Find Your Breath

Since introducing technical fleece to the Outdoor world, we've made our name synonymous with performance and comfort — not by hanging our hat on midlayers, but by bringing premium comfort to the most challenging activities and conditions imaginable.

This includes weather protection. There are many solutions that can protect you from the wind, rain, and snow, but all too often they do so by sacrificing other traits, like breathability. As your body naturally warms itself during physical activity — skiing, hiking, cycling, running, you name it — that body heat needs somewhere to go. Without air permeability, not only can a garment quickly start to feel swampy, trapping excess body heat, you can waste energy or even dehydrate through perspiration.

Whether you need maximum air-permeability for jogging in a spring rain or superior wind-resistance for fishing the winter steelhead run, this post will help you choose a breathable solution for any activity and condition. Read on for a full rundown on all our premium Weather Protection fabric technologies — NeoShell, Power Shield Pro, Windbloc, and Hardface — and see the finest examples of how our brand partners put them to work for their customers.

The Original Breathable Waterproof

What can we say about NeoShell that hasn't already been said? The world's most breathable waterproof fabric helped define the category when it first hit the market as a fully waterproof alternative to our immensely popular Power Shield Pro fabric. It's still our most award-winning technology — in fact, just this January, Blister named NeoShell the "Most Influential Fabric of the Decade."

NeoShell builds on Power Stretch Pro's pioneering electrospun membrane technology with an innovative approach to weather protection. By making a breathable fabric waterproof, we achieved the industry benchmark 10,000mm waterproof rating while maintaining remarkable air-permeability. NeoShell is a line-blurring innovation that maintains the soft, quiet, stretchy comfort of a softshell, while performing like a hardshell.

Most Breathable

We launched Polartec® Power Shield® — our first electrospun membrane technology — in 1998, sparking the softshell revolution. On the principle that outerwear should be worn, not carried, what the fabric lacked in total waterproof protection it more than made up for in unprecedented breathability.

The 2010 evolution — Polartec® Power Shield® Pro — added a hydrostatic head to deliver water resistance up to 5,000mm for durable weather protection that lasts the full lifetime of the garment. The electrospun membrane blocks 99% of the wind, while the remaining 1% enhances circulation for improved breathability and reduced risk of heat stress in high-output activity. For the most breathable softshell fabric with a waterproof rating to get you through most use cases, look no further than Power Shield Pro.

Advanced Wind Protection

When the wind is at its worst, Windbloc's advanced barrier construction stands up to the test. The windproof polyurethane membrane that gives the platform its name can add fortified weather protection to both knit and woven fabrics, diversifying design options for a greater range of activities and conditions.

Windbloc fabrics combine the warmth and breathability of our thermal fleece fabrics with the water and wind resistance of our weather protection fabrics. Wearing Windbloc outerwear eliminates the need for a windbreaker or additional shell, reducing the weight and number of layers needed to protect and insulate.

Polymer Surface Treatment

Hardface isn't a fabric. It's our proprietary "surface-fusion polymer application" that can be added to just about any fabric to dramatically increase its water repellency and abrasion resistance. The process works by fusing a proprietary polymer to the fabric surface, infusing individual fibers with added strength and weather resistance.

The Hardface treatment noticeably enhances the look and feel of a fabric to add instant shelf appeal that maintains for the life of the garment. The smoother surface also makes for easy layering. All told, Hardface greatly improves outerwear performance without sacrificing breathability, versatility, or comfort.