Off Grid Vest

A 3D ripstop weave makes it even stronger

To make the vest even stronger, we weave the para-aramid and the Cordura into a ripstop fabric. It’s the same construction technique used in wingsuits, hovercraft skirts and military parachutes. What makes the type of ripstop we’ve used so strong is that we weave it into a three-dimensional structure, so that the fibres are layered on top of each other. You can literally feel it with your fingers. It makes the outside of the material super-resistant to tearing, and means that anything which comes into contact with the vest – whether it’s a rock, a branch, or the beak of an angry chicken – will hit the strongest part first.

Water resistant to over 10,000mm

You’re going to spend a lot of time outdoors when you’re living off grid, which means you’re going to experience more weather. And if you’re relying on your own crops for food, you’ll also spend half your life praying for rain. So as well as being highly resistant to rips and abrasion, we’ve bonded a hydrophilic membrane to the underside of the material making it water resistant to over 10,000mm. The membrane keeps water out while still remaining breathable, so you won’t overheat when you need to work hard.

Lined with super-compact insulation to keep you warm

Our Off Grid Vest is built from an advanced four-layer system. So underneath the super tough outer layer and the waterproof membrane, we’ve built the middle layer with compressed and lightweight insulation. Using the same technique we use in our Nomad Puffer, we compress the insulation to under a third of its original size before stitching it into the vest. So while it takes up 70% less space, it keeps 80% of its thermal properties. The inside of the vest is then finished with a soft, hard-wearing blend of cotton and Cordura.

Our insulation is made from recycled plastic

Instead of pulling feathers out of ducks, we pull plastic out of used plastic bottles and turn them into insulating synthetic fibres. Every Off Grid Vest uses 5 half-litre recycled plastic bottles. Staying warm is all about trapping as many pockets of air next to your body as possible, so these synthetic fibres are built to be hollow, which means you’ll automatically have millions of air pockets trapped next to your skin. And as the curl of the fibres traps more air than straight fibres, the microscopic texture of the fibre itself also retains heat.

How the insulation performs against down

While down traps heat well, it doesn’t breathe well. So it’s not the ideal option if you’re working hard. If you’re on the move our insulation will do a better job of regulating your body temperature, as it will breathe better and won’t hold onto sweat. It’s also made from a blend of different fibres each with their own ‘multi-shape’ structure. Some are designed for puffiness, others for resilience or thermal efficiency. By making each fibre a different shape, we stop them linking together and clumping like down does when it gets wet.

How plastic is turned into insulation

To turn recycled plastic bottles into insulation we work with pioneers in thermal insulation based in Milan. They’ve been working on recycled fibres and using plastic bottles in their technology since the 1980s, well before it was the cool or right thing to do. They use a process called mechanical recycling to blend the bottles, eliminating the need for hazardous chemicals and creating synthetic fibres that have the highest loft for the lowest weight, just like down.