I'm considering trying to make a winter/alpine shell out of Epic. OWF sells several weights of epic and I'm wondering if there would be advantages to any of them for my purpose. The weights listed on there site are (roughly) 1.70 oz, 2.0 0z, 2.5 oz, and 5.2 oz per yard.

I'm sure that the heavier weights would be more durable which might be nice for my intended application but I'd still like to keep the jacket *relatively* light weight. Might the heavier weight epic be more water proof as well? Or are there advantages to any of the specific fabrics that are epic coated?

I'd love any input. Hearing your personal experience would be grand. The fabric is sold here: http://www.owfinc.com/Fabrics/NylonWoven/WaterresistBreathable.asp#Generic

My MYOG experience is with an EPIC encapsulated fabric that is, I beleive, about a 2.2 oz fabric. I got it from OWF about 6 or 7 years ago. I made it into a pair of pants for backcountry skiing. I have found it to be quite water repellent, windproof, fairly breatheable. Not waterproof. An excellent winter shell fabric, probably more limited for summer usage. Given the nature of the fabric - each individual thread is encapsulated with silicone prior to weaving, as I understand it - I doubt the different fabric weights have much effect on water resistance. Durability would be the main difference, I expect.
I also have a Black Diamond tent with EPIC canopy. Surprisingly rainproof, given how the pants perfom. That fabric is supposedly 1.7 oz, so might be the same as the 1.7 that OWF sells. Feels pretty fragile from the standpoint of an outerwear fabric.

So would you go for the second lightest weight then? I was thinking the second or third lightest for a shell.

Be aware that any skin oils or salts on your EPIC fabric will make it leak like a sieve. The oils kill the surface tension properties - in exactly the same way that Gore-Tex V1 was killed in the field.

If you wear the EPIC over other clothing at all times, it will however work very well in the snow fields.

You can get EPIC-treated poly-cotton fabrics too. One of the more daft ideas I have ever met. Any abrasion and the EPIC treatment comes off the cotton fibres as the abrasion takes the cotton surface off. That stuff was a right disaster!

Cheers

This thread has a good discussion on the effects of oils and sweat on epic. It will cause it to leak but epic can be restored by washing with detergent and drying.

Royal, I've been wanting to by some epic about (8 yds). If you're interested perhaps we could do a small group buy to get the owf wholesale rates.