Outdoor Gear Glossary

Sabre Fabrics are treated with a DWR finish and are abrasion resistant to withstand wear and tear of everyday use, and is used across a variety of trekking rucksacks.

Seam sealing is the process that bonds to the join of fabrics to ensure full waterproof integrity, often along the seams of tents. Tents are sometimes seam taped along the flysheet seams using a hot-air tape which bonds strongly with the Polyurethane coating on the inside of the flysheet fabric or waterproof clothing.

Seersucker is a thin, cotton fabric, most often striped, and usually used to make clothing for spring and summer wear. Origins of the word are found relating to the Hindi words 'shir o shakar' meaning 'milk and sugar', probably due to its stripes of smooth surfaces (milk) and rough surfaces (sugar). The seersucker fabric is woven in such a way that some of the threads that are used bunch together, creating a wrinkled appearance. The seersucker fabric is sometimes used in outdoor clothing as it sits away from the skin making it excellent for warmer consitions, where heat dissipation and air circulation in clothing is vital.

Utilising lightweight, durable Shadowlite HyVent fabric, The North Face Expedition down sleeping bags allow internal moisture vapor to escape while preventing water molecules from penetrating inward. As a result, the user stays warm and dry.

With Overlapping Shingle Construction the insulation baffles are overlayed rather than side-by-side. This is another way to alleviate cold spot formation, and therefore increasing warmth in your sleeping bag.

Side compression straps play are surprisingly important role. They naturally reduce the bulkiness of the rucksack, making trails through narrow passes and in-transit storage far easier. In addition, it avoids the rucksacks load to move around so easily, and creating a dead-weight at the bottom of your rucksack putting you off balance. A rucksack is naturally expected at times to carry considerable weight, and when walking stability is a must, but winter mountaineering rucksacks also incorporate quick-release buckles for rapid attachment or removal of skis.

The same meaning as 'Pitch as one'. This is a method used to describe the inner tents and the outer tent being erected together which can help save time when setting up and taking down.

The Single Seal closure is often used for camera bags and compression drybag, along with a quick seal closure when it is first closed. The roll closure will feature at the upper end of the bag, which should be rolled 3 times, and then the buckles should be locked inside the housing.

Once locked, the closure can act as a stable handle; the product may also be secured or locked with an external lock through the buckle. The Single seal roll 'n' snap closure is waterproof in floating condition. Users might decide to occasionally lubricate the sealing closure with silicon grease providing optimal functioning. Prior to lubricating, the internal faces of the sealing closure should be cleaned with a damp cloth.

A sling is an item of climbing equipment consisting of a tied or sewn loop of webbing that can be wrapped around sections of rock, hitched (tied) to other pieces of equipment or even tied directly to a tensioned line, equalization, for anchor extension, or for climbing the rope. A gear sling is used to organise and carry climbing equipment. Slings can also act as a component of a quickdraw by attaching two karabiners.

High tenacity nylon woven fabric with a single diagonal ripstop weave. Used specifically for its very light weight in the Berghaus Endurance range.

A piece of fabric that covers and protects an opening (usually a zipper) on an item of clothing. It is designed to add another barrier on more vulnerable parts of your clothing, and keep out wind, rain, and snow.

With 96% Cordura Nylon and 4% Spandex this 200gsm fabric has excellent stretch and abrasion resistance properties. The fabric also has a DWR. This fabric is also very wind resistance. All these properties lead to an easy care comfortable four season trousers.

The North Face Summit Series has been developed for the most serious athletes, featuring The North Face's athlete-tested and technically-advanced clothing and equipment. This premier collection is designed for expedition use from base camp to summit, where the very extremes of weather, terrain and temperature demand the highest level of performance.

This nylon fabric is constructed with yarns of a specially engineered cross section. The channels running down the length of the yarns create a fabric with excellent moisture wicking properties this makes the fabric very comfortable to wear in humid conditions. This fabric dries very quickly, is very though and hardwearing with excellent wind resistance.

This is a very lightweight nylon fabric with DWR. The fabric dries incredibly quickly, is light weight and packable. This is an excellent fabric for a light weight travel trouser.

When deployed and fitted (toggles allow one-handed adjustment), the Lowe Alpine jacket's Swivel Sight hood will shelter your head in the worst of storms, although vision will not be impaired as you look from side to side because of the generous cut of material in the neck area. Toggle volume adjustment ensures a good fit whether or not you're wearing a helmet.