Powershield vs. Schoeller

[AJ]

I'm fairly familiar with Schoeller's fabrics, but not at all with Malden Mills' Powershield. Can anyone fill me in on the differences? Any experience of a comparative nature? I'm sure there are some opinions...

[Dru]

Powershield is the weight of 100 wt. fleece and as warm as 300wt. fleece, but lighter .

Powershield jacket like Arcteryx Gamma SV is as warm as a scholler jacket with a 200wt fleece underneath (like wearing Arcteryx Gamma LT pullover with a Delta jacket or Regulator fleece underneath)

Powershield has better water repellency than scholler.

powershield is a cold/winter fabric. scholler is a summer fabric on its own, or a winter fabric layered over fleece.

[fishstick]

Keeping in mind that Schoeller comes in various weights (and that Powershield might about to), they excel at slightly different things. Schoeller might be considered better for all round use as it can be worn in warmer weather which makes it suitable for summer alpine climbing and buggy approaches. It's tough enough for bushwacking, but still won't last too many seasons for hard industrial use. Combined with medium weight underwear they work well for three season alpine climbing and winter ice climbing in friendly weather (without a Gore shell). If you can only afford one pair of pants and climb in the summer, go with Schoeller.

Powershield is too warm for summer use. I've heard it described as industrial strength lycra with a light fleece laminated to the inside, which isn't that far off. Its quite bulky, so Powershield works on trips where it's on your body rather than in your pack. Powershield alone isn't as warm as stretch 200 under a Gore shell when standing around. Add medium weight long johns to Powershield and it's warm enough for most ice climbing on the coast. For quite cold or very stormy conditions, a Gore shell will still make life much more pleasant. The outer fabric of Powershield dries pretty quickly, but if you get the pants really wet on a long ski trip, they can be a bit uncomfortable for a while. A funny thing about Powershield is that it seems to form to your body. An initial firm fit seems to relax the appropriate amount in all of the appropriate areas and stay that way even after washing. Powershield tends not to bag out after getting it wet. Schoeller does.

Both fabrics in my opinion work better for pants than tops. A fleece jacket and a wind shirt seems to be the combo on the top half. Powershield is too bulky and Schoeller doesn't provide enough warmth. Malden's new shelled regulator (whatever they're going to call it) works brilliantly in tops. Not as stretchy as Powershield, but warmer. It also has superior DWR.

Overall, Scholler is my preference until the average temperature drops to about 3C, at which point Powershield becomes my strong favorite.

One other product worth considering if you're looking at these two, is the Sporthill Koch XC pant sold in running stores. A bit warmer than Shoeller, more compactable (but not as warm) as Powershield. They dry very quickly and like the other two options, offer enough weather resistance to keep the Gore shell in your pack the vast majority of the time. The only downfall of the XC pant is that they're a bit warm to wear purely as bug protection.

 

 

[Illimani94]

No experience with Powershield yet. I've used a pair of Schoeller Dryskin Extreme pants (3 winters of ice and snow, and wore them in Bolivia last summer)., and have a friend who uses both an Arc'teryx Gamma jacket and MEC one-piece suit - Powerstretch vest with Powershield bottom. He says Powershield is like Powerstretch on steroids - stretchy and fuzzy warm, but seriously blocks the wind and sheds snow nicely. My experience w/ Dryskin Extreme is that the warmth is what's missing from that fabric; for cold conditions I have to layer long johns, Powerstretch tights, or both underneath. That should make Dryskin Ex more versatile; when it's relatively warm you can layer lighter, or not layer. Powershield, you get the fuzz whether you need it or not. Agree about Dryskin Ex bagging when the pants have gotten wet from the snow; not a big deal, but it does happen. Mine have been darned tough though. I finally put a nick in a doubled knee with a front point last winter; other than that, no damage at all.

Just to make things more interesting, I heard that Cloudveil was coming out with a Dryskin Extreme bib this winter. Arc'teryx Gamma or Cloudveil? Hmmm....

[verticalturtle]

I have to say after owning both I prefer both...in their place. I have had my Gamma jacket on every single trip since I have had it. I used it and gamma salopet for ice all winter. I will agree that powershield is a bit warm for summer in the mtns if its hot, but at least w/ mine they vent like mad. Even with a harness on. I do not agree however that the top is too hot. There are of course days where all I need is a very light windshirt, and the cloudveil veiled peak works well, but those are definately the exception. Even summer in the mountains gets cool when the wind picks up and the gamma seems to do well because it is so breathable. Also after wearing this piece nearly every weekend for over a year, and trust me I do not go easy on my gear, it still looks almost new.

If its warm- shoeller pants, gamma top.

If its cold powershield pants and top.

Butt cold fleece suit and powershield.

Freakin hot go nekid

This said I don't know anyone with Shoeller tops who has been disapointed with durrability, unless you include pilling. All schoeller will eventually. Powershield doesn't. Neither will keep you dry in rain (but who climbs planning on rain?), but powershield seems to do better in supposedly frozen waterfalls that are sopping.

To answer a question..malden does make several weights of their product also. You will also see TNF and others doing powershield stuff soon.

And cloudveil will have a dryskin extreme bib and hooded jacket next season.

[This message has been edited by verticalturtle (edited 06-05-2001).]

[Beck]

These fabrics all belong in the category of "stretch woven" fabrics. Different companies have a lot of these new fabrics in their clothing lines, Moonstone, Patagonia, The North Face are all offering varieties of stretch wovens.

Look for scholler "SKIFANS" fabric, woven with wool as the inner nap for cooler weather as comprable with powershield- and I'd rate it as a better temperature regulator and drier, too!

The scholler fabrics with a base layer can be quite comfortable below freezing. I skied at Mount Rainier all winter long with Scholler and long johns and didn't have to put the shell pants on at all except in a blinding rainstorm. also the fabric sheds frozen precip much better than at above freezing temps.

Powershield would probably be too warm for pants in any season here in the NW with the exception of stop and go at high altitude, MEC, ARXTERCX and Cloudwalker are the only manufacturers with Powershield pants, I'd go with Scholler and layer underneath for most conditions in the NW.

One more tip- MEC has powershield jackets for 160 canadian and scholler tops for mabye 120- Seems to me Cloudveil and ARXTERX are price gouging us poor folk.

 

[Dwayner]

And do they come in pastels and other fun colors? Come on, ladies! Really!

(Sorry, my Bru-tha's! I couldn't resist!)

Love, Dwayner

[This message has been edited by Dwayner (edited 06-05-2001).]

[Dru]

quote:

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Originally posted by Beck:

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Powershield would probably be too warm for pants in any season here in the NW with the exception of stop and go at high altitude

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I wear my Arcteryx powershield bibs for all ice climbing and any mountaineering year round where i will be moving at night or in the shade most of the time.

I have found powershield to be much more durable with regard to rips and tears than either scholler or goretex. two years of ice climbing and mountaineering and not one hole yet. scholler pants have several small holes after one summer of rock and mountaineering.

MEC hooded powershield top is only 125 CDN and looks good not just in the mountains but when you are DJing in a club! a powershield hoodie, word!!

Trivial fact: Alex Lowe really liked powershield bibs but TNF didn't make them. So he got a pair of the arcteryx ones and put duct tape over the logo to keep sponsors happy. take a look you can see it in the photos from great trango, great sail, etc. in climbing mag and national geo.

[Dru]

You can get rid of scholler pilling real easy by waving your lighter over the pills. That's how they fix pilling warranties at arcteryx.

[erik]

especially since they already have the lighters going!

puff puff warranty! puff puff overnight!

 

 

[Dru]

Puff puff 4:20 PM!! Everybody meet in the parking lot!!