Dear Ninthace
Thats certainly an interesting article on the uses of Egyptian Cotton.
Its a new one on me, requiring any water repellant DWR coating on Ventile cotton, simply because of its very high quality, you want to allow the cotton to breathe naturally, and applying any water repellency coatings on a natural cotton, is not needed.
Ventile is so expensive, simply because its amongst the finest cotton available, being composed of the top 10% of the Egyptian Cotton crop.
The weave of the cotton is so fine, that in its double layered form, its amongst the most waterproof material on the market.
The cotton does get heavy when saturated with water, but once the rain stops, it dries out quite quickly, and being cotton, it will last years of continued use.
Ventile was first used for Emerson suits for pilots, who may have had to bale out into the cold sea.
I am also surprised that Ventile appears to be making a come back, as its very expensive to manufacture into outdoor clothing.
Its always been there in the background, being the chosen fabric for very harsh Polar expeditions, when cost of clothing is secondary to an explorers safety.
Most outdoor walkers probably have not heard of Ventile, and even if they did, would be put off by the cost of buying it, especially in its two layered form.
Put it this way, most avid walkers spending well over £300 on a waterproof would go with one of the recognised materials, than a jacket made just of cotton.
A lot would also be put off having a jacket that almost doubles in weight when its wet, but the beauty of the material, is that even when soaking wet, it remains fully breathable, and virtually totally waterproof.
Remember, when Ventile is soaking wet, the cotton weave swells up, stopping just about every water molecule passing through.
Sweat molecules are far smaller, and the cotton weave still allows them to move through the soaked cotton.
Its a great natural material, but its costly, and only for the serious outdoors type, such as a Highland ranger out someone who works outdoors for their living.