Ultralight Puffer Vest with Dyneema®

Our Ultralight Puffer Vest with Dyneema® uses the world’s strongest fibre™ to rethink what a puffer vest can do. The puffer vest is typically one of the most delicate pieces of clothing you can buy. But while this vest weighs just 320 grams and comes filled with high-performance recycled down for warmth, its outer shell is woven with thousands of reinforcing strands of Dyneema®, which weight for weight is up to 15x stronger than steel.

The outside of each vest is constructed from an ultra lightweight, three-layered material built in Japan. The outer layer starts with a base of recycled nylon which we then weave with thousands of ultrastrong Dyneema® strands. We use a 50-denier Dyneema®, which is one of the thinnest types you can find and is known for its exceptional lightweight strength. And with each horizontal strand placed just two millimetres apart it creates a protective grid that reinforces every part of the vest.

Dyneema® is the single strongest fibre known to man today. If you’re into chemistry, it’s an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene that combines extreme strength with very low weight. On a weight for weight basis it’s up to 15x stronger than steel and 40% stronger than high-strength aramid fibres. It’s so tough it was originally used in body armour, anti-ballistic vehicle armour, and ropes used to tie down oil rigs in violent, icy seas.

The outer material’s middle layer makes it water resistant and breathable at the same time. A porous membrane prevents water getting in from the outside, while allowing sweat vapour to escape from the inside. The outer layer is also treated with a durable water repellent coating to help water bead up on the surface and roll away. The final layer on the inside is an ultralight recycled nylon. All three ultrathin layers are laminated together to create a single, high performance material.

The vest keeps you warm with insulation made from real down that’s fully recycled. Even though it’s extremely lightweight, down is actually very robust so it can be recycled without losing its amazing natural properties. Our recycled down performs exactly like new down, meaning it’s lightweight, puffy and traps pockets of warm air around your body to keep your temperature stable in the cold.

Every year thousands of tons of clothing containing perfectly good insulation is thrown in the trash. So we’ve worked with a partner that specialises in collecting and reprocessing unwanted down to turn it into new insulation. While we’ve avoided using real down in the past, this is a completely different approach to sourcing that aims for a more sustainable future for the down supply chain. If the down already exists, then we’d prefer to use it rather than letting it rot in landfill.

The inside of the vest is lined with a lightweight Japanese nylon. The material is engineered with a mini ripstop for durability and is treated with a water repellent coating to make sure the insulation even stays protected from the inside.

The vest is fitted with a two-way zipper meaning you can open it out from the bottom to let cool air in. The zipper is water resistant, fitted with a chin guard and the upper puller locks into place when you push it down. It also comes with an internal storm flap to protect you from wind and rain.

The vest comes with two large, fleece-lined side pockets with water resistant zippers. The zippers are protected by storm flaps and are fitted with pullers that are easy to grab onto even if you’re caught in a blizzard. You’ll also find a zipped pocket at the chest inside the vest for storing phones, wallets and keys.

The strands of Dyneema® add abrasion and rip resistance to the vest, acting like a high-strength ripstop. So it’s designed to stand up to the kinds of abuse you’ll encounter on the toughest adventures. It scores 70,000 revolutions on the Martindale abrasion resistance test, which is close to some of our toughest 100 Year gear. And you won’t find this level of strength in other puffer vests in the same weight category. But this is still an ultralight material, so it’s not going to stop bullets or knives.

To understand just how tough Dyneema® is, and why we see it as part of the future, you have to look at how it’s being deployed in the world today. It’s used to make bullet resistant vests, armour and helmets. It’s used in panels on tanks to protect against stronger ballistic threats like anti-tank projectiles. And you’ll find it in bulletproof cockpit doors in most commercial planes in the US. Unlike other high strength materials it’s so light it floats on water, and it’s resistant to the long-term effects of moisture, UV light and chemicals, which is why it’s now also being used in artificial limbs.