Outdoor Research & NASA Technology
“Another outdoor company that uses this new iteration of aerogel blankets in several products also began with a mountainside insulation failure. Outdoor Research, headquartered in Seattle, started after its founder’s climbing partner had to be airlifted off Denali due to frostbitten feet in 1980. The company started out making footwear for the most extreme winter climbing, and in 2019, it updated that product line with aerogel insulation, also adding the material into gloves, campsite footwear, and a beanie.
Encapsulated aerogel insulation is not well-suited to insulating an entire jacket, noted Alex Lauver, the company’s director of commercial innovation, because it is stiff and lacks breathability. But because it’s thin and forms a thermal barrier even under high pressure, he said, the material is ideal for smaller areas that get pressed against cold objects like metal tools or ice – specifically, the hands and feet.”
