Bi-Loft Fleece

Materials

• Polartec Alpha Direct 4028

  • 60 gsm | 1.8 oz/sqyd

  • 78% recycled content

• YKK #3 zipper

• Goat suede zipper garage

• UHMWPE pull cord

• Polyurethane waist elastic

About Alpha Direct

Polartec Alpha Direct emerged through a collaboration between Polartec and the US Special Operations Forces to fulfil a need for a breathable, quick-drying, a packable insulation for start-stop activities. The aim was to develop a layering peice which would not need to be shed while exerting and still keep the user warm when at rest. Alpha Direct is a stable, lofted mesh which maintains its structure without needing an additional face fabic. Compared to down and synthetic insulation which require being batted between two layers of facing, the loft of Alpha Direct provides insulation without needing to be stablized to another fabric. This result is an insulating with high breathability and zero moisture absorption.

[Polartec Alpha and Alpha Direct history]
The function of insulation is to slow the transfer of heat between a system and its environment. Trapped air is a fundamental component of effective insulation because gas molecules have low density, reducing the rate of conductive and convective heat transfer. The stack height of the Duo Loft Fleece exists to trap a layer of air within the user’s layering system while the absence of a face fabric allows moisture to efficiently pass through the garment and away from the body.

This layer is adaptable to large variations in the environment and the user’s rate of exertion - an insulating layer which works in harmony with the body’s thermoregulatory processes.

About the Duo Loft Fleece

This product is unique because it is made of two stacked layers of the lightest variant of Alpha Direct. Alpha Direct comes in multiple variants, including 60, 90, and 120 gsm (grams per square meter). The Bi-Loft fleece was created test a theory that two stacked layers of 60 gsm is better insulation-to-weight and better breathability-to-weight than garments made of a single layer of Alpha Direct or other conventional fleeces. This is due to Alpha Direct 60 gsm measuring at the highest insulation-to-weight ratio (measured by intrinsic clo-to-weight) of any commercially available single-layer fabric.

The benefits of this fleece are best experienced when worn over a moisture-wicking base layer.

Manufacturing

The Bi-Loft Fleece is proudly assembled in partnership with a Toronto-based studio of garment engineers, founded and led by local fashion school graduates.

This product is designed with an original cut & sewn pattern designed to accomodate this two-layer fleece in an active layering ensemble.

Only men’s sizes available at this time.

Care Instructions

• machine wash warm

• tumble dry low

• lint roller friendly

• mesh laundry bag provided