Columbia has done it again. Changing the game since 1938, it has now created a revolutionary rain jacket that makes even the experts sit up and take notice. Outside Magazine called it the most breathable jacket they’ve ever tested, bestowing on it the “Gear of the Show” award, trumping dozens of others at the 2015 Outdoor Retailer Show. We call it the the OutDry Extreme.
For decades, conventional rain jackets used a waterproof membrane sandwiched between another fabric treated with DWR (Durable Water Repellent), and another fabric next to the skin. While this layering technique was effective, Columbia saw the opportunity to innovate and be better.
Columbia Sportswear’s Performance Innovation Team (PIT), also known as the creative geniuses behind Omni-Freeze Zero and Omni-Heat technology, thought they could do better and they did. They created a rugged, incredibly resilient waterproof membrane, and put it on the outside, in direct contact with rain. Not only that, this groundbreaking membrane has microscopic perforations that allow moisture to escape while keeping the rain out. The jacket is lined with an ultra breathable wicking textile that provides next-to-skin comfort, unlike the
plastic-like feel of its predecessors.
What you have is the rain jacket that has been put to the test by athletes and professionals who have no tolerance for gear that do not deliver on its promises. What you have is a product that is tested tough. And we all know that Columbia knows a thing or two about what it means to be tested tough.
You will see in many of Columbia’s ad campaigns the “Tested Tough” stamp of approval from the tough mother herself, Gert Boyle. This is not just an ad-agency-approved slogan or a popular social media hashtag that Columbia is promoting. Being “Tested Tough” has been a defining element of the brand’s history, motivating employees to build products that people can trust to keep them warm, dry, cool, and protected, depending on what they need for that season.
Fortunately (or unfortunately for them), Portland, Oregon, US, where the Columbia headquarters is located, is home to ridiculously unforgiving terrain, and bears the brunt of some of the harshest weather conditions—which makes it the perfect laboratory to test out these highly technical gear. That might sound like a challenge for the rain-soaked, snow-covered, weather-beaten Columbia-clad employees who regularly use the products to ensure its reliability. The good news is that they get to constantly come up with exceptionally innovative gear that changes the landscape of how outdoor gear and apparel should work.
The OutDry Extreme is the ultimate tested tough waterproof, breathable rain jacket that you need in your wardrobe essentials.
Columbia is exclusively distributed in the Philippines by the Primer Group of Companies.
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