Ski Jacket Terminology 101: Waterproofing

With the early ski season fast approaching, you may be looking at getting your hands (and the rest of your upper body of course) into a snug, shiny, new ski jacket. But if you're new to this game the amount of technology and terminology presented with a jacket can be quite daunting. So let me guide you through some of the essentials to help you decide the type and source of snowboarding jacket you might need. Don't worry, these rules apply whether you're a skiier or a snowboarder, the only difference is going to be which jacket best suits your style.

For our first installment of Ski Jacket Terminology 101, I'm going to delve into the depths of waterproofing. As a piece of performance outerwear, how this performs in the situation is paramount to the quality and how much it's going to cover your back. Nearly all ski jackets are described with a waterproof rating, usually in the form of thousands of mm, to give you, the wearer, and indication of the materials and fabrics used for the jacket and therefore how resiliant the jacket is going to be against the wetter elements. 

How the water resiliance is displayed refers to water column pressure. Over to the ever-useful wikipedia for a little science lesson and insight into what this means. If this was a late-nineties L'Oreal advert I'd be asking you to pay attention right now, as here comes the science bit:

The units are by convention and due to the historical measurement of certain pressure differentials. It is defined as the pressure exerted by a column of water of 1 inch in height at defined conditions. 

Right, that's the science bit over.You will see these these ratings displayed usually in the format of 10K mm/10K grs or sometimes in full, such as 10,000 mm waterproof rating. So if your jacket has a 10K mm waterproof rating, this means the fabric can resist the pressure of a 10,000mm water column before it leaks. There are a variety of different ratings ranging from 5K, 8K, 10K, 12K and 15K and on some jackets you would see 20K and higher. These higher rated jackets are very performance orientated and sit atop the peak of products to give the best resistance. 

Keep in mind that water-repellent doesn't mean waterproof. They are two different things and what this means is that the ability for water to immerse into the material’s surface is reduced, but once it does soak through, you won't be dry for very long.

Well I hope that clears up the first element of Ski Jacket terminology. I will be blogging more about other more common terms very shortly, so make sure you subscribe and stay posted so that your jacket hunting journey can remain trouble and stress free!