Putting my Exotogg on for the first time I received
numerous strange looks and comments. As I blew into
the attached tube to inflate the Exotogg I was hit with a
barrage of comments; "we're going for a bike ride, not a
mid-morning sail". I would have the last laugh.
The morning was cold, in fact bitterly cold. Sure, winter
was yet to take full force
but minus four degrees
Celcius in Australia is
extremely cold, and we
Australians don't cope
well with cold weather.
Exotogg had provided
us with a prototype
thermal
armour
device to try, I'd been
carrying it for days in
my pannier waiting for
such an occasion. It
packed down so small
I'd almost forgotten I'd
had it with me.
Being the first time
used, the Exotogg felt a
little strange especially
trying to find the right
air pressure, the right
fill amount however,
once comfortable I
forgot it was on.
Riding around the Bathurst / Lithgow area of New
South Wales it was cold all day however, while my riding
companions complained about the cold and what effect it
was having on them at the first stop I removed the first
layer of clothing, I now wore just a t-shirt and riding jacket
with the Exotogg in between.
Lunch time. The sun was out. The air was still bitingly
cold. I'd worked up a sweat. An easy remedy, let a little
air out of the Exotogg. That's the beauty of the Exotogg;
you control amount of air within and therefore control the
temperature.
The Exotogg works in a similar way to a wetsuit yet
uses air instead of water. A wetsuit traps a layer of water
between the suit and
wearers skin.
Body
temperature
heats
the water providing a
thermal layer, keeping
the cold out.
The
Exotog does the same
with air. And there's
greater benefits.
The Exotogg is water
proof providing greater
protection from the
elements, you're also
protected from the
windchill. Could it get
any better? Yes!
The construction of
the Exotogg is puncture
resistent, flexible and
durable, and we can
attest to that, we've
given our Traverse
prototype
Exotogg
an extreme workout
without any problems.
Exotogg have even gone to the trouble to make the
construction antibacterial and antimicrobial, the valve is
marine grade and similar to what you find on high level
flotation devices and even aircraft lifejackets.
By the end of our first day of testing I'd become so used
to the Exotogg I'd forgotten it was on. My companions
TRAVERSE 104