Men's Storm Defender Relaxed Fit Lightweight Packable Jacket vs Men's Aequilibrium Lite GTX Jacket: which is safer?
La Sportiva Men's Aequilibrium Lite GTX Jacket is our pick, better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.
Carhartt
Men's Storm Defender Relaxed Fit Lightweight Packable Jacket
PFAS grade
Bad 20/100
Overall grade
Bad 0/100
Verdict
Skip
Hazard flags
⚑ 3
Material
polyester/nylon with water-repellent coating (water-repellent coating) finish
Confidence
35%
LikelyPFAS in water-repellent coating finish
PossibleAntimony in polyester
PossibleCoating degradation and leaching
Our pick
La Sportiva
Men's Aequilibrium Lite GTX Jacket
PFAS grade
Bad 20/100
Overall grade
Bad 6/100
Verdict
Skip
Hazard flags
⚑ 2
Material
GORE-TEX (Teflon-family coating membrane)
Confidence
50%
PossibleAntimony in polyester
ReportedMicrofiber shedding and textile degradation
Where these two actually differ
- We flag PFAS in DWR finish and Coating degradation and leaching on the Carhartt and not on the La Sportiva.
- We flag Microfiber shedding and textile degradation on the La Sportiva and not on the Carhartt.
- Both carry a flag for Antimony in polyester, so neither choice avoids it.
- The Carhartt is polyester/nylon with durable water-repellent (DWR) finish where the La Sportiva is GORE-TEX (fluoropolymer membrane), which is most of the difference in these two grades.
- These two are level, close enough that price and fit should decide it rather than our grade.
Both products run through the same public rubric, which covers materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →
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