Carbon Fibre Baselayer

Carbon fibre can be 5x stronger than steel and much lighter

The material we know as carbon fibre is made up of thousands of these individual carbon filaments bundled together and protected by a coating. These larger carbon fibres are classified by how much pulling force the fibre can exert without breaking – known as tensile modulus. Whereas steel has a tensile modulus of around 29 million pounds of force per square inch (PSI), carbon fibre ranges from around 30 to 145 million PSI, which is 5x stronger than steel.

Carbon fibre as a composite

Carbon fibres are typically combined with other materials to make a composite. That’s why the classic image of carbon fibre is the black and grey checks on a bike frame or supercar. These are carbon fibres impregnated with a plastic resin and baked to create carbon fibre reinforced polymer. If your baselayer was made from that it would be completely solid, so we’ve done something different.

Carbon fibre didn’t start life as we know it now

160 years ago carbon fibre was being used as delicate lightbulb filaments by Swan and Edison. It wasn’t until the mid 20th century that scientists realised it could be used as a high strength material. In the US carbon fibres were quickly developed to reinforce high temperature plastic components on missiles. And in the UK, the Ministry of Defence patented the production process before licensing it to Rolls Royce to make jet engines with carbon fibre compressor blades.

It offers hardcore protection

You’ll find each Carbon Fibre Baselayer embedded with over 140 metres of carbon fibre strands. While every carbon fibre thread is smooth and soft to the touch, each one has the same strength as steel, helping make the baselayer highly abrasion resistant. The carbon fibre essentially acts like a ripstop to save your skin. And as it’s woven into the baselayer, these threads can’t be scratched off or washed out.

Why abrasion resistance matters

Abrasion resistance is how you measure clothes’ ability to withstand friction and wear and tear. Whether you're lugging climbing rope over your shoulder, you come off your bike on a downhill track, or your bag is shifting up and down on your back on a long run, that’s all abrasion. Wearing highly abrasion resistant clothing gives you the best chance of coming home from an adventure with your clothes and your skin intact.

How carbon fibre compares to ceramics

In 2017 we used ceramics to create the toughest baselayer on Earth – the Ceramic Baselayer. Since then it’s been taken into jungles, battlefields and live volcanoes. The idea for the Carbon Fibre Baselayer was simply to give it something to compete with. With both baselayers being highly abrasion resistant, the only real difference is in how they’re built. While the ceramics are embedded into the surface of the baselayer, the carbon fibre is woven in.

Designed for the unknown

Adventure sport is never predictable, so we've created a baselayer that protects you from every angle, rather than second-guessing where you might need it. The entire surface area of the baselayer is abrasion resistant. Every square centimetre has carbon fibre running through it. Which means it doesn’t matter where a rock, a tree, or the passage of time tries to strike, you should be covered.

Fitted with a lockable zipper

The baselayer comes with a bonded lockable half zipper, which means you can secure it in place at any point. Once locked in place, the zip pull won’t bounce and the zip won't come undone, however much you move around. It stays exactly where you left it.

It’s crazily stretchy as well as tough

The more elastane you have in a piece of clothing the more it can stretch. And the last thing you want when you’re pulling any extreme or repetitive move is resistance from your kit. The Carbon Fibre Baselayer has incredible 4 way stretch as it is 41% elastane, so whichever way you stretch, pull or turn, it will simply go with you. It’s normally difficult to make something very tough and stretchy at the same time, but carbon fibre lets us combine toughness with the properties of an elastic band.