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Is Gore-Tex worth it?
- Thread starter canw650
- Start date
oh, well then my original question stands. ?
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Not me. I prefer GoreTex in the rain, beaver its too hot. Unless you shear the beaver, then it's good in any season.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
It looks like this thread has gone a few pages with no simple answer to the original question...
Is Gore-Tex worth it?
If I had to choose yes or no, it would have to be...maybe.
GoreTex fabric, isn't a complicated and there are lots of options that perform as well, some better. The value GoreTex brings is company's control over quality in design and construction on items -- they don't allow poor designs or low quality assembly to carry their brand. As a buyer/user, you are assured that a GoreTex branded product has been well designed and manufactured.
That doesn't mean an article made with a GoreTex alternative is lesser, it just means that item was not subject to GoreTex design and assembly standards. If you look at GoreTex from a value perspective, it won't often be at the top. The additional overhead for testing, brand control, and price premium in materials all adds the the cost of goods -- adding $1 to the cost of manufacturing a jacket adds $5 to the wholesale price, and $10 to the retail price. So, if the GoreTex brand added $10 to the cost of manufacturing, that's $100+ on the sticker. That's why some manufacturers make the same/similar item on GoreTex and non-GoreTex versions.
Is Gore-Tex worth it?
If I had to choose yes or no, it would have to be...maybe.
GoreTex fabric, isn't a complicated and there are lots of options that perform as well, some better. The value GoreTex brings is company's control over quality in design and construction on items -- they don't allow poor designs or low quality assembly to carry their brand. As a buyer/user, you are assured that a GoreTex branded product has been well designed and manufactured.
That doesn't mean an article made with a GoreTex alternative is lesser, it just means that item was not subject to GoreTex design and assembly standards. If you look at GoreTex from a value perspective, it won't often be at the top. The additional overhead for testing, brand control, and price premium in materials all adds the the cost of goods -- adding $1 to the cost of manufacturing a jacket adds $5 to the wholesale price, and $10 to the retail price. So, if the GoreTex brand added $10 to the cost of manufacturing, that's $100+ on the sticker. That's why some manufacturers make the same/similar item on GoreTex and non-GoreTex versions.
Riceburner
Well-known member
So, the answer is no, GoreTex is not worth it if you are assured of the quality of the garment?
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Yup.
I made stuff for NASA in 2012, the bid was heavily influenced by Gore. My little team went up against them and won. ISS astronauts are still using my stuff 5 years past it's intended retire date.
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Personally I don't like Goretex. It doesn't ever breathe as well as it's supposed to. Not that the competition is any different. Especially in footwear. If I wear Goretex (or equivalent) footwear my feet will be soaked within a few hours. Seems to be a common complaint. In hiking, several experienced hikers have shown that wearing Goretex footwear will result in wetter feet than just letting your footwear get wet and then having it dry on it's own. Unfortunately it's next to impossible to find hiking boots that aren't Goretex (or equivalent). Plus it's hot. I wore Vasque Breeze III, which are supposed to be for summer, in -20C temps and my feet only got cold after a few hours (being soaked in sweat, which then froze, probably actually made the cold worse).
I may also just have really sweaty feet.
I may also just have really sweaty feet.
What product would that be?
Interesting.In most of our Bruce Trail hiking (end to enders) my wife wore goretex and i didn't.She always had dry feet and mine were usually wet.I switched to Vasque goretex at about the 500km mark and was dry the rest of the way.I think a lot has to do with fit and socks.I ALWAYS wear rayon or silk liners and wool over socks.And getting boots that fit requires trying on a lot different pairs to get it just right.A tiny hotspot is a recipe for disaster.
But i agree,goretex isn't everything.
Well the article I’m referring to the guy’s friend literally walked through a river in his non-Goretex shoes while the Goretex wearer didn’t and the Goretex wearer also took off his shoes and socks when they had breaks to dry out the sweat. At the end of the day the non-Goretex shoes had dried while the Goretex wearer’s feet were all messed up from being soaked in sweat all day while hiking. Mirrored my experience quite a bit. I had some Columbia Outdry (their version of Goretex) shoes and if I wore them inside all day my feet would practically be falling apart from being soaked all day. Now those aren’t true Goretex but the true Goretex shoes I have aren’t much better. When I did some Googling on this it really seemed people either loved Goretex or hated it because they had the same experience as me.
Maybe we’re just all extra sweaty.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
GoreTex is problematic in footwear. Yes, it will keep water from entering the boot, great for riding in the rain. While breathable, its not breathable enough to evacuate sweat. This means under heavy work, your feet become wet under dry conditions.
Diaper bags.
This is my problem but it’s become nearly impossible to find non-racing boots that are not Goretex. Same with hiking boots.
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