What Makes Gore-Tex a Popular Material for Outdoor Gear?

Question

What are the reason that makes Gore-Tex preferable for harsh and demanding condition outdoors?

Answer 1

Al Gore Tex's principles include, among other things, fun facts – Gore-Tex is light, strong, breathable and 100% waterproof material. No wonder it has become the material of choice for nearly all high-end outdoor brands for varying activity requirements.

Comments

I'll repeat a comment here I made about Goretx: A word here from rainy New Zealand. I've had many years in the great outdoors here and have lived through the evolution of rainwear from oilskins to PVC to coated nylons to Goretex and the rest. Each of these have upsides and downsides and Goretex is no exception. Aside from the crippling price, in really wet conditions, for me., it would be a toss up between goretex and a well designed PVC jacket - that's if I could ever find one. Goretex's selling point is obviously it's breathability. However, this breathability ceases to exist as soon as the fabric becomes wet. Lovely promo images of the water beading off the outer layer belie the realities of extended treks in the rain. After a bit of use, the silicon coating on the outer layer gives up the struggle and the fabric becomes heavy and uncomfortable. The notion of breathability ceases to exist outside of a clever marketing campaign and your sweat just adds to the misery. And the downsides don't stop there. If you're lucky enough for the rain to stop, you're still wearing a sodden garment and now the wind is chilling you as it evaporates that big store of moisture. I sometimes feel as if I could be getting more protection from a good sized rubbish sack. Don't get me wrong, there are some upsides. Where Goretex especially shines is in sub zero temperatures or any cold conditions where the air is dry. It then becomes a pleasure to finish a tough hike with dry clothes. It's just that when you're soggily slogging away through the cold rain, the knowledge of how much that bloody jacket cost you just adds to the pain.

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As a backcountry skier I agree 100% with this. Gore-tex went too mainstream and I don’t think anyone needs it just for the sake having the most technical garment. When I’m walking 7-10 hours on a heavy snowfall/rain situation then yes Gore-tex is pretty useful. But for going to the mall or even a camping trip its just overkill and it wont make a difference.

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Minimal exertion will produce sweat to cool the body, very often matching or even exceeding outside water/humidity, resulting in swimming in your own salty water trapped inside the expensive fancy goretex. Aim for temperature control and ventilation, you won’t stay really dry anyway

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Love this! Gortex is definitely falling out of favor with the backpacking community, but I never know if the replacement is better or worse for the planet

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I have always said Gortex is the asbestos of the outdoor industry!

and will be treated the same in the future hopefully, fantastic content we need this conversation bringing to light

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Interesting! As a 65+ year old male I celebrated the arrival of Gore Tex through the early years of seam sealing and 3 layer clothing to the modern certified jackets BUT my ancestors from Ireland were well served with naturally oiled wool garments and in England the royal family could cavorting in the highlands with Barbour oiled coats.  Ultimately when faced with "build thee an arc" downpours you stay indoors or use an umbrella because I know from experience gore tex cannot breathe when the exterior is completely soaked.

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Having spent the 90's backpacking in the North Casacades where it was just assumed it would be raining the whole trip, when I got my first gore-tex jacket (I'd used cheap PVC jackets and ponchos before that) It really did seem like a miracle fabric.

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Great presentation. Gore-Tex fabric is not designed to be waterproof or even water-resistant (those mean different things) it's designed to be a breathable layer between an outer and inner usually polyester fabric, hence the fabric's millions of tiny small-than-raindrops pores. So the main purpose of Gore-Tex is to let condensation (sweat) out and keep the wearer dry from that perspective. Then the water-resistance is actually achieved with DWR - as you say. But this will function as intended only if the Gore-Tex pores are not blocked by grime. Which is why Gore-Tex jackets must periodically be washed, thoroughly dried, and then treated with DWR - as you say. Only then will the "magic" work - the Gore-Tex layer's pores will let condensation out and the outer fabric's DWR won't let water in - for a while anyway - until the DWR wears off sooner or later depending on extent of jacket use. And when the DWR wears off, in comes the rainwater. It's unavoidable that any water-resistant natural or synthetic fabric will require periodic treatment of some sort e.g. cotton wax jackets require periodic rewaxing. I love my Barbour waxed cotton jackets (Bushman and International) and this presentation makes me consider a Fjällräven Eco-Shell as a shell jacket for hiking.

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As someone who transpires heavily even when walking/cycling, Gore-tex has been a godsent to me. And I use it at work too (construction) when weather's bad. Obviously most readers here are office workers. And FjallRaven is too expensive.

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I purchased a goretex jacket and it's incredibly useful in the fact that I'm going to sell it on ebay for more than I originally bought it for

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Very interesting, I even didn´t know that it is that bad for the environment. But I do know Goretex is not for me anyways; I twice spent a little fortune on really expensive hiking boots, both proudly equiped with Goretex. Here´s the thing; they both failed horribly! Even when still new the water came in, loads of it. But in hot seasons they are very sweatie, nothing is breathing there. In the end I threw both pair of boots away, in spite of the big investment they took. Goretex, never again, it seems like just a hype which inexperienced outdoor shop employees like to sell. At the other hand, I am very happy with almost any product I have (quite a lot by now, actually) from Fjällräven. Really great gear which takes a beating and is very durable. Thanks for your content, it opened up my eyes even further about Goretex.

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For daily use in autumn, winter and early spring, I love my Skogso jacket. It's comfortable and somewhat rain resistant.
For it to be actually close to water resistant, you would need to wax the crap out of it though.
When doing multi-week hikes in rainy conditions, I'll gladly wear my Goretex jacket.
Yes, it needs beading properties/DWR on the outer shell for it to retain breathing capacity. Depending on the level of abrasion during use, you'll need to freshen up the DWR layer. In my experience, a Nikwax treatment will last for a couple of months. It all depends on the level of abrasion though.
There is not that much need for 'Goretex-drama', buy a bottle of Nikwax, bio-degradable, non-toxic DWR (or whatever DWR product you like) and voila.

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I have been doing outdoor sports for some years without much money and when I started I always fantasized with having a really nice gore-tex jacket. As I didn't have enough money I just kept on going with basic gear. Some ultras later, having climbed lots of mountains and an Everesting event in my country I haven't really needed goretex for any of that. Now that I have the money I don't plan on getting anything goretex because I agree with what you said.
I hope more people in the outdoor sports world start accepting that goretex is overkill for most events and activities.

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I bought a Gore-Tex shell from TNP and paired it with an Arcteryx fleece in 2007. I’ve worn it since then as my rain jacket, my ski jacket, my cold weather shell, etc. when I got a rip, I slapped an adhesive patch on it. Never retreated it and it works fine without leaks. However, I more frequently wear a waxed canvas jacket and even it works fine for most rain. The one issue though, is weight. My waxed canvas jacket is heavier dry, and absorbs more water in the rain to become even heavier. Yes, you are going to sweat in Gore-Tex faster than the moisture can vent out of the fabric, but that’s what vents are for. I guess I’ll wait another 17 years and see which one is still keeping me dry.

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I own a 20+ year old TheNorthFace Guide Parka with a Gore-Tex lining that still looks brand new. I purchased it for skiing in the Canadian Rockies which frequently sees high winds and storm conditions.  I call it my armor layer as it is absolutely wind and water proof. Yes, I have reapplied the DWR a few times over the years, but I love the performance.  I also own several Fjallraven pieces which I love.  They are fantastic for all other outdoor needs.  I don't reapply the wax as it is not needed in my opinion. If the weather is that bad I use other jackets with more water resistance.  I don't plan to purchase additional G-T garments, but I am glad I own the Guide Parka for the times I am going to be doing activities in pouring rain or snow for more than a few minutes.

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When you go to the footy on a cold winter's night & rain is forecast & then it pours for 60 minutes, that's when you are glad to be wearing gore-tex. Other "waterproof" jackets I have worn have soaked through after 40 minutes or so in such heavy downpours.