A couple years ago at Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle, representatives for Grundéns were having a good time showing off their new SuperFabric, a ceramic polymer coated polyester layer that would hold up to vigorous slashing from a serrated Victorinox.
Back then, they had put sheaths of SuperFabric over wear areas on their popular nylon Weather Watch gear for a new line they called Super Watch. They thought the lightweight and breathable yet durable gear would be a hit with trap fishermen. But they ran into a hitch.
“It just wasn’t executed properly,” said Grundéns representative Cory Lowe.
Lowe explained that the SuperFabric did not bond properly to the base layer, and the gear had a tendency to leak. Fast forward two years and Grundéns had revamped their Weather Watch to the new, beefier FullShare. They tried again with the SuperFabric, this time adding it over the FullShare, to create the new Ironclad line, getting it right this time.
“We feel very confident in the Ironclad. It’s much better executed with much better material and overall it’s just a very solid piece,” Lowe said.
The base layer is burlier, too — made of thicker nylon with a film laminate and Teflon. And the SuperFabric guard plates are as bombproof as ever.
“It’s really abrasion resistant and hard to cut. You can drag a thousand lobster traps across the front of it, and won’t get a single hole in the garment. Whereas if you did that with the FullShare, it wouldn’t hold up,” Lowe added.
The jacket has neoprene cuffs as well as seamless construction at wear areas on the neck, shoulders and sides, and the hood has a guttered brim and draw strings to hold against the elements. The bibs feature reinforced knees as well as kneepad pockets and side gussets for increased mobility in a variety of body types. It comes in gray or high-visibility yellow, with sizes ranging from extra small to 3X.
