OREGON - US sports and outdoor apparel business, Columbia, is to launch what it claims is the first high-performance rain jacket made without the use of Perflourinated Chemicals (PFCs). The OutDry Extreme ECO Shell has seen the business "start from scratch" in order to develop an outdoor garment which will allow for the removal of PFCs without degrading performance – an ongoing challenge for the outdoor sector given that non-PFC durable water repellant (DWR) alternatives have generally failed to match the performance levels of their fluorinated counterparts.
