Pertex Fabric and Criterion Sleeping Bags

Since our inception Criterion has used Pertex fabric, which was originally manufactured by a local company, Perseverance Mills Limited, in Manchester, England. Pertex is and was renowned World-wide as being the best fabric from which to create a shell for down insulation and it has been used extensively by many manufacturers for both down sleeping bags and down clothing.

In the summer of 2005 Perseverance Mills Ltd went into liquidation, and the manufacturing rights to Pertex were purchased by the Japanese company Mitsui & Co. whose textiles manufacturing subsidiary company, Mitsui Bussan Textile Co. began manufacturing Pertex during 2006. Since then the brand has gone forward with new fabrics, at Criterion we have traditionally used three Pertex fabrics, these were called Microlight, Quantum and Endurance.

Pertex fabrics are known for,

• Water resistance, this is essential to prevent the insulation material from becoming wet and losing some or all of its thermal properties. Wet insulation is no insulation. Each filament of Pertex fabric has been treated with a water-repellent, fluorocarbon polymer. This is the Pertex DWR treatment which gives water repellency without loss of breathability. It also increases the fabrics ability to resist dirt, whilst it itself is immune to washing. The water resistance of Pertex is not reduced through washing and tumble drying.
• Breathability, this is necessary for reasons of comfort and thermal efficiency. Body moisture must be allowed to evaporate out of the sleeping bag without creating condensation. And it must be able to do so quickly, without soaking the insulating down and reducing its effectiveness. Pertex is breathable because its water resisting property is not the result of applying a continuous coating or membrane. Pertex can rapidly wick away any moisture inside the sleeping bag, through the micro-pores in its weave.
• Down-proof” and stain resistantance,Down is notorious for being able to penetrate fabrics and escape. Pertex is renowned for minimising this effect.
• Comfort, the lightness and softness of Pertex, and the way in which it gently drapes to conform to your contours, make it one of the most pleasant fabrics to have in contact with your body.
• Strength, with ripstop 

2018 Rebranding

At the beginning of 2018, Pertex re-named its range, fabrics which had different features, uses, specifications and names were re-named with many of them being given the same name, in the range of fabrics we used,

• Microlight became Quantum
• Quantum remained as Quantum
• Endurance became Quantum Pro

The changes meant that with Microlight and Quantum fabrics, two very different fabrics with different weights, appearances and textures were now known by the same name with no differentiation whatsoever.

At Criterion we felt that this change was potentially confusing and problematic as the heavier Microlight fabric would be sold as Quantum. For example our Ultralight and Quantum ranges of sleeping bags are designed to be used for racing and ultralight adventures. Our Ultralight range used the heavier Microlight fabric and a 680FP grey goose down, where as the Quantum range, used Quantum fabric and 870fp diamond grade goose down. Pre 2018 a quick glance at the specifications would show the main differences in the ranges and would explain the difference in price, with Quantum fabric being much lighter than Microlight and the difference in the fill power of the down. However with Pertex\’s renaming of the fabrics, these differences are not as apparent.

To try and avoid confusion we have decided that as well as listing our products with the new fabric names, we will provide as much information as possible by referring to the old fabric names in our descriptions and showing clearly the weight of the fabrics (which Pertex do not). We hope that this will aid your experience with Criterion and avoid confusion when comparing our products on our our site or with our competitors.