Any companies still make windshells with the 'old' 60-40 cloth ?

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Peakbagr

Peakbagr

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Does anyone know of companies making unlined, pullover or zip garments made of the old 60-40 material? Cotton-nylon blend that was close to bomb proof ? Not great in rain, but great wind shells and almost indestructible in blowdown and thick woods? A good friend recently gave me an old REI pullover with partial zip and kangaroo pocket that not longer fit. Gave me the idea that maybe someone still makes the same type of garment.

Thanks
 
Try LL Bean's nylon anorak. I have one and it's great.
 
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I'm getting a company call Sport Tek with a number of 60/40 material tops. "Anorak" doesn't come up, but you might search thier stuff. " sport tek 60/40 ".
 
I wouldn't get a 60/40 shell--the fabric doesn't wear well. It is nylon in one direction and cotton in the other: the cotton wears out and the fabric rips in "linear tatters" (parallel tears).

I'd look for the follow-on 65/35 fabric (cotton and polyester in both directions). It wears well, drapes well, blocks wind well, and breathes well.

Note: the exact numbers sometimes varied +-5. Check the fabric description to make sure you get the better fabric.

Both fabrics are fairly heavy compared to an unlined nylon shell.

Both fabrics could take a spray-on treatment to give them a bit of water resistance, but it certainly didn't make them waterproof.

FWIW, I have both from back in the 1970's--the 60/40 is in bad shape but the 65/35 is still very useable.

Doug
 
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I have an original Sierra Designs 60/40. Worn or carried on hundreds of trips but relegated to the closet. Other than a little wear around the edges, still in great shape after being sat on and dragged thru spruce and blowdown. Two other 65/35s worn around town, snowblowing, sledding with the kids show the same minimal amount of wear.

I should have clarified as 60/40 or 65/35 type garments. My two, prized shells of these were lost last year. I wore and carried them for years with no tears and they would shed powder snow and light rain or dew very satisfactorily.
 
A walk down memory lane. My exact, blue 60/40, but OMG, $400, are they freakin' kidding us?

Purchased mine in the Colin Fletcher craze that swept the country and awoke the American public to backpacking and hiking. Sierra cups, Svea stoves, huge wafflestomper hiking boots, Kelty frame packs. Sierra Designs was a small, high quality company, a startup making the best gear and clothing available at the time.

Want my 60/40? $250....:eek:
 
Peakbagr said:
Sierra cups...:eek:
Click to expand...

Should be a poll: After buying the obligatory metal Sierra Cup, after how many uses did you decide it really wasn't a good idea for hot liquids ?

Second question: Was the Sierra Cup your first "real" upgrade after trying to use the plastic, collapsable boy scout cup for too many years ?
 
DougPaul said:
I wouldn't get a 60/40 shell--the fabric doesn't wear well. It is nylon in one direction and cotton in the other: the cotton wears out and the fabric rips in "linear tatters" (parallel tears).

I'd look for the follow-on 65/35 fabric (cotton and polyester in both directions). It wears well, drapes well, blocks wind well, and breathes well.

Note: the exact numbers sometimes varied +-5. Check the fabric description to make sure you get the better fabric.

Both fabrics are fairly heavy compared to an unlined nylon shell.

Both fabrics could take a spray-on treatment to give them a bit of water resistance, but it certainly didn't make them waterproof.

FWIW, I have both from back in the 1970's--the 60/40 is in bad shape but the 65/35 is still very useable.

Doug
Click to expand...

That's my material of choice.
I use a 65/35 work shirt for most of my hiking where a simple tshirt is not enough
It has just the right wind protection, durability, and....I wish I had a nice shell in this material instead of a simple shirt.
 
Peakbagr said:
A walk down memory lane. My exact, blue 60/40, but OMG, $400, are they freakin' kidding us?

Purchased mine in the Colin Fletcher craze that swept the country and awoke the American public to backpacking and hiking. Sierra cups, Svea stoves, huge wafflestomper hiking boots, Kelty frame packs. Sierra Designs was a small, high quality company, a startup making the best gear and clothing available at the time.
Click to expand...

I have a forty year old SD tent that I'd still use, except it's a little fussy with all the guy lines compared to the domes that supplanted it. Wore out my SD daypack though — it took about a decade as I recall.
 
I lost 2 windshirts last year. Went back on the whack where I lost the last one another time and tried to follow the first route. No luck of course.
What a great garment. It was a golf shirt my company used to give to good customers. 65/35. Wore like iron, kept off the wind, breathed well, perfect over short sleeves or warmer garments - just a great bushwhacking shirt and since it wasn't lined or insulated, crammed down to almost nothing in the pack and like as a feather.
I think I'm going back to the same whack this spring after he snow is gone and before the vegetation shows up.

Alan
 
sardog1 said:
The original is back from the folks who invented it, in a new Mountain Parka from SD. It's good that it's so expensive, or I'd be real tempted to buy it.
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I have been using a old military parka coated with "TECTRON" spray and have been generally happy with the performance.I use this parka for winter camping and general forest work.However on a hike, a parka like this is too heavy and may not be worth its weight if it gets wet.Cotten is so bad when it gets soaked with its cooling off your body tendencies.Anyone knows who hikes in the Whites that when it unloads rain up there,it comes down and you better have a good waterproof system or you can get in trouble.Thanks for the link Sar bro...
 
Red Oak said:
I have been using a old military parka coated with "TECTRON" spray and have been generally happy with the performance.I use this parka for winter camping and general forest work.However on a hike, a parka like this is too heavy and may not be worth its weight if it gets wet.Cotten is so bad when it gets soaked with its cooling off your body tendencies.Anyone knows who hikes in the Whites that when it unloads rain up there,it comes down and you better have a good waterproof system or you can get in trouble.Thanks for the link Sar bro...
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Cotton shells are at their best when temps are well below freezing where there is never any liquid water to soak into them.

Ventile (a densely woven long fiber cotton fabric) is the (cotton) fabric of choice. A quick search reveals several current suppliers of jackets.

Doug
 
Chip, the real deal Sierra cup will not burn your lips; simply avoid cheap imitations.

DougPaul, I still have my beloved Black's 'Stormpruf' [not the standard cloth] anorak in ventile (Stormpruf) cloth. Waterproof, breatheable (but not as breatheable as G-Tex), but very heavy.

Anybody have a Kelly Cooker? I bought mine on a whim at Lee Valley a few years ago, but have never used it - don't need it now; didn't need it then:D.
 
Gremlin said:
DougPaul, I still have my beloved Black's 'Stormpruf' [not the standard cloth] anorak in ventile (Stormpruf) cloth. Waterproof, breatheable (but not as breatheable as G-Tex), but very heavy.
Click to expand...
I've seen claims that Ventile becomes waterproof by the fibers soaking up water and swelling to seal the pores. If you get it wet and then freeze it, I suspect that you will end up wearing a suit of armor...

Doug
 
That's true, but the thread is so fine and the weave so dense (400/400) that there is really no penetration, even in driving rain. The Stormpruf had a gabardine lining to prevent penetration by osmosis, as well as a coated (rubberised?) layer between the outer layer and the lining in the shoulder area. Almost 50 years later it's just a bit worn round the edges (my daughter wore it for a long while after I went to Gore-Tex in 1998.
 
I LOVE my old 60/40 jacket! How can anyone say it doesn't wear well? Mine is at least 30 years old. It ain't pretty anymore; but it is still a great jacket for working in the woods. The big pockets are terrific for holding all kinds of gear. The fabric holds up to abuse - carrying wood, bushwhacking, etc. It isn't waterproof; but water resistant enough to shed snow. I have not found a replacement that serves as well.
 
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