Buffalo Clothing – How does it work?

Buffalo Double Pile clothing is the UK made alternative to the hard shell waterproof jacket. Made from an inner layer of high loft pile fleece and an outer wind proof and water resistant Pertex shell. The system takes advantage of capillary action where moisture is moved rapidly away from your body by the high pile fleece, the breathable outer layer.

Buffalo Says;

“To be comfortable in adverse conditions you need to be dry and warm. The concept behind the Buffalo DP System is to keep the wearer comfortable no matter what nature has in store.

Moisture causes chilling so rain and perspiration need to be kept away from the skin. To do this clothing must repel moisture from the outside, whilst eliminating it on the inside.

Whilst insulating the wearer from the cold, our pile fabric lining wicks moisture away from the body onto the outer shell. This densely woven fabric then disperses the moisture over its surface area, where it evaporates.

In turn a micro climate is created within the garment where overheating is controlled through the venting of side zips.“

Essentially Buffalo Clothing layers don’t act as a barrier to moisture in the same way that GORE-TEX and other membrane fabrics work. Buffalo understand that your own perspiration can make you just as wet as the weather so they have created a system that moves moisture away from your body very rapidly.

This system is based on Buffalo founder Hamish Hamilton’s observations of the clothing worn by indigenous people of the Arctic Circle and to this day is beloved by Mountain Rescue teams and British hill walkers.