The waterproof/breathable moisture transfer liner for alpine, snowboard and hiking includes an inner liner selected from technically advanced fabrics which are carefully selected. A series of layers are provided outside the inner liner including foam material and insulated nonwoven layers, breathable membranes, a supportive mesh included in a moldable foam, or moldable a spacer material and an outer shell fabric. The applicability of the liner to alpine boots, snowboard boots, cross country boots, hiking boots, protective gear, helmets, bouldering shoes, paddling apparel and gear along with appropriate variations for each application are disclosed.
This is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 10/600,711, filed Jun. 23, 2003, which is a CIP of Application No. 09/500,535, filed Feb. 9, 2000, which is a continuation application of Application No. 08/910,116, filed Aug. 13, 1997 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,810), which is a CIP of Application No. 08/832,800, filed Apr. 4, 1997 (abandoned), which is a CIP of Application No. 08/747,340, filed Nov. 12, 1996 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,937).
A spacer-fabric sweatband, for, and incorporated into headwear which has an inner, skin-contact fabric layer, and an outer, headwear-facing fabric layer connected by a multiplicity of hydrophobic monofilament-pile spacing elements. The pile spacing elements function like thousands of miniature springs to maintain the fabric layers in uniform spaced parallel relation while creating substantial, pile-supported airspace between the fabric layers to facilitate the movement of ventilating airflow. The headwear-facing fabric layer is mesh-like for enhanced air circulation. The skin-contact layer is composed of solid skin-friendly fabric.The pile segments block sweat from migrating from the inner to the outer fabric layers by virtue of their hydrophobic composition. This sweat-blocking function minimizes the occurrence of sweat stains on the body of the headwear and concentrates sweat within the skin-contact fabric layer, from which it is subsequently subject to evaporation and concomitant cooling by air flowing through the pile-supported airspace.
