DIY Buffalo shirt?

[Edward John M]

Reading up on the Buffalo system and wondering how it compares to shelled Polartec Alpha as used in the PCU system L-3A jacket.
My Macpac Pisa is now my favourite walking and ski-touring top and usually warm enough for here except in ice storms
Even tho my trip to the Far North in Alaska and Canada is cancelled I have the 5 yards of Thermal Pro here that was going to be sewn up into a pullover top and a pair of short pants.
I have offered it for sale but with no takers I may as well use it up.
With such shelled pile garments does it matter all that much if I don’t use a proprietary fabric such as Pertex Quantum and simply use a LW woven taffeta I have on the shelf?
Reinforcing the shoulder if needed with a second layer of something.
The fabric I have was bought on sale with no specifications available except that it is 100%polyester but is wind resistant to a high degree and very tightly woven and appears to be downproof with an internal cire finish. About 35GSM
I realise that the finished garments will be too warm for conditions here but that doesn’t really matter

[Roger Caffin]

does it matter all that much if I don’t use a proprietary fabric such as Pertex Quantum and simply use a LW woven taffeta I have on the shelf?
My experience with both is that the Pertex has a good DWR coating which lasts a long time, but off-the-shelf taffeta wets out appallingly easily and quickly.

Cheers

[Edward John M]

Thanx Roger
Nikwax while OK doesn’t last as long as a factory applied DWR but I may have to go that route.
Just seems a waste not to use the material

[Stumphges]

Edward, my understanding is that Buffalo garments use pertex woven nylon (formerly Classic 6, now Quantum (or some variant of Quantum)) over pile. Your Pisa is a close replica, and doubtless lighter, but the function of Buffalo as a “warm whilst wet” or “original softshell” garment relies on the wicking nature of the pile fleece. My understanding is that Polartec Alpha does not wick. Lots of people replicate Buffalo shirts with wicking heavy-weight baselayer (Polartec Power Dry or Power Dry High Efficiency) over their choice of windshirt. The good old Marmot Driclime and Montbell Light Shell are versions of the Buffalo concept – both employ a lightweight woven outer shell with highly wicking liner. None probably offer the warmth to weight ratio of Alpha, but Alpha don’t wick.

Now, one could argue the utility of a wicking underlayer in this application. The US Special Forces apparently chose Alpha specifically for the scenario where the operator gets completely soaked in cold conditions and needs to run himself dry as quickly as possible. If Alpha gets that done better than a wicking inner layer like pile fleece, then maybe it’s a better “softshell” technology. I don’t know. It may be that going from soaked to dry is best done with Alpha, while staying dry under continuous light but cold precip (what Buffalo was designed for), is best done with pile.

I have an old Montbell Light Shell jacket that I think is pretty sweet. The “Climaplus” wicking liner works really well but is probably not as thick and warm as either Buffalo or your Pisa. But I generally wear a variety of windshirts over a variety of wicking baselayers, in the winter either the lighter weight Power Dry HE (e.g. Patagonia Thermal Weight) or heavier weight HE (e.g. R1). For colder temps I’m seriously thinking of getting a Timmermade Alpha Raw hoody, which I’d wear under a windshirt and over a thin wicking layer. (Or I’ll get a Pisa)

Polartec Thermal Pro, like Alpha, does not wick. Therefore, it’s a true midlayer fabric, and like Alpha is just a fleece variant with high warmth/weight ratio.

[Edward John M]

If it doesn’t wick [ and you are right ] I can wear an UL wicking base layer, which I do now under the Pisa sometimes anyway.

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