W/B Technology: Patagonia’s H2No?

[Bryan Redd]

Most of Patagonia’s W/B gear uses H2No, its own proprietary W/B technology. Due to Patagonia’s sizable market share, there is a considerable amount of H2No in use, yet I have found very little technical analysis or comparison between H2No and its competition, e.g. XCR, e-Vent, etc. For example, H2No was not discussed in BPL’s fine article on W/B technologies.

How does H2No really perform? How do you rate its breathability? Is it truly waterproof? Other performance issues, such as durability, etc.

[Woubeir (from Europe)]

Actually, H2No is the name given by Patagonia to Entrant in one of its many formulations.

[Bryan Redd]

Any idea whether the Entrant variant that Patgonia uses is the same as the “Entrant G2 XT” discussed in the BPL W/B article and for which technical lab testing results are reported in the article? According to those results and the article, Entrant G2 XT performs better than Goretex XCR and only slighter poorer than e-Vent as regards breathability.

If H2No is not the same as Entrant G2 XT, any idea which variant is used and how it measures in testing?

Due to their quality and their committment to the prservation of the outdoor environment that is crtical to our outdoor activities, I try to support Patagonia whenever I can. But, I hate to spend $$ on their W/B products without some reliable technical data and comparisons, which thus far I’ve not found.

[Colin Thomas]

I just got an e-mail back from Patagonia about their H2No wp/b barrier. A lot of people have been saying lately that the H2No is actually Entrant so I asked them and they told me it is not. It is their own proprietary tech. Here is what they said.

H2No is not Entrant or any other “off the shelf” technology that
Patagonia buys and then renames. If we were buying it off the shelf,
Gore, Entrant, eVent, etc. we would use our vendors commercial names, there is simply more equity in Gore than H2No. So, H2No is our own proprietary technology.

I hope this helps fix the confusion around the H2No barrier Patagonia uses.

[Jim Morrison]

All I know is my own experience.   My daughter purchased an H2No jacket for me a few years ago.

When high up above the tree line in a cold wind, spitting snow and rain this jacket just seemed bomb proof.  It makes a nice enclosure around the face and in general it definitely seals out the wind and wet.  If there is a trade-off between waterproof vs. breathability, I would put this in the more WP and perhaps less breathability.  But for use in harsh weather I will take that.  I have 3 newer and lighter WP/breathable rain jackets, but this is the one I trust in the winter and if there is any chance of extreme weather in unprotected alpine environs.

[Andre M]

I would speculate that its a polyurethane based membrane. 20000mm HH and 10000g/m^2 after their “killer wash” is excellent marketing, but par for the course for a PU membrane. I dont think their “killer wash” would degrade the performance of their WPB membrane, only the DWR.

[Ken Thompson]

Mine wetted out in 45 minutes on day one.

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