Omnitherm® is woven in a special 5-ply configuration that shed water much like the fur on a wolf or shingles on a roof.

Omnitherm® is a shrink-stabilized, weather-tight multi-ply woven wool fabric -- a long way of saying our process makes the wool more water and wind repellent, more durable, higher in loft, better at insulating and far more breathable.
Stabilizing a wool fabric for repeated trips through a washing machine is a difficult job. It requires additional time and expense, along with close attention to materials.

We spin our own 100% virgin wool yarn with an exclusive process using only fine grade top cut (not scratchy) wool with a high percentage of long fiber.

The 100% virgin wool is spun in an exclusive process that interlocks the short and long fibers into an exceptionally strong, durable, and stable woolen yarn.

Each color of Omnitherm® is a yarn dyed separately with our own organic dyes which are absolutely UV neutral. That means they will reflect light exactly like the rest of the natural world so that you won't stand out in any wavelength of light. And of course our dyes are colorfast so the pattern won't fade away.
Omnitherm's® Camouflage pattern isn't printed onto the fabric -- it's woven in, on specialized fine index looms. They isolate one color yarn on top and hide the four additional strands underneath. We use the best looms of their kind in the world.

The end result is a fabric that is unmatched in field performance and ease of care.

Mother nature did a remarkable job designing a wool fiber. Rather than ignore moisture like a synthetic fiber, wool uses moisture to keep you comfortable. Each wool fiber consists of an absorbent (hydrophilic) core surrounded by a nonabsorbent (hydrophobic) shell.
The moisture that comes off your skin is full of latent heat, and if you ventilate all the moisture away, the heat goes wit it; hence the constant layering shuffle with synthetic fabrics.

But with wool, the heat stays with you because the shell of the fiber separates the moisture and the air to avoid evaporation chill.
That's why wool keeps you warm even if you get wet. Wool works in open air like a wet suit works under water with one added feature: wool also uses stored moisture to cool you down when you heat up. The result is an amazing flywheel effect that adjusts naturally to keep you comfortable over a wide range of conditions.

Body Moisture transformed into vapor contains significant latent heat which wool can absorb. The vapor moves through the hydrophobic sheath of each wool fiber into the fiber's core. This keeps heat in the clothing envelope around the wearer withou evaporation heat loss.
Insulating systems that wick away all bio-vapor also remove the latent heat it contains, To compensate, they need additional insulating loft and more on-and-off layering adjustments to match ventilation to activity level.

Sensible Heat

Unlike synthetic fibers, wool fibers have the ability to conduct and hold heat. This "sensible heat" is stored in the wearer's insulating envelope. This provides a flywheel effect -- self-adjusting to reduce the amount of fiddling with the layers as weather and activity levels change.
Wool can also absorb radiant heat from the sun or from a fire without danger from flammability.

Vapor Regulation Barrier: Silk is all you need under Omnitherm® when conditions are mild and temperatures are above freezing. No fabric feels better against your skin. Silk regulates moisture without adding insulation. That means that when you sweat, silk keeps moisture on your skin to cool you. It dries quickly when you cool off, and stays amazingly odor-free. Put your silks over your expedition weight synthetic when conditions are cold and windy.

Synthetics: When it's cold, synthetic fabrics work the best. Synthetic fibers do not absorb moisture so these fabrics are easy to keep dry. Omnitherm's® ability to regulate moisture keeps them even drier and greatly enhances their insulation. Thicker fabrics (expedition weight) trap more air and so add more insulation.

Polypropylene or Polyester? Under a microscope they look the same and their performance is similar. However, polyester fibers have a much higher melting point -- they can take hot wash water and a hot dryer where polypropylene cannot. Since synthetic fibers do not absorb water, the hot water wash helps to get them cleaner and to remove odors.

Wool Sweater: In extreme cold, add a wool sweater over your expedition weight polys for more loft.

EYE-D-VERSION

To conceal yourself from this process you h have two basic choices. You can wear a disguise that makes you appear to be a harmless thing like a tree. Or you can conceal yourself by avoiding the eye altogether. Mother nature designs fur to avoid the eye and Omnitherm;s EYE-D-VERSION pattern works the same way. Slight movement is less likely to be detected.

Because Omnitherm colors are woven in, you don't get the sharp contrast lines of printed fabrics where one color changes to another. Yet because we use fine index looms, you still get a distinct pattern that dissolves your outline into the background.

Omnitherm EYE-D-VERSION comes in three patterns. Use Autumn or Timber in the forest or the bush where dark colors will absorb more light. In open country, above timberline, or up in a tree when all the leaves are gone, use Blowdown.