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Is it possible for modern skiers to go back to pre-plastic ski outerwear and how would you imagine your skiing day/season would look like if it did?

James

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BCAE7E80-E00A-4A9A-A45E-40F0A74E2D5D.jpeg

I thought it was a documentary.
 

Ken_R

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Just had this thought with fluoro waxes which are arguably faster being banned for the sake of the environment.

What if this was done with ski clothing? What if goretex and all these poly based apparel and their forever chemical coatings were outright banned and we had to go back to natural fibres like wool gabardine, how would you imagine your skiing day/season would look like?

For background on pre-plastic apparel:

Are there other natural fibres and coatings that are good-enough candidates to replace poly apparel and forever chemicals?

An entire outfit of natural fibers would cost me many times what my current outfit cost me. It is really cost prohibitive.
 

James

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An entire outfit of natural fibers would cost me many times what my current outfit cost me. It is really cost prohibitive.
Not so sure about that with most jackets with a membrane being well north of $500
 

Ken_R

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Rich_Ease_3051

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Icebreaker is going plastic free by 2023. Which probably means phasing out merino-spun nylon core pieces (another example of "environmental vs durability/performance" as with fluoro-free). I know they're not an outer layer focused company, but it could be trend, or at least, exert some pressure with other apparel makers.

My understanding is they're against plastic because it gets washed into the ocean as microplastics during laundry which ends up in marine animals.


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Uncle-A

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mid 1980s - CB Sports Corduroy Jacket and LLBean heavy duty logger wool pants
View attachment 169785

Back in the late 70's and early 80's Levi's brand came out with corduroy ski bibs, they were popular for a short while. If I remember correctly I owned a pair. They were not bad as long as you stayed on groomed slops and didn't fall a lot. Definitely not for powder days or beginning skiers.
 
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Rich_Ease_3051

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Scottsdale_Ski

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Waxed or oiled canvas, wool, silk... it would be do-able if I had to. Companies like Filson still make oil finished canvas jackets & bibs, wool pants, etc. Alps & Meters has already been mentioned.

It might be interesting to suit up "old-school" now and then, just for the "cool factor".
 

David Chaus

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Well, if we're buying EV's to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, remember that the synthetic fibers and membranes found in contemporary outdoor clothing is made from the same fossil fuels. I'm thinking finding ways to develop textile materials without fossil fuels would be a worthy goal, especially if the materials can be composted somehow, once they have passed their useful garment life (but not a moment sooner).
 

Uncle-A

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Well, if we're buying EV's to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, remember that the synthetic fibers and membranes found in contemporary outdoor clothing is made from the same fossil fuels. I'm thinking finding ways to develop textile materials without fossil fuels would be a worthy goal, especially if the materials can be composted somehow, once they have passed their useful garment life (but not a moment sooner).
It is the burning of fossil fuel that they are trying to stop. I didn't think that textiles and other uses of oil were being targeted as unfriendly to the planet.
 

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