INTREPID FABRICS
The industry's most breathable, most sustainable waterproof fabrics
Despite being a newcomer in the high-performance waterproof-breathable space, Trenchant Textiles is rare amongst fabric converters for having its own in-house lamination capability. Our CTO has laminated tens of millions of yards of waterproof-breathable material for many of the world’s leading outdoor brands. As a result, technical outerwear developers can rest assured that our team brings decades worth of experience in developing and laminating technical fabrics.
Trenchant Textiles offers a wide range of fabrics built around Celgard’s PP membranes, including everything from the lightest of athletic fabrics to the most rugged fabrics for hunting and work wear. We have developed an extensive range of 2, 2-5 and 3-layer fabrics, based on a variety of face fabric weaves and weights. Moreover, we're always on the lookout for new materials and finishes in order to stay at the cutting edge of the outdoor technical fabric industry. Lucky for us, many of the most exciting new textile technologies are conjured up right here in Taiwan. Our home base is known not only for its flexibility and its lightning-quick production turnaround, but also its innovation.
Lamination is the key to any technical fabric, and a core competence for Trenchant Textiles. Any veteran lamination engineer will tell you that each combination of membrane, fabric, and DWR presents a unique laminating challenge. Selecting the right adhesive and micro-managing its application so that it doesn’t plug up nanopores or detrimentally affect the handfeel of the fabric is truly a black art. Adjusting a dozen or more process parameters for optimal durability and breathability takes years of experience. Polypropylene is particularly challenging, as its low surface energy makes it very slippery and difficult to adhere to. That's why we keep all lamination in-house.
Trenchant’s in-house lamination expertise allows us to integrate a wide range of nylon, polyester, and polypropylene fabrics for both face and tricot. However, it is in lighter fabrics where Intrepid laminated fabrics really come into their own. That’s because the thinness and elasticity of the micro-porous PP membrane enable us to construct fabrics in the 50-75 denier range that have the handfeel and lightness that competing fabrics can only achieve with finer, more expensive fabrics. Alternatively, we’re able to laminate face fabrics as light as 20 denier for weight-critical applications. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we are able to construct high-wearing fabrics as heavy as 500 denier.
One can imagine that, being the new challenger on the block, Intrepid has invited no small amount of skepticism. The most common questions are 1.) how is your lamination strength? and 2.) have you gotten seam taping figured out? Our answers are 1.) awesome, and 2.) yes, with multiple seam tape validated vendors. We've subjected our fabrics to a punishing battery of endurance tests, demonstrating its performance and durability beyond any doubt. Our fabrics have endured as many as 60 wash cycles and weeks of both the bucket soak test and UV sun exposure on a piping-hot Taipei rooftop. We're confident that Intrepid can stand up to your customers' most brutal real-world punishment.