The Truth About ULTRA: Asking Challenge Outdoor Your Questions

Send us Fan MailChallenge Sailcloth has been taking the industry by storm with polarizing materials like ULTRA Weave, ECOPAK, ULTRA TNT and others. We sit down with Wes Hatcher (Director of Challenge Outdoor Sales and Development) and talk about what went wrong, what's going well, and what it's like designing outdoor materials for a living. Wes is a fascinating guy who has been in the outdoor textiles industry for a long time. His career has taken a series of exciting turns. Starting with DSM when they owned the Dyneema® Group, working in design, and now working with Challenge Outdoor he has a unique knowledge set that no one can replicate.Listen to this episode to hear: Seam elongation on ULTRA materials The challenges they are facing with organizational change How Wes worked at Dyneema® What to expect with film wear on the material backing  Products Mentioned: ECOPAKULTRA DTRS75Timeline:00:00- Introduction and Wes Hatcher's Background01:29- Life at Challenge and the Benefits of Remote Work04:52- Working with Global Teams and Customers08:18- Wes Hatcher's Non-Traditional Career Path17:27- Following in Hale Wolokoff's Footsteps21:02- The Art of Color Selection in Fabric Production25:35- The Secret to Choosing Great Colors33:49- Understanding Ultra TNT Fabric40:25- Repairing Outdoor Gear with Tenacious Tape43:45- The Potential of Ultra TNT Fabric49:53- Understanding the Performance of Tents and Shelters55:09- The Correct Way to Use Tape01:02:41- Coating Ultra and Other Materials01:08:40- Is Ultra Overkill?01:11:12- Future Advancements in Fabric TechnologyFind Us on Social Media 🚀@RipstopbytheRollwww.ripstopbytheroll.com