Since the beginning, Paka has focused on doing things differently and connecting consumers to where their clothing comes from, and that story starts in Peru. They wanted to build a jacket that represented Peru in every fiber, so they turned to two unlikely materials, fishing nets and alpaca, to bring you the Huascarán Jacket.
Countless hours of design, partnership, and testing have culminated in one of the most exciting releases the brand has ever had.
The Proof is in the Performance
While Paka totally rethought how to make this jacket from the ground up, they didn’t want to compromise performance for the sake of style or material. That’s the beautiful part of this jacket: the revolutionary materials hold up just as well, if not better, than the traditional materials you’d find on other pieces.
Named after one of the most iconic mountains in Peru, it was on them to deliver a jacket you could take on any adventure and stand up to the conditions. Hours of designs, calls, testing, and a few trips out in the elements ensured that this new jacket could hold its own.
- Weather Ready: Both the shell and lining are Pertex® fabric made from NetPlus® and feature a water-repellent coating free of any intentionally added PFAS.
- Unbeatable Warmth: Our patented PAKAFILL® alpaca insulation overperforms when you need it most, with 130gsm in the body section and 110 gsm in the sleeve insulation. Plus, adjustable cinch sleeves hold that warmth inside.
- Durable Design: The lining is built with Pertex® fabric made from 100% NetPlus® Nylon Ripstop, an extremely durable material that prevents tears and stops them from spreading if they do occur.
- The Little Things: Small details show up in significant ways with the stowaway hood in the collar, a two-way front zip, two interior chest pockets, including a mesh glove pocket, and a cinch system at the bottom hem and hood to keep the heat inside.
Powered by PAKAFILL®
This isn’t Paka’s first jacket to use PAKAFILL®, and it certainly won’t be their last. Its performance and popularity among our customers speak volumes. And more than that, it’s sourced from free-roaming alpacas in the Andes, eliminating the use of fossil fuels and the cruel practices of goose feather down.
Through rigorous research and development in partnership with teams from SpaceX and IDFL, our now patented alpaca insulation tests warmer than any synthetic insulation, with the Huascarán achieving a CLO value (the industry standard for measuring clothing warmth) of 2.27.
PAKAFILL® has ½ the volume of down due to its uniquely structured hollow air pockets, which increase the fiber’s thermal retention while allowing for increased ventilation – keeping the material light, warm, and dry.
- Thermoregulating: Naturally adapts to the temperature, keeping you warm in the cold and cool in the heat
- Durable: Alpaca fiber has a tensile strength of 50 N/Kate
- Lightweight: Alpaca fiber has hollow air pockets that give it an incredible warmth-to-weight ratio
- Water resistant: Dries faster and insulates better than down when wet
Now with NetPlus®
NetPlus® is not a new material to the outdoor industry, but Paka was familiar with its performance and purpose. It’s sourced from reclaimed fishing nets pulled from coastal communities in Peru and Chile, giving new life to old nets, stopping the use of virgin plastic nylon, and keeping those old nets out of the ocean for good.
The shell and lining of the Huascarán uses Pertex® fabric made from NetPlus®. This fabric performs as well as, if not better than, traditional nylon. Bureo collects fishing nets from local fishermen who get paid for every kilo they provide. The nets are then cleaned, sorted, and shredded into recycled nylon pellets. Once in pellet form, they are spun into fine denier yarns, then precisely woven into the high-performance Pertex® fabrics that are used to create the Huascarán.
And thanks to Bureo, NetPlus® achieves a 70% reduction in water consumption, a 67% reduction in fossil fuel use, and a 68% reduction in energy consumption compared to virgin nylon, with durability and performance that can withstand the conditions we often find ourselves in.
Putting the Huascarán to the Test
Photographers and mountaineers with countless summits under their belts, Jose Mostajo and Louis Jammes put the Huascarán to work on a recent climb of Campa, just outside Cusco, Peru. The route is technical and demanding, climbing from dry, exposed lower terrain into colder, wetter conditions as they gained elevation.
By the time they reached the upper mountain, they were fully socked in – low visibility, shifting weather, and the kind of conditions that show you very quickly what your gear is made of. From start to summit, the jacket saw it all.
“I always look for gear with versatility. As someone who has to carry everything in a backpack, bringing the least amount of clothes is crucial. As soon as I put on the Huascarán Jacket I knew it could fulfill multiple roles. It had the right balance between light weight and warmth and the construction gave me confidence that I could be rough with it (which I always am with my stuff). I was a big fan of the two-way main zip, which you typically only see on very technical jackets, because I could open it from the bottom when I got a little warm while still protecting my chest, or when I already had a harness on and wanted to throw the jacket on top and still have access to my tools. The packable hood kept up with that versatility and the way it was implemented was incredibly easy to go back and forth. Overall the jacket performed just as I hoped and I’ll be bringing it on many adventures to come.” – Jose (Mountaineer and Photographer)
Launching Wednesday
This jacket is a story of collaboration and invention from our Paka’s partners in Peru. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, February 4th, at 8 am PST when the Huascarán goes live in limited quantities.
All Outdoors 