Originally Posted by ranger5oh
The beauty of gore-tex is that it doesnt have to have a coating to be waterproof and windproof. The 9billion pores per inch do it on their own. Most gore fabrics are layered, and have a coating on the outside fr improved performance though. Lastly, gore products dont lose their performance after being worn or washed.
1) Did you even read the links I posted? If so, or if you researched it from sources other than gore or companies that use gore, you would see that your above statement is false. Goretex has a pu coating on it in order to protect it from contaminating. And that coating does wear off with washing.
2) If gore's membrane and 9 billion holes actually worked, it wouldnt need an 'extra coating' for 'improved performance'. Its competition doesnt need extra coatings to work, why does goretex? And adding another coating definatly does not improve breathability, it reduces it. Simple science as you say. Actually, goretex's membrane does block water, 100% of it, just like every other companies waterproof membrane. It just stops working when contaminated, so they add a protective layer.
Thats marketing at work. Our poduct sucks so we have to add a second layer to do what we claimed the firt layer did, then lets say that the second layer is there for increased performance, and charge more !
3) Every waterproof material other than simple nylon windbreakers with a drw coating on them use a membrane, washing does nothing to any of them. Goretex is not special in that regard as you indicated.
4) You mentioned that nothing breathed well as the difference in humidity levels approached the same across both layers. Again, did you even look at the links? Appears you didnt. If you had you would have seen that Gore like many others is dependant on the relative humidity, but that there are several materials that are not dependant on it. In other words, they continue to transport moisture across the layer even in times when the humidity is similar, as in sweating when its raining.
As i said previous. Goretex is waterproof. It blocks water, same as every other waterproof. It just does not perform in the breathability department as well as others. Its not bad, iits just middle of the pack is all. But it is usually priced at premium. You can pay top dollar for mediocre performance, i'll pay half price for 2x the performance.
Its middle of the pack performance is not just personal opinion, its been proven in multiple comparison tests, its proven in lab tests by american army materials test lab which is what the posted link is.
Edit: all the materials that beat goretex are still plastic membranes. They still dont breath as well as a softshell, or eliminate that clammy feeling. They are not miracle materials. As Bekologist said, a softshell is usually the best in all but steady rain..