Puffer jacket is solar charged for visibility

High-tech apparel brand Vollebak has released a its Solar Charged Puffer, a warm jacket for extreme environments that builds on its original solar charged jacket, launched in 2017. 

Pure white during the day, the jacket will start glowing in the dark when it is exposed to light. In fact, one can literally write on it with light—any light. As the night wears on, the jacket’s light changes from bright green, to soft green, and eventually to a soft white glow after about 12 hours.

The white exterior is three layers sandwiched together, each doing a different job. The first two layers make the jacket waterproof and windproof, as well as storing and re-emitting light. The third layer is for strength – it’s built from the same nylon ripstop found in parachutes.

The core technology is the second layer, an ultra-thin membrane just below the surface of the jacket engineered with a phosphorescent compound, which rapidly stores light and emits it slowly. When it’s fully charged at night it glows green, which could be lifesaving if the wearer were in danger in an extreme environment.

“No search team would ever fly past a human-sized firefly,” the company says. Furthermore, the darker the environment, the brighter the jacket will glow. 

The jacket’s insulation is made from a blend of different fibers, rather than down, for extreme warmth. Recycled plastic bottles were used in making the insulation.