Polartec Alpha and Neoshell fabrics

The waterproof/breathable fabric world is no longer dominated solely by Gore-Tex. A slew of new products have been hitting the market in the past few years from proprietary fabrics by Mountain Hardwear like Dry Q. Elite to fabrics such as eVent that Westcomb and a handful of other manufacturers use. A few of what we think are the best new fabrics and insulations come from a company called Polartec. Their waterproof/breathable fabrics is called Neoshell and its proven to be far more breathable and stretchy than other products on the market. Pair this with Polartec Alpha insulation and you've got everything you need to stay warm and dry out in the mountains.

We spent a few days skiing in the Tetons with Marmot's Director of Marketing, Jordan Campbell and he ran us through some of Marmots new products which use Polatec Alpha Insulation and Polatect Neoshell waterproof/breathable fabric. Have a watch of the following video to learn more about the products and the fabrics:

The Marmot Nabu jacket is a completely waterproof soft shell jacket thanks to Polartec Neoshell. Being a soft shell, its also very stretchy with an incredible range of motion for activities such as ski touring and climbing. This is one of our all time favourite pieces and it can be warn all year round, even as a rain jacket. Read the full review of the Marmot Nabu Jacket over here.

The second piece from Marmot that uses Polartec’s technology is the Marmot Isotherm Hoody. This jacket is insulated with Polartec Alpha and is an active insulation piece, translation: It keeps you warm but breaths as you move so you don’t over heat as often. Again, as with Polartec Neoshell - we are huge fans of Alpha. Of all the synthetic insulations out there on the market, we find that gram for gram Polartec Alpha keeps you warmer, period. You can read our full review of the Marmot Nbu Jacket over here.