What special materials are used in outdoor shoes to improve their breathability and durability?
Publish Time: 2025-01-16
Outdoor shoes use a variety of special materials to improve their breathability and durability, providing outdoor enthusiasts with a more comfortable and reliable wearing experience. In terms of breathability, outdoor shoes widely use high-tech fabrics such as Gore-Tex, eVent and Sympatex.
Gore-Tex is a highly waterproof and breathable material, the core of which is a thin layer of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membrane. There are hundreds of millions of micropores on this membrane, each of which is much smaller than a water droplet but larger than a water vapor molecule. Therefore, external water droplets cannot penetrate the membrane layer, while internal water vapor can be discharged smoothly, thus ensuring the waterproofness and breathability of the shoes. Gore-Tex fabric has excellent waterproof performance and can withstand up to 20,000mm of water pressure. At the same time, its air permeability can reach 8,000g/m²/24h, ensuring that the wearer's feet always stay dry.
eVent is another high-performance waterproof and breathable fabric. Similar to Gore-Tex, eVent also uses microporous technology, but its microporous structure is more special, which can provide higher breathability while ensuring waterproof performance. eVent fabric has excellent waterproof performance and can withstand water pressure up to 30,000mm, and its unique breathability also makes it perform well in outdoor activities.
Sympatex is a non-porous, hydrophilic polymer membrane. It achieves the waterproof and breathable functions of the membrane through molecular-level technical adjustments. Unlike traditional microporous technology, Sympatex's non-porous membrane can effectively prevent the passage of water molecules while allowing water vapor molecules to diffuse out through the membrane layer. This technology ensures the waterproof performance of the shoes in adverse weather conditions while ensuring the comfort of the wearer's feet.
In terms of durability, the soles of outdoor shoes are usually made of highly wear-resistant rubber materials, such as Vibram rubber. Vibram is a world-renowned outdoor shoe sole brand. Its soles use a special rubber formula that not only has excellent wear resistance, but also performs well on a variety of terrains. This kind of sole can provide excellent grip, whether it is slippery rocks or muddy trails, it can stand firmly. In addition, some outdoor shoes also use anti-slip TPU materials, which stand out in the application of mountaineering soles with its excellent anti-slip and wear-resistant properties.
In summary, outdoor shoes use high-tech fabrics and highly wear-resistant rubber materials to not only improve the breathability and durability of the shoes, but also provide outdoor enthusiasts with a more comfortable and reliable wearing experience. The application of these special materials enables outdoor shoes to better adapt to various complex environments and meet the different needs of outdoor enthusiasts.
