UKH

From PFC-based treatments and dodgy dyeing processes to fabrics hard to recycle, waterproof shells haven't always been good for the environment. With the Solution Jacket, Montane have come up with a solution to all these issues. It's great to know you're wearing something that could one day be turned into something else, says Tim Hill.

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In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Good review as ever. Although I'd always feel a bit uneasy going out on the hill/anywhere remote in black jacket - just in case. Although I get that from a sustainable point of view black/navy/grey etc are really versatile and might get more general/around town use than a bright coloured jacket that makes you easy to spot in the sticks.

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Hmm. Ethical? Environmental? £250? Why not buy second hand? And you might find a colour you like.

In reply to gammarus:

Are you never going to buy a new piece of clothing again?

Repair, re-purpose, hire, borrow/share, buy second hand, recycle, look for gear with a smaller environmental footprint, buy stuff that lasts and look after it well... There are a lot of different ways we can all make more sustainable choices when it comes to outdoor clothing/gear. It surely isn't an either-or, one size fits all...? 

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

It will be really interesting to see how the move to PFC-free pans out, as I understand there's EU mandate to phasing them out? I've heard it has some retailers quite worried about it, apparently the PFC-free DWR are nowhere near as durable and jackets "wet-out" within the first season? Hence they are worried people will take the jackets back... Would be interesting to know more. Btw I do support not wearing carcinogenic coatings... however I do also like to be dry and for jacket to last

In reply to Dan Bailey - UKHillwalking.com:

Hi Dan, all due respect and all that, However unless we all repair, re purpose etc, anything new made will be (obviously) be more detrimental to our pretty knackered environment
 

Maybe an article on the best second hand clothing would balance things out in the right direction

No doubt someone more academic than me will provide an equation or argument that takes my view apart

And before anyone asks, my climbing clothing is well old, and it definitely looks it…….

In reply to llanberis36:

You're right of course, but then we're clearly not going to stop making new things so making them as responsibly as possible counts for a lot. 

We're working on a series on sustainable gear including things like repair, recycling etc

In reply to Ramon Marin:

1. PFCs levels in rain and snow in Antarctica and Tibet already exceed Europe's municipal drinking water limits for PFCs.

2. Not properly caring for a jacket (i.e. not applying DWR a bit more frequently) is not a warranty issue – it's just user dumbness in most European jurisdictions and should be thrown out if it ever got to court, as in your hypothetical. Just like not properly drying out your full‑grain leather boots after a proper stomp in a bog and later complaining the leather disintegrated is just the user's fault.

3. Even the actual "legendary" PFC waterproof breathable membranes of old (not just their DWR coating!) required a pretty stringent regime of frequent cleaning, because any accumulated grime on it  – eVent or Gore‑Tex – did make the membrane leak, because of physics (guess what, a microporous membrane that solely depends on the hydrophobicity of its pores, any grime in them counters that). Both companies were pretty clear you should properly wash their gear quite often for optimum function of the WPB membrane itself. Might just reapply a safe NikWax DWR during or after that necessary wash cycle anyway...

4. Any and all PFCs are just plain evil, due to their total persistence in the environment and their prevalence and bioaccumulation. Let's keep their use to the minimum in the industries that can't really work without them (some biomedical and lab industries). We don't need them in outdoor gear at all.