Most Technical Outdoor Clothing: Outdoor Research

 
 
Outdoor Research

Outdoor Research is an American brand of outdoor clothing and equipment. Designed and made to the highest standard, Outdoor Research is responsible for some of the most classic items of outdoor clothing: the Outdoor Research Helium II Jacket is the go-to for trail runners seeking a lightweight, waterproof jacket (also available in a women’s cut); Outdoor Research Crocodile Gaiters are the go-to for many bushwalkers; and, who could call themselves an outdoors person without owning one of the many iterations of Outdoor Research sun hats?

Outdoor Research makes a lot more than just these three items though; including clothing with thermo-regulating technology, waterproofing technology and tech that has even been used for equipment used by astronauts in space.

Read on to discover more about the tech Outdoor Research uses.


ActiveTemp™

ActiveTemp™ is a treatment added to clothing to give it thermo-regulating properties. This means that when you’re hot, the clothing releases more moisture and heat, keeping you cooler. When you’re cold, the clothing retains more heat.

ActiveTemp™ works by changing when it’s warmed or cooled. When you’re getting warm hiking up a hill, ActiveTemp™ becomes solid, and in that form it lets moisture out at a faster rate. When ActiveTemp is cooled, it becomes liquid. In that form, it keeps some moisture in.

ActiveTemp™ is therefore an antidote to the age-old problem of warm clothes being too hot while you’re active. Also it keeps you drier – helping you keep your clothes from getting soaked in sweat, which because a problem later when the moisture cools you down too much when the environment you’re in is cold.

You can find ActiveTemp™ in tops like the women’s Melody and men’s Vigor, as well as Vigor gloves.


AscentShell™

The key benefit of AscentShell™ is that it is extremely breathable because of its electrospun membrane. Outdoor Research pioneered this fabric technology with their fabric partners. Bogong has been selling AscentShell™ products for about three years now, so they are tried and tested.

This 3-layer shell fabric is found on jackets like the Guardian men’s and Guardian women’s jackets.





Aerogel

Aerogel is an insulator that has been around since the 1930s when NASA (yes, as in, space) first invented it. Since then, it has been used in outdoor clothing for its insulation properties.

What makes Aerogel unique is its ability to retain its insulating properties even when it’s compressed. This means it’s particularly useful in articles of clothing that regularly get compressed due to movement or weight, like gloves and booties.

The most popular pieces of clothing from Outdoor Research that use Aerogel as an insulator are Tundra Aerogel Booties, the men’s Bitterblaze Gloves and the women’s Ouray Gloves (women’s hands tend to run an average of 3 degrees cooler than men’s, so Outdoor Research added an extra 200g of insulation to the back of the Ouray).




See our range of Outdoor Research gear here.

Questions? Visit us, email us or call us (03 9600 0599).


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