Warmth Without Weight
The most comfortable man in frosted field or iced-in duckblind this winter will no longer, of necessity, be a man swathed in a cumbersome layer of heavy woolen clothing, electric socks plugged in, hand warmers aglow. He'll be the properly (and lightly) insulated man. For manufacturers of protective cold-weather clothing have now, with the aid of Government experiments in Korea and the antarctic, begun to practice a theory demonstrated in nature by animals and birds since fur and feathers first grew—that trapped air cells offer the best insulation against extremes of temperature. The new insulated clothes are the best news in the sporting goods stores this winter. Although they employ various methods of achieving their purpose, they all have the same one—to keep a layer of air cells between skin and outside cold. To do this, there are many new products available. Brand & Oppenheimer's Fahrenheit, U.S. Rubber's Insulair, Curtiss-Wright's Curon are all plastic-like substances similar to thin layers of foam rubber, containing locked-in air cells. Quilted linings of Acrilan-fiber fill and Dacron-fiber fill and of fiber blends such as Temp-Tron and Ny-Len perform the same function. When outdoor garments, such as these shown here, are insulated with them, they bring a whole new world of comfort, of warmth without bulk or weight, to the winter sportsman.
Shooting jacket ($30, Bob Allen Sportswear), insulated with Ny-Len, provides warmth without weight for Courtland McDermott, a guide at Long Island's Suffolk Lodge Game Preserve.
All-purpose jacket ($23, Budd Insulated) and pants ($20) are lined with Temp-Tron, an insulating layer of wool, acetate and Dacron which maintains body heat comfortably at 70° above or 10° below.
All-red outfit, the "Western Field" is of water-repellent nylon-and-cotton poplin, insulated with Dacron-fiber fill. The jacket ($20) has game pocket, and the trousers knit bottoms ($18, both Eugene Usow).
Cold-weather jacket ($35, Thermorama) is waterproofed on the outside with Syl-mer, neoprene-treated on inside, lined with a quilting of Orion and acetate, for heat retention and weather protection.
Quilted underwear ($40, Refrigi-Wear) locks Dacron fibers between layers of nylon—can be worn under lightest of outer garments. Rubber boot socks are insulated with foam ($3.75, Abercrombie & Fitch).
Hunting suit ($62, U.S. Rubber) is in new safety-yellow poplin, lined with Insulair. It has action-free sleeves, detachable hood, zippered, waterproofed game pocket. Plaid wool shirts are by Bloch-Heller.
Reversible jacket ($18, A. Berlin) of red and gray, and red shooting trousers ($15, National Pants Co.) are lined with Fahrenheit, a urethane-foam insulating material. Both garments are water-repellent.
SEVEN PHOTOS
RICHARD MEEK