anyone use or ever used ventile clothing….
found a nice lady in scotia who is gonna make me a made to measure ventile cycling jacket…….

thoughts please………. 8)

No but I am interested after recomendations from guys at work.

SSP

Howies used to use it, i remember reading about it in their catalogue.

I've got a jacket and some trousers which i wear for walking but i wouldn't wear them for cycling. The material is pretty heavy and gets heavier when wet.

I had/have a ventile jacket that I've used for snowboarding/skiing. I really liked it as it didn't go all "crinkly" in the cold like some manmade materials can. Personally I'd have thought that it would be a bit warm for cycling in and it does tend to "wet out" in heavy rain.

Been Bag used to make a lovely smock type thing in it.

I liked mine.

Yes, I've got a howies snowboarding jacket.

AFAIK it's a very densely woven cotten which stops a lot of wind. When it gets wet the fibres swell (absorbing water) and it sheds much more water and becomes even more waterproof.

IME (snowboarding) it makes the jacket stiff and wet which was less comfortable (not a major thing) but was also cold (I'm not one for being bothered by the cold usually). This is a major flaw as far as I'm concerned. Sitting on a windy lift in a wet jacket getting colder and colder is no fun. I'll be replacing it before I go again.

I suspect it'd be a similar to riding a bike in the rain i.e. lots of airflow creating a windchill effect with the wet fabric. It also holds water for quite a while which also makes it heavier. I suspect it's also going to be heavier and bulkier than equivalent synthetic fabrics commonly used for riding jackets. Whether and how much that might be a pain is up to you, personally I wouldn't.

So in summary, wouldn't bother. Using ventile for a biking jacket seems like a crap idea, IMO. If you were only ever going to use it as a windproof then maybe, just. But given we live in the UK a solely windproof jacket is getting close to the mythical chocolate fireguard.

I still wear my boarding jacket as I like it. But as a piece of kit to be worn in the hills it's pretty crap. In hindsight my curiousity about ventile landed me woth something that seems to be fashion over function (oh aye, I know it's Howies 😉 at least it wasn't full price!

My old man tried ventile jackets, mostly out of their niche appeal. He has gone back to Buffalo stuff and membrane jackets, mainly due to long dry times and weight.

ventile was the choice because i can get a made to measure item.
i would prfer goretex or more modern fabric
but
a, no one makes made to measure stuff
b, no noe does a 54'' chest in a off the peg modern waterproof.

I've got a jacket and some trousers which i wear for walking but i wouldn't wear them for cycling. The material is pretty heavy and gets heavier when wet.

What he said.

Ton this might interest you Cioch clothing

link should work now

Cioch clothing

Made to measure paromo clothing from the Isle of Skye. And its good value

thanks mate..
is the nikwax stuff pretty waterproof then?

Hilltrek do made to measure Nikwax Analogy as well as Ventile.

Yes its water proof but can get warm, i think it would better than ventile for cycling though, but you can get extra pit zips in for £20 . If you use a rucksack you may also get water coming in at the straps. I always think of it as with paramo you may get wet but feel dry and gore/event you maybe dry but feel wet. Due to the different ways the fabrics deal with moisture transfer. My mate is working on a development of Ventile cotton but thats all i can say….

Ton….I have a pair of Paramo tousers. You can walk into a river, waist deep and come out dry ❗ honest. Paramos own stuff is a wee bit heavy and warm for biking imo. Paramo is good stuff btw, LEA guys round here use it.If the company above can do something lighter then good. Winters are just not the same anymore ❗ I have a Polaris jacket similar to a Buffalo and it has been too warm during recent winters to be able to wear it, it`s like being one of those boil in a bag things.

You could get your local taylor to sew you up one using material from here;
waterproof material

When is it you are heading up here?

for those interested in breathability

Trekster

4th to 6th of december
then 26th to 28th of december

Second Cioch kit, and yes the Nikwax stuff does work, well in fact.
All our latest work kit for 35+ instructors is Nikwax analogy stuff(Paramo). Its warm, breathable, waterproof, comfy and works well. But it is also prone to looking grubby and tearing/nicking too easily (probably not an issue for those who vaguely look after kit, unlike most of my staff…)

Ventile – I have an old sailing smock. Fab in dry, cold conditions (worn it on Cairngorm on one stunner of a day), it is waterproof but does wet out, and then feels cold/heavy and takes an age to dry. If you lived in some really cold place it would be ace.

http://www.hilltrek.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Cycling_Double_Ventile_Jacket.html

Slioch clothing used to do made to measure Gore-tex, don't know if they still do.

http://www.slioch.co.uk/
Update – looks like it's the same name, different employee.

Ventile is ok for cold dry conditions and even warm conditions, can handle light showers but once wet or in continuous rain it's not good, I think it was used when nothing else was available as it's quite old technology. Maybe you should be looking to buy a different modern fabric, Rohan use a cotton like manmade material called Polyamide Supplex in some of their older windproofs and a company called Calange used to have something called Sofitex – my favourite windproof still, both of those are like cotton but dry quick being manmade, not as quick as normal pertex type material as they do hold moisture a little longer due to the surface of the fabric, but feel really comfortable to wear. I'm sure I've seen a 'soft' feel material by Pertex so might be worth looking into that to send to this company to custom make you clothing?