Argon 90 DWR Durability – For Wind Shell Use

[Christopher S]

Has anybody done any testing or have any anecdotal evidence for the DWR longevity on Argon 90 or 67?

 

Seems like the ideal fabric for a wind shell for active use in very wet environments but I’ve heard from one person the DWR is not very long lasting. Hoping it’s an outlier.

[Ken Larson]

Chris….For further information I would PM Richard Nisley at BPL as he preformed the tests on sample below I believe in 2014..

[John Vance]

I have been using some Luke’s Ultralite wind pants made with the Argon 90 and haven’t had any issues.  I haven’t done extensive bushwhacking in them but the have held up to willows fine.

[Sam Farrington]

A continuing theme on BPL forums has been the quality (or lack of it) of fabrics sold by outfitters.
The issues run from quality of coatings, weave, thread and of course DWR.
So naturally there have been numerous threads about how to refresh DWR.
If those don’t work for you, fabric with a better DWR (and they do vary) may be for you.
So far, I’ve had pretty good luck with RBTR, and some may suggest others that can provide something closer to what you want.
I originally had success with fabrics from thru-hiker, but have found more choices on Quest Outfitters and Extrem Textil. They all have had problems with quality at one time or another, but the others I can not vouch for at all.

[nunatak]

DWR lasts longer than sunscreen, but barely.

 

Big jump in textile durability (not DWR) between Argon 67 and 90. For wind pants 90 is worth the upgrade – for a jacket I could go with either.

[Craig B]

I’ve made several things out of Argon 67, and I would NOT consider them water repellent.  Unless you consider getting an incidental splash or spray that you shake off immediately DWR.  If you do not shake it off quickly, it won’t take long (minutes?) to seep through.  I wouldn’t really expect anything different from such a light fabric with such high breathability though.

[Christopher S]

Nunatak – you mean DWR in general or from the Argon 90 specifically?

Im not too concerned with the fabric durability – just more trying to get the best balance of CFM and HH. I may just try to source some scraps of Epic fabric to test and hope to find one at higher CFM, or I have also considered getting the old wild things camo jacket (or I think the patagonia) and using some kind of fabric dye.

What Im trying to achieve is Nisleys supposed ideal of around 40CFM and greater than 300HH. My old patagonia houdini works well for dry conditions but was not as great (water resistance wise) as I would have liked for off trail use for 7 days in Alaska in Denali NP.

[nunatak]

I was referencing my experience with all the DWR coatings regardless of manufacturer.

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