Inside Outdoor Spring 2016

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go everywhere, ruining the garment
in the process. Between the expen-
sive nature of aerogel, the consis-
tent loss of insulation, the lack of
breathability, and lack of durability,
aerogel wasn’t suited to disrupt the
apparel space.”
Their efforts finally paid off with
the development of SolarCore, a
flexible, aerogel-infused closed cell
polyfoam. Markesbery and his part-
ners succeeded in addressing all of
the issues listed above with a ma-
terial only 3 millimeters thick and
cold rated to -50C/-58F. Despite its
thin profile, SolarCore still main-
tains 95 percent of its insulating
capacity at a pressure of 15 pounds
per square inch/104 KPa. Under
the same conditions, down or any
synthetic insulation would lose most
of its insulating ability. It is also hy-
drophobic, unlike untreated down,
which is famously not. SolarCore
also has four-way stretch, important
for garment performance, and can
be machine washed and dried.
With Oros’ unmatched high-
performance insulation and apparel
design, Markesbery believes layers
are redundant. For that reason,
Oros apparel is true-to-size versus a
traditional, sized-for-layering fit.
“Our philosophy is centered
around thinner, lighter and warmer.
We want to give our customers
the ability to boldly go where
they haven’t gone before,” he says.
In other words, do not choose
your size for layering unless you are
doing the Iditarod or a winter ascent
of Mt. Everest. Everyone else goes
by street size: one and done.
Oros’ 2016 Orion line
is a complete, head-to-toe,
outdoor environmental
protection system. This com-
petitively priced ensemble
has all the bells and whistles
high-end shell garments are
expected to have. Beanies,
gloves, jacket and pants for
men and women make up
the range.
The Orion jacket has been im-
proved to have 100 percent SolarCore
insulation throughout, 33 percent
lighter, a media pocket and a re-
movable powder skirt. The helmet-
compatible hood was dropped per
customer input – definitely not climb-
ing customers. With the jacket, gloves
and pants, all feature 20,000mm
waterproofed shell material with DWR
for its first line of defense.
Oro’s gloves are part of the Orion
line of gloves, jackets and pants.
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© Dan Ballard / Aurora Photos
Inside Outdoor | Spring 2016 23