Is Aerogel the Future of Insulation? DON'T COUNT ON IT!

When W.L. Gore introduced their product—a waterproof and breathable entity—they put on the market what I believed to be the biggest lie ever in the textile industry. It did not work the very day Bobby Gore and his father claimed it worked and it has yet to work today 50 years later. Now, there is a company promoting their product that also is a lie but much more dangerous than the Gore-Tex because it deals with insulation: Aerogel. 

SOLARCORE® works—and feels—different to a traditional jacket because of Aerogel—the NASA technology that powers all of our gear. Aerogel is 99.8% air. Because Aerogel is almost completely composed of trapped air, SOLARCORE® can trap more air than a thick puffy coat with only 2mm of insulation. WARM WHEN WET.

The above statement is as misleading as is possible. The writer of this statement has no more knowledge of insulation as can be found in a gnat’s rectum. The aerogel is basically a chopped staple fiber. It is so fine you can see through it. The problem with it is that there is no density. If you were to put the aerogel between two layers of nylon under any pressure it would clasp or go flat. If it did not go flat any heat would cause the air to move to the cold. Without density of the insulation to slow or keep the warm air from moving there is significant heat loss. As for “WARM WHEN WET” this is a horrible joke. If you are wet while wearing a garment with the aerogel as the insulation you will experience cold as you have never before experienced. This statement is just a further example of their lie about their products performance or lack thereof. When you look at the picture you can see right through the aerogel material and you can understand why they say it is 99.8 percent air. Looks like the king’s new clothing.

About 1990 or so two companies were licensed by NASA to manufacture and market a new form of insulation, the best in the world. It was paraffin encapsulated beads applied to fabrics that would absorb your body heat while you were active and when you stopped your activity the heat absorbed by these encapsulated beads of paraffin would send the heat back to you. It has been so long now I can’t remember their names. Obviously they were a failure in the making. 

So having a license from NASA is meaningless if the product does not work. Just to be sure, Aerogel as a form of insulation in clothing does not work 

Solarcore’s initial application was within its sibling brand, Oros apparel, where the insulation was applied to key thermal zones in cold weather apparel. This body-mapping allowed Oros to optimise its thermal advantages and retain its warming properties.

For 4/5 years now Oros has been peddling their garments with the Aerogel and now they are revising their garments. They are no longer making them with “thermal zones” but incorporating a mixture of the aerogel with primaloft in traditional method of making garments. Read below. 

Primaloft Gold Aerogel
The introduction of PrimaLoft Gold aerogel is among the first launches of this technology among large outdoors brands. And some brands have already signed on to use the insulation for winter wear.

Aside from Oros I do not know of other brands using this stuff, not that it matters to me. What I do know is that the combination of these two materials will not offer any more insulation than the Primaloft offers, which is insignificant. Just an advertising ploy putting the two non-performing composites together. 

In the consumer sector, Solarcore has partnered footwear brand Merrell to insulate its brand’s MTL Thermo Rogue 4 Boot, which won an ISPO Award in 2022. The boot was recognized for incorporating Sc_Foam, which maintains conductive thermal properties even under compression, while offering a lightweight, high-performance solution for cold weather.

The following are but a few details of this boot. I called Merrell to inquire where it was tested, when, and under what conditions. The fellow I spoke with did not know where but he did say in the last 6 months with temperatures from -10F to +32F. So, here are those details:

The MTL Thermo Rogue 4 is the latest iteration of our elite winter hiker - our lightest, most athletic, most durable winter boot ever. Equipped with Vibram Arctic Grip underfoot with traction lugs and a lightweight, insulated Gore-Tex [I was not aware that Gore-Tex made an insulation, but it is a lie!] upper your foot will never lose traction and stay warm in the harshest conditions. Solarcore insulation inspired by NASA spacesuits takes our warmth technology to the next level.

I have viewed this boot and it has no capability to keep a person’s foot warm in the harshest of conditions. I am not so sure the space suits incorporate the “Solarcore [Aerogel] form of insulation.

FEATURES

• GORE-TEX® waterproof membrane, exceptional breathability and waterproof performance
• 200 grams Primaloft® Gold Eco Series synthetic insulation
• SOLARCORE® insulation with Aerogel provides over toe and underfoot superior warmth while being extremely flexible and ultra-thin

For 50 years I believe 3M Corp. has sold their Thinsulate to boot manufacturers all over the world with weights up to I believe 2000 grams and none of the wearers of those boots has had warm feet after a couple of hours in cold weather of about 0 degrees F. So, these charlatans claim 200 grams of Primaloft plus the Aerogel are going to do better. Another joke. 

Solarcore has also recruited a leadership team from companies including The North Face, W.L. Gore, Dyneema, FLIR, Columbia Sportswear and Adidas.

Interesting to me they recruit people who and I am sure of this HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF INSULATION FOR USE IN OUTERWEAR. These recruits cannot make something work that cannot work in the first place. However, their lack of knowledge will be wooed by what they are shown. 

Michael Markesbery, co-founder and CEO at Oros Labs, said: "We believe the future of insulation lies in harnessing the potential of innovative materials that have already proven their efficacy in the most challenging environments, such as space. The integration of NASA-inspired Aerogel into Solarcore material’s DNA is a testament to our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in thermal solutions."

Michael Markesberry has sold a bill of goods to investors who are equally devoid of insulation knowledge as he is. 

Portland, OR – According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Lukla dba OROS is raising $9,500,000.00 in new funding. Sources indicate as part of senior management Chief Executive Officer, Michael Markesbery played a key role in securing the recent investment and it will aid in aggressively expanding the company, as well as broaden and accelerate product development. 

About Lukla dba OROS
Lukla is a cloud based file management system, used by collaborative businesses. Lukla uses folder-less file organization, with a powerful and intuitive naming protocol, to quickly find and edit documents from anywhere in the world. Lukla was built on the concept that information should help businesses do great things not hold them back or slow them down. Our first intelligent content management system was developed to support a multinational client’s need for digital information management. They wanted a cloud-based enterprise solution that was straightforward to roll out and would store and manage all content efficiently while making it easier to find. Since then, Lukla has been tried and tested in four continents and more than 20 countries. It has been used in major oil and gas refineries, environmental inventory and compliance projects, home construction, field operations, offshore marine construction, and corporate records and compliance. 

Oros, a Portland, Ore.-based apparel tech brand, $14.5m in Series A funding round. The round was led by Elizabeth Street Ventures and Enlightenment Capital with participation from entrepreneur Thomas Tull, the Chairman of Snap Inc. Michael Lynton, and Brandon Shainfeld, among others. 

Oros leverages NASA technology to develop advanced thermal materials and high performance, low impact apparel. The lightweight insulated material, launching in 2022, will debut in a new performance apparel collection that incorporates a suite of patents and exclusive rights to underlying NASA IP. 

The recent capital raised will allow the company to further refine the new material, create new apparel products, and invest in a manufacturing facility in the U.S. The new manufacturing facility outside Boston, Massachusetts will allow them to convert recycled fiber into a novel thermal performance fiber, bringing to life a collection of garments using 3D engineered knitting. The domestic manufacturing line will also enable OROS to customize machinery, equipment, and engineering processes, while consolidating the supply chain in order to effectively and sustainably scale production. 

These Lukla, Elizabeth Street Ventures and Enlightenment Capital must know something about insulation that I do not know about that it is worth  $25,000,000 investment. What I do know is that they must have the ear of some or[s] in the air force establishment and are working for a big payoff. What I recommend to all of them is to go to my web site: wiggys.com and read the scientific paper I wrote “WHY LAMILITE INSULATION".

From where i sit it looks like they have read the gore method of marketing  a non-performing product that led to a billion dollar business. Gore was a snake boil salesman and the aerogel folks are as well. 

THE SECOND BIGGEST LIE COMING INTO THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY

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