Stay Warm and Dry with Quality Snowboard Clothing
Experiencing varying weather conditions during winter sports is something you might have already encountered. Temperatures can significantly differ when snowboarding in January compared to March. But how do you ensure that you don't get too cold? Or even too warm? How do you stay dry? You've probably often seen terms like water column and breathability mentioned with jackets or pants. But what exactly do these terms mean?
What Does a Water Column Indicate?
To stay dry during winter sports, it's essential to wear waterproof snowboard clothing. The degree of waterproofness is indicated by a water column. You often see values like 5,000 mm to 30,000 mm listed for a jacket or pants. The fabric is tested by placing a column (tube) with a diameter of 2.5 cm, filled with water, on the fabric. Then it's observed at what amount of water the material starts to leak. A water column of 5,000 mm means that the fabric only starts leaking when it's under the pressure of
Experiencing varying weather conditions during winter sports is something you might have already encountered. Temperatures can significantly differ when snowboarding in January compared to March. But how do you ensure that you don't get too cold? Or even too warm? How do you stay dry? You've probably often seen terms like water column and breathability mentioned with jackets or pants. But what exactly do these terms mean?
What Does a Water Column Indicate?
To stay dry during winter sports, it's essential to wear waterproof snowboard clothing. The degree of waterproofness is indicated by a water column. You often see values like 5,000 mm to 30,000 mm listed for a jacket or pants. The fabric is tested by placing a column (tube) with a diameter of 2.5 cm, filled with water, on the fabric. Then it's observed at what amount of water the material starts to leak. A water column of 5,000 mm means that the fabric only starts leaking when it's under the pressure of 5 meters of water.
Water Column Values
To give some idea of what the water column values precisely indicate about the degree of waterproofness, we've created an overview:
> 1,000 mm: The fabric is water-repellent but not waterproof.
1,000 mm – 5,000 mm: The fabric is waterproof against light pressure. You will stay dry during a short rain shower, but if you, for example, sit in wet snow, water will slowly seep through the fabric.
5,000 mm – 15,000 mm: The fabric is waterproof in the rain and can withstand quite a lot of pressure. Only under prolonged high pressure will the fabric start to leak. Winter sports clothing with a water column between 5,000 mm and 15,000 mm is therefore ideal.
15,000 mm – 30,000 mm: The fabric is extremely waterproof. Even when the fabric is under prolonged pressure. If you're doing a lot of freeriding, clothing with a water column between 15,000 mm and 30,000 mm is recommended.
What Does Breathability Mean?
Besides your ski and snowboard outfit needing to be waterproof, it's also important that the clothing breathes well. This is indicated by its breathability. When you're snowboarding intensively, you start to sweat. Naturally, this sweat needs to be wicked away to keep you dry from the inside. Think of it as tiny holes in the fabric that are large enough to let moisture/vapor through but small enough to keep the moisture out.
The measurement is how many grams (g) of water vapor a square meter of material can transmit in a span of 24 hours. For example, if a jacket has a breathability of 10,000 grams, it means the jacket allows 10 kg of water vapor to pass through in 24 hours.
Awesome Snowboard Outfits
Have you seen our awesome collection of snowboard clothing from Picture Organic Clothing and Airblaster? We've picked out some cool sets for you and photographed them. Would you like to see them in real life? Then come and visit us in our showroom in Nijverdal.