I've only used their casual jacket (the
Voyager), but their claims about the insulative value are not that far off. It's really warm for how thin the insulation is.
The interesting thing with aerogel, at least as it's being implemented right now in apparel, is that it's not lightweight in the form that Oros (or Outdoor Research in their gloves) is using it. It's less about weight and more about warmth-to-thickness ratio. The Oros jacket I have is very thin, but it's also pretty heavy and the insulation "foam" feels pretty dense. I'm pretty confident this is because they had to significantly tweak the composition of the aerogel insulation to make it hold up to constant bending and manipulation, as you'd see in any piece of apparel.
PrimaLoft is already using aerogel fibers in their "Crosscore" insulation and that seems much more promising in terms of warmth-to-weight ratio (look out for Patagonia's new DAS Parka w/ Crosscore), but very few brands have used it so far. At least the way that Oros is using it, it's an interesting way to create a very warm jacket that's also very thin, but it's not particularly light.
All in all, Oros's stuff looks promising and I think they just need to dial in their patterning and smaller details. While the Voyager is cool, the fit and features definitely don't yet feel as dialed as most of the major brands. Very interested to see where it goes though, as there is a ton of potential for aerogel's use in apparel and beyond (e.g., ski boot liners).
