , the Norio that I am currently wearing. And with Julien, we had this idea for pieces during ISPO, this major world trade fair dedicated to the outdoors . The circle is complete !

5. Level 4: the windbreaker

Then you have layer 4. So it really took me a while to understand the point of this layer.

In fact, it is the one that designates a very light and very compact windbreaker , but without a membrane . The goal is to offer minimal protection against the rain, but very breathable.

If you're going away for a day and the risk of a shower is really minimal, but it's going to be a little windy, and you don't want to pack it in, this is the kind of item to take with you.

Goruck makes it a very sturdy and compact one , just like Houdinini too.

So at BonneGueule , we don't have too many equivalents of this piece, because I find it complicated to correctly interpret for an urban wardrobe , and there are ultimately quite few situations where you need a very light and compact windbreaker .

6. Level 5: the all-purpose softshell

Then there is the fifth layer. So be careful , be careful, this is a layer that really interested me, and it's a bit like the key part of the PCU.

The basic principle of this layer is very simple: protect you from the cold and the rain, but maintain very high breathability whatever happens , especially if you are in sustained movement . Even if it means not being completely waterproof, so here too, ex it Gore-Tex type membranes.

Basically, it's a bit like a Swiss army knife outerwear piece that can be worn in a wide variety of conditions.

So for that, the fabric used is quite mysterious, and almost unknown in civilian markets , it 's fabric with an EPIC treatment, it's really called that, from an American company called N extec .

Basically the principle is quite simple: rather than applying a water-repellent primer, the famous DWR that you see written everywhere, for Durable Water Repellent, we will do another treatment

In fact, Nextec 's treatment takes any fabric, and thanks to their unique technology, which is an industrial secret, they will encapsulate each fiber of the fabric with a micro silicone sheath . Sil i cone which will prevent water from entering by capillary action , while allowing air to pass between the fibers . This is how you have a good balance between breathability and rain protection.

You can find some level 5 jackets with the Epic treatment that Patagonia did in their military line, but they are becoming more and more outdated and difficult to find.

Honestly, I won't be against using it one day for BonneGueule , but they don't seem to be specifically looking for civilian customers, the website is quite minimalist, I have the impression that nextec is content to live on his big military contracts and that is more than enough for him.

And on the BonneGueule side precisely , well these are quite simply the Ventile parts . Ventile's properties are exactly that: windproof, very breathable, and it provides very good protection against rain.

Having worn our Ventile jacket in the Basque Country, a very mild and humid climate, I felt that it really breathed more than a membrane. It's an absolutely wonderful material, that's why I insisted a lot on making sneakers or caps from it.

And between us, I hope to be able to make a piece for women one day.

And from Acronym , I finally understood why from the start, in addition to their legendary J1A-GT jacket in Gore-Tex, they quickly released a jacket in Ventile, it makes total sense in a wardrobe which is intended to be very versatile in the face of climatic conditions.

So for me, Ventile is really THE material that fits perfectly for level 5 use, and here too, I think you have just understood to what extent the outdoors has nourished my thoughts for our Ventile pieces.

As for civilian outdoor brands , you have plenty of clothing that fulfills this role, we call them softshells . But since the materials are less hyped than Gore-Tex, and their price is lower , they are less highlighted . But it's really a piece that you get from all outdoor brands .

At Houdini it's the Daybreak , at Arcteryx it's the MX Range , in the Leaf range , at Millet you easily have around thirty , in short it's really not the most difficult to find.

7. Level 6: protection against rain

Then we move on to level 6.

Well, it's not complicated , this is the real rain protection, it's the Gore-Tex jacket that you find everywhere.

Which still exists, but which is rather really reserved for heavy showers or static positions or rains which last for hours and hours.

So given that in an urban situation, you are not in intense physical activity, that you are not wearing a protective vest suffocating ball and it is indeed important not to be soaked, for me the use of membrane of this type makes complete sense. And it’s true that casually, the layering possibilities are endless.

At BonneGueule , level 6 is the one that corresponds to all the pieces with a waterproof and breathable membrane that we have released. I'm thinking of the first softshell in Sympatex fabric , the Cordura parka with the eVent membrane , the Schoeller membrane raincoat , or the future rain piece which comes out at the end of March 2021.

Frankly looking back, I'm very happy to see everything we explored as a French urban brand and here too I'm going to repeat myself, but it's really by learning about outdoor brands that I was nourished in my thoughts.

8. Level 7: “very cold” protection

And now we come to the very last level! Level 7!

Well, it's simple: it's the jacket that keeps you warm, especially when you're in the snow and/or in a static position in all negative temperatures.

This is where you should send the big thicknesses of Climashield , like at least 100g, if not 150g or even 200g.

Important point, it must be synthetic insulation, quite simply because it is an insulation that resists humidity much better than down (and because plucking geese is bad).

And when you're a soldier and you spend weeks in the humidity, with perhaps no possibility of drying your clothes above the radiator, it's a really important property.

That said, that did not prevent Arc'teryx Leaf to bring out an absolutely enormous down parka against the cold, but frankly, unless you are a prison guard in Siberia in static, I don't see what use it was designed for . Especially since it costs €2000.

Another important point, the cut must be quite wide because you have to be able to wear it over all the clothes you have seen before. From an urban point of view, it's ugly, but in military terms it makes complete sense.

At BonneGueule , it would match our hottest pieces, with added style. I'm thinking, for example, of our Fuji parka, with 167 g of Climashiel or our camel wool jacket with Polartec Alpha inside.

Yes yes , BonneGueule clothing is a PCU system in disguise!

So here is the system in its entirety and you realize that everything will come down to layering and its extremely numerous possibilities , it is really a very rich system, and which goes well beyond the “old” system three usual diapers.

And so, to accompany the PCU you even have a little PDF which summarizes everything, and which tells you what to wear depending on what conditions, it's pretty well done!

So it's a layer system and there are some variations, I know that some armies use merino base layers with polyester to increase resistance, others use “mesh” base layers to create an air layer between the skin and the clothing, still others are on 5 layers , like that of David Manise , a French survival instructor whose content I really like .