Since the main patent for Gore-Tex expired in 1997, a number of clothing compa-nies brought out alternative versions. On their own, membranes are pretty fragile. So textile companies laminate the membrane to an outer shell fabric to create a two-layer (2L) textile that can then be cut and stitched into jackets or pants or slee-ping bag shells. Most of the time, a third layer—a liner—is added to further improve durability. All of that makes a reasonably functional piece of clothing. But it’s also heavy and bulky due to the layers of fabric, the laminate adhesive, and yards of seam tape needed to cover stitch holes.
A Colorado-based company, Voormi, seems to be touting a technology that produ-ces a waterproof, breathable textile with only a single layer of material. It could be the most significant advancement in outdoor clothing since the first Gore-Tex jacket with a waterproof-breathable membrane debuted in the mid-1970s. Rather than glue a membrane to a fabric, the company put the membrane into a knitting machine, knitting a yarn in and around and through the membrane, so they get a single-layer textile with a (membrane) core that’s constructed in the process which is an entirely new platform. This very future of weather protective textile technology is called CORE CONSTRUCTION, and it is said that the technology works with any kind of membrane, not just waterproof-breathables, and almost any kind of yarn or mix of yarns.
So, it is clear that there is a new way to brace oneself against the cold and wet weather conditions, though it is not that clear how this very way would shake up the outerwear market of around $1.5 billion-per-year in the US alone.
