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Gore-TEX, a lightweight, waterproof fabric made from the expanded form of PTFE

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Re: Gore-TEX, a lightweight, waterproof fabric made from the expanded form of PTFE

#91

Post by johnwalkr »

gorbypark wrote: post #50
exabrial wrote: post #18

I recently learned in order for a product to have the Gore-Tex label, not only do you have to license the process/formula from them, but you have to send engineering samples to them and they perform their own independent testing before allowing you to actually sell the product. There’s no doubt part of the success is the chemistry of the product, but the required independent testing to very high standards also likely…

Not only that, but Gore will honour their “guaranteed to keep you dry” warranty. I had a Gore-Tex jacket that the manufacturer refused to replace after it delaminated about 3 years after I bought it. One call to Gore and I got the purchase price of the jacket in a prepaid credit card sent to me after sending them the jacket.

This is good to know. I bought knock-off goretex ski gear because I wanted a very specific style that only exists in a cheap brand (and I mean cheap, like $50 for jacket and pants). I was very surprised at its performance but I’ve only used it a few days so far, so no idea about the longevity.

Re: Gore-TEX, a lightweight, waterproof fabric made from the expanded form of PTFE

#93

Post by torstenvl »

DenisM wrote: post #46
torstenvl wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's waterproof if you maintain it. There's special detergent and whatnot. We use Gore-TEX jackets in the Marines, and in the field you can tell who washed their gear correctly and who didn't.

Wow, I had no idea the US military is that well equipped. Somehow I always thought the military have to tough it out while the civilians get all the fancy outdoor tech. You wouldn’t happen to have the official Marines Goretex washing manual handy, would you?

No, no book, Sir. I guess I just followed the crowd at chow time.

Wash in Nikwax Tech Wash, hang dry.

Re: Gore-TEX, a lightweight, waterproof fabric made from the expanded form of PTFE

#94

Post by ubercore »

jerlam wrote: post #82

Gore-TEX and other waterproof breathable (WPB) membrane fabrics are ridiculously oversold to people who don't spend much time outside. The amount of breathability they offer is ludicrously low compared to something like unzipping a jacket zipper or pit vent. If you're moving at all, a WPB jacket means that you'll be drenched from the inside due to sweat, and all that water repelled by your jacket ends up on your pant…

I live in a super rainy city, had to get a Gore-TEX rain jacket because others would just soak through walking the dog every day. It's been great so far, no complaints about breathability either on 1.5hr walks. All day hikes might be different, of course.

Re: Gore-TEX, a lightweight, waterproof fabric made from the expanded form of PTFE

#95

Post by throwaway821909 »

johnwalkr wrote: post #86
watersb wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I purchased a North Face jacket at their factory store in Berkeley, mid-1990s, the Gore Tex "Mountain Light" and a fleece "Denali" inner jacket. It fit me really well, for a 30-year anniversary I decided to get a new one last week. They still make the same design. The new one uses their nano-spun FutureLight fabric, rather than a three-layer nylon(?)/GoreTex sandwich. It's much more soft, like a woven fabric rather t…

Why did you correct to polycarbonate, a narrow category of plastics? Plastics is a very broad descriptor suitable for capturing all kinds of improvements in plastics and I don’t think any zippers are even made from polycarbonate.

Some companies, you can tell, have realised the word plastic has negative connotations and try to avoid it, normally they'll use the word polycarbonate instead, I think that was what they were playing on. (I myself hadn't realised it wasn't always possible to substitute in that way).

Re: Gore-TEX, a lightweight, waterproof fabric made from the expanded form of PTFE

#96

Post by largepeepee »

DenisM wrote: post #46
torstenvl wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's waterproof if you maintain it. There's special detergent and whatnot. We use Gore-TEX jackets in the Marines, and in the field you can tell who washed their gear correctly and who didn't.

Wow, I had no idea the US military is that well equipped. Somehow I always thought the military have to tough it out while the civilians get all the fancy outdoor tech. You wouldn’t happen to have the official Marines Goretex washing manual handy, would you?

Why would you think so?

They have the combined budget of the next 10 militaries.

Price is NOT a high priority for their procurement team, unlike most shoppers.

Re: Gore-TEX, a lightweight, waterproof fabric made from the expanded form of PTFE

#97

Post by sudosysgen »

aeontech wrote: post #10
sudosysgen wrote: post #5

It's a nice material, but recently nanospun fabrics like neoshell, ascentshell and futurelight have come out and I personally find they work much much better

Any particular brands you recommend? Is this something worthwhile for everyday wear, or this is mainly for outdoor sports enthusiasts?

The North Face futurelight stuff I find very good, I haven't tested the rest as much.

I think it's definitely worth it for every day wear if you're in a rainy and or snowy place. I use it in the winter, and it allows me to be warm and not wet. Normally the snow would melt or there would be rain and soak my gear after a while in the snow, or I would get soaked from my own sweat, and it would be pretty miserable. I can even bike in the rain without getting wet. Gore Tex mostly works too but these materials are much more breathable and soft, so it makes it way more practical for everyday wear.

Re: Gore-TEX, a lightweight, waterproof fabric made from the expanded form of PTFE

#98

Post by sudosysgen »

throwaway821909 wrote: post #95
johnwalkr wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why did you correct to polycarbonate, a narrow category of plastics? Plastics is a very broad descriptor suitable for capturing all kinds of improvements in plastics and I don’t think any zippers are even made from polycarbonate.

Some companies, you can tell, have realised the word plastic has negative connotations and try to avoid it, normally they'll use the word polycarbonate instead, I think that was what they were playing on. (I myself hadn't realised it wasn't always possible to substitute in that way).

I think they use polymer, not polycarbonate.

Re: Gore-TEX, a lightweight, waterproof fabric made from the expanded form of PTFE

#99

Post by lowestprimate »

dylan604 wrote: post #51
BiteCode_dev wrote: post #39

Wonderful fabric for mountain gear. Unfortunately, like Teflon cooking pans, its amazing properties come from a coating with perfluorinated octyl sulfonate, a known endocrine disruptor: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7722801/

Setting aside the issues from waste during the manufacturing process and the messes that have been made (see 3M plants for example), is the actual Gore-tex product itself hazardous? Like, how much of the material do you have to eat, and how edible is the Gore-tex product? I get Teflon coatings scratching and getting mixed with the prepared food, but I typically don't go around gnawing on my clothing. Does Gore-tex le…

Base material for GoreTex is PTFE is implantable so probably pretty safe.

Re: Gore-TEX, a lightweight, waterproof fabric made from the expanded form of PTFE

#100

Post by dendrite9 »

WirelessGigabit wrote: post #53

As someone who lives in SoCal I'm astonished by the amount of shoes sold here which are GTX. I always think they don't breathe as good as just normal shoes. Thoughts?

I think they are selling based on the brand name. I bought a few GTX versions before concluding that for me it isn't worth the cost. Clothes are much easier to wash and keeping clean so the membrane can perform.
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