Coolmax or Capilene: is there any REAL difference?
Question:
Wondering what people’s experience is with these products. Coolmax or Duofold would appear to be cheaper while the Patagonia Capilene more $$$. How about performance? Has anyone noted any real difference or is it much of a muchness?? Anyone know any store that regularly retails capilene for less $$$?
Duofold sells Thermastat as well, which I like. However I’m not fond of Coolmax, which is neither cool nor quick drying. Coolmax uses a star-shape polyester fiber with so much surface area that it absorbs a lot of water. If you want to stay cool, cotton is better. Capilene is great until the chemical coating wears off, then it doesn’t work as well as Thermastat, which is simply hollow-fiber polyester. REI makes "PowderDry" (?) garments that perform like Capilene but costs somewhat less. Ken Lee is correct that weave is important, but the base fabric also makes a difference, especially in drying speed.
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Duofold sells Thermastat as well, which I like. However I’m not fond of Coolmax, which is neither cool nor quick drying. Coolmax uses a star-shape polyester fiber with so much surface area that it absorbs a lot of water. If you want to stay cool, cotton is better.
Yep, I have a coolmax t-shirt that does nothing well. Capilene is great until the chemical coating wears off, then it doesn’t work as well as Thermastat, which is simply hollow-fiber polyester. REI makes "PowderDry" (?) garments that perform like Capilene but costs somewhat less. Ken Lee is correct that weave is important, but the base fabric also makes a difference, especially in drying speed.
Here you have to be careful since there are several generations and versions of Capilene and they can’t all be lumped together. Typically, the house brands are older vintage so it’s a better value. Bicomponent weaves are far superior to any other system I’ve tried for wicking. — DISCLAIMER: Unless otherwise indicated, this post is personal opinion and NOT an official statement of my employer. http://home.rmi.net/~csoles/Mainpage.htm
Response:
Wondering what people’s experience is with these products. Coolmax or Duofold would appear to be cheaper while the Patagonia Capilene more $$$. How about performance? Has anyone noted any real difference or is it much of a muchness?? Anyone know any store that regularly retails capilene for less $$$?
Living in the desert, I do a lot of hot weather hiking. For at least half the year, I don’t need more than one layer. Therefore, a fabric’s ability to transmit moisture to another fabric does not interest me most of the time. I first thought that Coolmax would be the best (for obvious name reasons). However, I found for it to work best, it needed to almost be a second skin so that the moisture could be wicked away. I also felt clammy, since the Coolmax shirt was so thin…it may well have wicked my sweat away from the skin, but it didn’t move it very far! I’ve since switched to Nike’s Dri-Fit…it’s cheaper than Capilene (it actually goes on sale!) and it works well – even between me and a pack. Colors are a little strange (maybe that had something to do with the fact they were on sale???), but I’m happy with it. Brian Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.
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As you can see there are some differences. If you go to the actual pages that these definitions came from, there will be hyperlinks to terms like "hydrophobic" and "hydrophilic". They will perform similarly, with some difference.
I think the weave of the fabric makes as much a difference as the type of thread. An open mesh weave will be much more breathable, but less wind resistant, than a tight weave. — Ken Lee, http://www.rahul.net/kenton/
Response:
Wondering what people’s experience is with these products. Coolmax or Duofold would appear to be cheaper while the Patagonia Capilene more $$$. How about performance? Has anyone noted any real difference or is it much of a muchness?? Anyone know any store that regularly retails capilene for less $$$? Thanks Damon Howes
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D. Howes wrote in Wondering what people’s experience is with these products. Coolmax or Duofold would appear to be cheaper while the Patagonia Capilene more $$$. How about performance? Has anyone noted any real difference or is it much of a muchness?? Anyone know any store that regularly retails capilene for less $$$?
http://www.bpbasecamp.com/resources/fabric/c.shtml Backpacker’s Basecamp A-Z fibers & fabrics dictionary. This has real good definitions & explanations of all the different terms. These definitions come straight from that site: Coolmax: DuPont’s naturally hydrophobic polyester with fiber cross sections that yield strong wicking action; often used in outerwear linings and light layering garments. Capiline: Patagonia’s treated polyester base layer fabric. The fiber surface is treated to make it hydrophilic, while the core remains hydrophobic. The combination lifts water away from the skin toward outer clothing layers without soaking the fiber. Comes in five weights: Silk, Light, Mid, Stretch, and Expedition. As you can see there are some differences. If you go to the actual pages that these definitions came from, there will be hyperlinks to terms like "hydrophobic" and "hydrophilic". They will perform similarly, with some difference. Also, Coolmax will cost less because it’s not proprietary belonging to a specific manufacturer) and it’s also used more for warm weather activities such as biking. My interpretation of the differences is that because the Capiline has a hydrophobic core ( water-hating) the fiber will absorb less moisture of itself. ( anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong; you all know how I hate technical stuff!!) Sierra Trading Post is a great place to get good prices on a variety of polyester long underwear. ( this is NOT your grandmother’s polyester, and it all IS polyester!) Penny S. Specialty Outdoors http://www.nextdim.com/users/pschwyn Visit "tips for making your own gear"
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Filed under: cotton fabric
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