Black Diamond launches PFC Free Apparel
By Agnese Blasetti
According to Trent Bush, vice president of Black Diamond Equipment apparel line “The GTT Empel Breathable Water Protection DWR is a major breakthrough in performance, durability, and sustainability. Black Diamond is integrating this technology into many of its new products. Whether intended for summer or winter, this technology will bring incredible new performance of incomparable value. We are very excited.
Since the beginning, mountains has been the core of Black Diamond. Its product portfolio started with climbing gears and then expanded continuously throughout the years including mountaineering and skiing gears as well as apparel. This spring, Black Diamond introduced a trail running line made of gaiters, running backpacks, poles and some wind shells, especially the Distance Wind Shell – a windproof and waterproof extremely lightweight and breathable trail running jacket realized with revolutionary green technology by Green Theme Technologies.
Black Diamond is the major partner in the launch of GTT Empel and can’t wait to add more products created thanks to ecological technologies in its clothing line.
5 key advantages of the Empel technology
Clean chemistry is the foundation of Empel. GTT uses no harmful chemicals like PFCs that can cause damage to the environment.
No water. All the textile factories of the world use water to dye the clothes we wear and water-repellent products. Empel technology is based on monomers, molecular constituents applied directly to tissues and then fused into polymers to coat each fiber. This process gives better protection to fabrics and a more lasting treatment than any other water-based one.
Zero emissions. Since Empel doesn’t use water in the production process, there is no risk of contaminating the environmental water reserves. All the chemical products used for the treatment of the fabrics are bound to the fibers and become part of them.
Unchanged performance means that Empel puts the best water repellent products on the market, protecting the environment. Creating a useful solution for the environment does not mean sacrificing performance. The pressure process uniformly protects each fiber, creating an invisible and hyper-water repellent barrier without reducing the breathability of the fabric.
Specific creations. The substances at the base AND the production process itself are completely innovative, so the end of water-based treatments is changing things. Empel creates a hyper-water repellent barrier to protect each fiber. The new, ultra light, windproof BD shell is the perfect example, protecting the wearer from both wind and rain.