DON'T WANNA LOCK—SO PLEASE DON'T ADD UNRELATED STUFF OR RANDOM COMMENTARY TO THIS THREAD. ACRNM INFO IS FINE!
RE: THE FAQ, PLEASE RESPOND WITH ACRONYM SPECIFIC CHANGES PM CORRECTIONS/ADDITIONS TO SECTIONS. I WILL REVISE AS NEEDED. DISCLAIMER: ERLSN doesn’t really verify a lot of this so it’s largely speculation as to internal Acronym labeling etc.
Where do I buy these sick garmz?
See vendor thread, BST thread, eBay, Facebook BST, and Grailed. When is stuff released?
SS20XX~Middle of March–Beginning of April, FW20XX–20XX+1 Middle of September–Beginning of October. Do other sites carry 3A stuff?
Not since SS16. Only ACRNM.COM, drops intermittently in addition to around the time of general line releases. Why is the retail price/resale so high?
Health-goth and athleisure is so last year—WGSN said techwear is in, duh. Supply and demand—that and the importers have to pay duties. Can I get my duties down?
Look for Voyager's post in page ~355–360. If you have particular questions, you can ask me. What do current names mean? XXX-X
Current Naming Convention for Garments:
1. First X:
(CP) CaPe/cloak? [unverified]
(H) Hat
(J) Jacket
(KA) Kurz/short Arm
(LA) Lang/long Arm
(P) Pant
(NG) Neck Gaiter
(S) Shirt/Sweater
(SP) Short Pant
(SM) SheMagh
2. Second X: number design indicator
3. Third X:
(A) Advanced [unverified] usually indicates additional features
(B) Beta; alternative version? A/B? [unverified] version reflects pared down variant—these variants also do not suggest release precedence : P24A preceded the P24
(H) Heavyweight [unverified] reflects a heavier fall winter iteration of a summer release
(R) Raccagni/Reverse Seam/Revised [unverified]—could conceivably indicate revised but the jacket may have a generation indicator also.
(TS) TecSys
4. Fourth X: Fabric/origin designator [seems to be focused on the main fabric rather than the insulation in some cases]
(AK) Cashllama; Alti-Knits
(BR) Cotton; BRugnoli
(C) Cotton; various OEM textile manufacturers [unverified]
(CH) Works Industrial Twill Confoederatio Helvetica (Swiss Confederation); Schoeller
(DS) Dryskin; Schoeller [sometimes high density nylon jersey; unknown OEM textile manufacture; some pants come with Heavyweight designations; unverified]
(E) Epic amphibious cotton; Nextec
(FO) Gore-Tex Infinium [Film-Out]; W.L. Gore
(GT) Gore-Tex; W.L. Gore; Pro 3L and 2.5L variants; W.L. Gore
(GTPL) Gore-Tex with Paclite Technology; W.L. Gore
(GTV) Gore-Tex Volt [unverified] 2.5L; W.L. Gore
(K) Nemen experimental 3L; Komatsu [unverified]
(KM) Alti-Knits Merino [unverified]
(KR) Cashmere/KashmiR; unknown textile OEM
(L) Leather backed with a Komatsu membrane; unknown leather OEM (LP) Loro Piana Storm System; Loro Piana (MP) MultiPrene; unknown OEM textile manufacturer (PB) Gore-Tex Film-out with ShakeDry experimental 2L; PutzBrunn [unverified, W.L. Gore had some positions there]; W.L. Gore (PS) Polartec PowerStretch, Polartec (PX) Polartec Alpha; Polartec [maybe refers to PerteX face fabric? Unverified] (S) Cotton; EtaProof Stotz (SS)WB-400 Schoeller SoftShell (WS) WindStopper; W.L. Gore
Can you tell me about the comparable fabrics?
Pant Fabrics
(CH) schoeller microtwill is cotton and aramid blend, mild fire-resistance [don’t know if it’s legitimate FR like some combat pants; you’re welcome to test for the culture] some iterations treated with coldblack UV/heat protection
(DS) schoeller dryskin is nylon; HD jersey is nylon as well
(S) stotz etaproof is long staple cotton; be aware there are different weights between the pants and jackets and also among the different seasons/iterations.
Fabric Qualities:
Weather Protection: (S)>(CH)>(DS)
Breathability: (DS)>(CH>(S
Fabric weight is (CH)>(S)>(DS)
Colorfastness: (DS)>(CH)>(S).
Abrasion resistance: (CH)/(S)>(DS).
Stretch: (DS) [4 way]>(CH) [2 way minimal]>(S) [none].
Jacket Fabrics
(FO) ePTFE air permeable membrane/face fabric, nylon backer.
(GT)
Gore Tex Pro: fully nylon construction, 3L microgrid backer, air permeable ePTFE membrane, nylon face fabric.
Gore Tex/ Gore Tex Volt: 2.5L fully nylon construction, printed backer, air permeable ePTFE membrane, nylon face fabric.
(WS) 2.5L fully nylon construction, air/water permeable ePTFE membrane, printed backer, nylon face fabric.
(S) stotz etaproof is long staple cotton.
Fabric Qualities
Weather protection: (GT)/(FO)>(WS)>(S).
Breathability: (S)>(WS)>(FO)>(GT).
Colorfastness: (GT)/(WS)/ (FO) >(S).
Abrasion resistance: (GT)>(WS)>(S)>(FO)
What do all these weird features do?
(AUX ZIP) liner integration.
(CABLETAPE) cable management feature on the arms of some early softshells
(ESCAPEZIP) YKK proprietary zip that allows for quick doffing with a pull at the collar termination of the zipper.
(INTEROPS) right back side water resistant zip for interfacing with 3a bags usually terminated at the hem with press buttons
(SOUND) cable routing for headphones.
(TEC SYS) standard molle attachment webbing for external attachment.
(FORCE LOCK) Velcro backed magnetic strip for holding IEMs on collar
(JACKETSLING) sling for wearable carrying jacket without holding it, consists of a slider, pull, and elastic. Newer models feature backside carry rather than the interior carry.
(SPEEDLOCK) shockcord hem that allows one handed tightening, webbing pull.
(GRAVITY POCKET) two way 5mm zipped pockets on the interior forearm arm that feature a in-sleeve press pocket that allow for item deployment with a swift downward motion.
How do I wash this stuff?
Use technical fabric wash. It's water based and doesn't leave residue that affect the fabric characteristics.
Generally:
For jackets: single wash cold, double rinse.
For (S)/(CH): single wash gentle cycle, no spin. Don’t reapply DWR, proprietary coatings.
For (DS): single wash cold, double rinse. Don’t reapply DWR, proprietary coatings.
For (GT)/(WS): Everything is DWR'd, this is a coating on the face fabric that allows the water to bead out. With abrasion this comes off, to reactivate wash, reapply, and depending on what DWR, tumble dry or iron. I use Grangers.
A word on waterproofing
Waterproof is a marketing term. Water resistance is generally the operative language in determining a fabric's resistance to water ingress. Those 10K ratings on weather gear measure the resistance of a small piece of fabric against a certain height of static water. Like, come on, if you're under ~32 feet of water you've got different issues. As such, it's meaningless in most situations. Windstopper and Stotz are shower proof; I think Stotz takes something like ~700mm of water under static pressure before appreciable ingress.
While I'm saying that Acronym gear is sufficient for most applications, you have to understand its limitations. Acronym will be no more weather resistant than other outdoor and will likely be worse than purpose designed inclement weather gear. To wit, the zips are sometimes the YKK aquaseal but they're not like a drybag—there will be ingress if you're open ocean yachting.
