PERTEX, originally manufactured by Perseverance Mills Limited near to Manchester, England is renowned World-wide as being the BEST fabric from which to create a shell for DOWN insulation and has been used extensively by many manufacturers for both down sleeping bags and down clothing.
Perseverance Mills Ltd went into liquidation in the summer of 2005, selling the Pertex manufacturing rights to the World famous Japanese company Mitsui & Co. whose textiles manufacturing subsidiary company, Mitsui Bussan Textile Co. began manufacturing Pertex during 2006. Initially supplies were restricted, but fortunately Criterion had purchased large stocks of original English Pertex in anticipation of these fabric supply problems, so our production was not affected. All of our Pertex fabric is now made in Japan.
PERTEX is water-resistant, windproof and breathable.
- Water resistance 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 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.
PERTEX is inherently “down-proof” and stain resistant. It is light and soft with excellent “drape” quality, yet very strong.
- Down is notorious for being able to penetrate fabrics and escape. Pertex is renowned for minimising this effect.
- 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.
- Pertex is very strong and the rip-stop version is stronger still.
Criterion sleeping bags are made using Pertex MICROLIGHT (with Ripstop), which weighs 52 gms/m2, and Pertex QUANTUM (with Ripstop), which weighs just 35 gms/m2 and is the lightest grade of Pertex incorporating rip-stop reinforcement.
The Criterion Expedition models feature Pertex ENDURANCE (with Ripstop) fabric, which weighs 52 gms/m2. This fabric includes a thin Polyurethane (PU) membrane which is waterproof. We use this fabric both for the outer shell and for critical parts of the inner (hood and around the feet) – parts which are likely to get wet and dirty in extreme conditions. Cleaning and drying are facilitated by using this fabric.
It should be noted, that the Criterion Expedition sleeping bags are NOT fully waterproof. Full waterproofing is not desirable as mentioned above – rather, it is breathability which is essential.