You can wear this ISPO award-winning jacket at -20 to +20 degrees
It sounds like science fiction: a jacket that automatically gets thicker when it's cold and thinner when it's warm. And all without sensors, a battery or an app. This is possible thanks to a material from the aerospace industry. The Graphene-X AeroGraph Jacket won the ISPO Innovation Award for this innovation.
It sounds almost too good to be true. A jacket that gets thicker when the temperature drops and thinner when it gets warmer. That's why I was initially sceptical when I saw the AeroGraph Puffer Jacket at the ISPO international sports trade fair in Munich. Because with almost all materials, it's the other way round: they expand when it's warm and contract when it's cold.
Material with special physical properties
Jorge Barros, founder and CEO of Graphene-X, demonstrates the effect by wetting aerogel, the ultra-lightweight filling material of the jacket, with cold spray. The tubes actually expand and the insulation layer becomes thicker. The reason for this is the change in surface tension in the tubes due to less molecular movement, explains Jorge.
Source: Graphene-X
The aim was to create a jacket for almost all seasons that is lighter than down and warms even when wet, says Jorge. To achieve this, he researched intensively for suitable materials and came across aerogel.
Aerogel is a synthetic material in which air replaces the liquid components of the gel. This makes it very light and at the same time offers very high thermal insulation. In an article from NASA, which used aerogel to insulate the Mars Rover, among other things, aerogel is described as the lightest known solid material. Graphene-X uses a specially reinforced version of aerogel, the graphthermal filling, to make it more resistant.
A jacket for three seasons
According to Graphene-X, the jacket is suitable for temperatures from -20 to +20 degrees. Instead of several jackets for spring, autumn and winter, only one is needed. With a filling of 160 grams of aerogel, the jacket is also very light. According to the manufacturer, 250 to 300 grams of down are required for a comparable level of warmth. The outer shell is made from bio-based nylon made from starch and is water-repellent without the perfluorinated and polyfluorinated chemicals PFC and PFA.
Source: Graphene-X
"This jacket is designed to accompany you almost all year round in different climatic conditions. The innovative graphene technology actively adapts to the temperature and ensures a comfortable temperature in any weather," writes the jury of the ISPO trade fair in justifying the innovation award.
We do not currently have the jacket, which is due to be launched on the market in the next few weeks, in our range. Should that change, you will of course hear from me straight away.
Research diver, outdoor guide and SUP instructor – I love being in, on and around water. Lakes, rivers and the ocean are my playgrounds. For a change of perspective, I look at the world from above while trail running or flying drones.