Have you ever wondered what is the best clothing to spend your hard earned dosh on?

 Me too, and I was talking with some folks last week who also had some questions about clothing systems for our various courses - they are coming on the Ultimate Endurance events later in the year but it’s just as appropriate for any outdoor activities. I thought this article published on Buffalo’s site might start to answer some questions and particularly the difference between dynamic and static activities regarding your own body’s heat output and the ability to deal with rain.

You will see what I think of fibre pile, particularly buffalo as you read the article - as one of the original users when Hamish Hamilton invented the system I’ve had time to appraise it properly. Anecdotally, many of my findings are supported by other long term users who appreciate that NOTHING will keep you 100% comfy all the time. For winter wear it sure comes close though!

Email from Duncan Clark, 21st August 2008

Title: A Little Balance

Dear Buffalo,
Whilst I am a great fan of your gear, and have used it pretty much from the start, I have been reading your stories and think they could do with a little balance so that new users can make a proper informed choice.

Many years ago, I used to organise a mini adventure race for our climbing club, and one January tested Buffalo gear ‘to the max’ by swimming across a plunge pool to retrieve a Tyrolean, then heading up Moel Siabod in the snow and ice! People were quite rightly amazed that I didn’t immediately die of hypothermia.

In the Army, I remember being similarly impressed during a particularly unpleasant wet and muddy OP we were mounting once - everyone had the old ‘58 pattern bags except one lad who had the brand new Superbag and who volunteered to leave it in the OP - what a hero - instead of the cold wet nylon, smeared with clay and grit from everyone’s boots, I got a soft warm, deliciously comfy bag with armholes (liner removed)! Result!

As you can tell, I have been well impressed by the performance of Buffalo gear, however there is another side (there always is)…

If you get an unexpectedly warm day (or night) you will melt in it! Yes, it wicks away the sweat but you cant afford to lose sweat at that rate when working hard for extended periods - what this means is that you almost need to carry a thermal and windshirt at times when there is a warm weather risk.

I’ve one other experience I wanted to share because people should know the full story regarding specialist clothing systems. Once I was involved in a search for 2 missing climbers which took place after a wet bivvi (no problem there) and went on for about 10 hours of driving rain and wind round the back of Y Llewydd in Snowdonia. To start with, I was fine in fact better than my mate who was wearing full waterproof jacket and saloppettes however after several hours there were more and more trickles of water running around inside my 3-piece suit, which also wasn’t really a problem because I was staying warm enough anyway.

Where the problem started was when we were forced to become stationary for some time (about 3 hours) with little shelter - my mate was able to deal with this with relative ease, being protected by a barrier, however I started to become wetter and colder as time went on. Luckily the 2 were found before anything worse happened but there you go….

In summary - fantastic and durable kit - and great at what it does best.

Kind regards
Duncan Clark
www.NorthRidgeAdventure.co.uk

Buffalo’s Reply

Dear Duncan

Thank you very much for taking the time to write this email to us. I will put it on the web site today. It is very important to have a balanced view of our equipment on the site so everybody can see what it can and, just as importantly, cannot do.

To comment on some of the points you made, I agree about the need to take ‘warm weather’ clothing when you are out as well as cold weather. It might be cold at the start of the day where a Buffalo Shirt is perfect, but by lunch time, the temperature could have risen  by 10 degrees or more and a Thermal and Windshirt is perfect, or even an ActiveLite Shirt (!). Getting too hot can sometimes be very unpleasant and without enough water dangerous.

As for your cold, wet experience on Llewydd, we do try and recommend that some form of ‘movement’ will be required to keep you warm in times when you are stationary; star jumps for example should do the trick every so often.

One of the reasons for getting cold was that you started to get very wet with cold water. The ‘pushing’ process of moisture from your body to the outer layers of the 3 piece suit (Shirt, Salopettes and Jacket) would have stopped because there was no heat to do the work and no heat to ‘warm’ the water up when it came in contact with your skin. This is where some form of vigorous exercise does the job and helps keeps you warm. Another way is to put the trusty Windshirt over the top of what you are wearing just as the rain starts. This, though not waterproof, can act as small water barrier and just delay the time it takes for the water to get in and the chilling process to start. (Exercise will still be required though, as above). If a ‘Waterproof’ is put over the top and not breathable, any moisture that is ‘pushed’ out though the Buffalo Clothing will be trapped behind the waterproof and end of making you colder than before. Of course, keeping your head and hands warm in this type of situation is vital, and a DP Hood on your head can help, and Mitts will help keep your hands a little warmer. The other answer, of course, is to try and find a little shelter!

As for the plunge pool, I did something similar a few years ago to test a new shirt, because loads of other people had done it and I thought that I should really know what it was like. Mine was on a very snowy day on Bleaklow! 20 minutes later we stopped on top for lunch and I was fine!

I hope this has answered some of the points you made. I will add this reply to your email on the web site so new users can see how we ‘try’ and address some of the issues you raised.

Again, thank you for taking the time to make these comments. It is always good to hear that we are still making great kit, in the UK, and that we have not given in and gone down the fashion line that so many brands have done before us, and lost their actual reason for making clothing in the first place.

Regards

Adam Thomas

Sales and Marketing Manager

Buffalo Systems Ltd

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