Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2009

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market 2009
Cool Gear Preview - GearReview.com
By Matt Smith

It isn't very often that I see or hear of a product or technology that is so unique or revolutionary that it impresses me. Most are just evolutions, changes in color, style, or minor improvements in function. But last weekend at the Outdoor Retailer Market I was introduced to what I think is a landmark technology in the outdoor / adventure market. Please note the information below is extracted from press releases, and a personal interview with Nate Alder, President of Klymit. We are eargerly anticipating field testing on products incorporating Klymit technilogy.

Klymit is an Ogden, Utah based company with it's roots dating back to 2005. Their innovation is utilizing variable volumes of noble gasses like Argon, Krypton, and Xenon to "kontrol" the elements. The concept, like most noteworthy inventions, is a simple solution to a common problem. As a race, we humans need protection from the elements. The more extreme the environment, the more essential and often complex this protect needs to be. Klymit changes that.

Schematic of Klymit's argon chambers

Noble gasses are used to fill voids or chambers, similar to an air mattress. These chambers could be in anything from a winbreaker to a helmet liner to a sleeping bag, or shoe. For any given thickness (or volume) of down, Klymit can provide more than 10 times the protection. But here's the real boon, because it relies on gas, the volume can be easily varied to provide as much or as little protection as desired. Realistically, 1 Klymit garment could replace 3 or 4 seperate layering pieces. That means less for you to carry. With the membranes currently being used, the chambers have been shown to hold their pressure for 2 months with only 3% loss. As currently produced, the argon cartridges provide approximately 2 full fills for a jacket. Plans are under development to use carbon fiber cartridges capable of 7 to 10 fills, meaning for most of us, a single cartridge would last as long as we care to be away from either the couch, or base camp.

Decente parka with Klymit

I'm not the only one to be smitten with the technology either. Many manufacturers have already, or are beginning the process to license this technology. One of the big names approved to let out of the bag, powerhouse Descente. Expect to see Klymit soon in a variety of applications throughout the industry. While there are a few wrinkles I can think of before full scale production use, the technology is promising

Klymit is also incredible environmentally friendly. No polyester to extrude and weave, no eiger ducks to harrass. The noble gasses are extracted from the air we breath every day, and when you are finished with it, it is released back where it came from with nothing in the landfill. Klymit plans to promote recycling of the refill cartridges at the point of sale.

For more information contact:
www.klymit.com
Nick Sorenson
801-884-8345

Matt Smith Is a contributing editor at Gearreview.com and abuses himself exploring the dark, nether regions of the Colorado Plateau. Check out his blog with his latest trip reports and product test updates.


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