Ventile question

[Bonzo Frog]

I've been reading various threads about Ventile clothing on the forums and the general concenious seems to be that it's a great material except that it stiffens when wet.
I'm considering a double layer ventile as the modern Gore Tex don't seem to have the life expectancy of Ventile and the price difference to a technical "mountain" jacket is almost nil.
How stiff is stiff? Is this stiffness a problem? Is it compariable to say a waxed jacket?
Any feedback welcome before I spend my hard earned on something inferior.

Thanks in advance.

Bonzo

 

[innocent bystander]

Depends on the grade of ventile. My WestWinds antarctica uses tthe heavy ventile, and is single layer, and that is like cardboard when wet. The thinner material on the windshirt is flexible when wet. Both are single layer.

 

[leon-1]

I have a number of ventile garments, over a period of time they appear to get a little looser, but they are stiff.

I have the West winds windshirt and a Short Parka (they do not appear to make this any more), but I have found that they make little diffeence when out and moving around as far as being stiff is concerned as you do not really notice it. I do notice it when I take it off as it will stand in a corner quite happily