Ventile

Ventile, a registered trademark, is a high-quality woven cotton fabric first developed by scientists at the Shirley Institute in Manchester, England, originally to replace a shortage of flax that was used for fire hoses and water buckets. Its properties also found use in pilots' immersion suits.[1]

The current manufacturers of Ventile are Stotz, a Swiss company which sells the fabric under the name EtaProof[2] and Talbot Weaving Ltd. in Chorley, Lancashire which also weaves ventile fabric.[3]

Technical detail

Cotton fibers of Ventile/Etaproof

It is densely woven from 100% cotton using a long staple fibre. Although weatherproof, it is not coated or laminated; the combination of a dense weave and the swelling of the fibres when wet provide excellent weatherproofing.[1] The natural product offers a high level of comfort, look and feel and is waterproof and windproof, but breathable, durable and quiet in use. It also has good resistance to tearing and burning.[1][4] It is not as light in weight as synthetic fabrics, particularly when wet.[4]

Fabric specifications (Ventile/EtaProof) [5][6]
L34/5640 L24/5620 L24RS/5620RS L19/5610 L27/5635 L28/5630 Dry520
Fabric weight(g/m2) 170 200 210 240 270 290 520
Threads/cm warp 95 81 68 71 16.5
Threads/cm weft 35 30 26 11.5
Breaking strength warp minimum(N/5 cm) 1000 1100 1200 1400 1200 1500 2500
Breaking strength weft minimum(N/5 cm) 650 750 1000 1400 2200
Tear strength warp minimum(g) 900 1200 1300 1800 2200 2000
Tear strength weft minimum(g) 650 750 850 1600 1500 1600 1500
Impregnation of DWR fluorocarbon
Water absorption(max. %) 10
Resistance to water hydrostatic head(mm) 750 750 600 750 900 400-500
Oil repellency(rating) 5-6 5 5-6
Ventile-2015 prices(£/m2)[7] 22.00 19.60 22.50 21.70 30.00 29.70 20.20
EtaProof-2015 prices(€/m2)[8] 25.00 22.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 22.00

L24/5620 and L19/5610 are made also in Organic[9] way, denominated 5620.1 RUC and 5610.1 RUC respectively, replacing the fluorocarbon of DWR with paraffin wax. With this change, three properties worsened:[6] Water absorption changed from 10% to 15%, Resistance to water hydrostatic head changed from 750mm to 600mm and Oil repellency changed from 5-6 to 0.

Uses

Fabrics made from the material are used in outerwear performance garments and have military, medical and workwear applications.

Ventile is still used in military uniforms, especially for pilots flying over water.[10] It is not often used in the United States, but in Europe, especially in the UK, it has had a revival with the bushcraft movement. It is popular with birdwatchers and naturalists because, unlike synthetic fabrics such as Gore-Tex, it is quiet in use.[4] It is used by survivalists and bushcrafters in the European forests because of its good resistance to tearing and burning. It is also widely used in polar expeditions. Lighter-weight artificial fibers are the preference among mountaineers.

Among companies producing Ventile clothing are the Scottish clothing company HillTrek,[11] Snowsled of Gloucestershire[12] and Snugpak of West Yorkshire in England,[13] and Wiggy's of Grand Junction, Colorado, USA.[1][14] The Private White V.C.[15] luxury British clothing brand based in Manchester, UK creates garments with a distinct military influence and uses Ventile cloth for many of their waterproof jackets. The brand have also pioneered 'seam sealing' in Ventile clothing - the internal taping of a jacket's seams to further protect the wearer from wind and rain.

References

External links

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