Is Gore-Tex worth it? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Is Gore-Tex worth it?

I like oil skin jackets better, I have to wonder how it would compare in testing.
 
Some people have had good luck using Gore-tex warranty. If it leaks Gore deals with it, it gives you another avenue to pursue in case the garment manufacturer doesn't want to help. You do pay dearly up front for it though.

EDIT:
Just watched video and they brought that up.

As much as I appreciate the ability to breath, without being waterproof, breathability is almost immaterial. If it's not raining, I can get rid of moisture through the vents. If it is raining and the coat lets water in, who the hell cares how well it breathes?
 
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The price is worth it for me and I would never buy a jacket without it now. Breaths great, keeps me dry and is not an oven when riding on a hot day. My gore-tex jacket has never let me down while pull over rain jackets or self proclaimed waterproof jackets without gore-tex all fail in one way or another.
 
what is the breath-ability like on oil-skin outer?
I would imagine it to be better for breathing and not as effective for waterproof, I like it because it does not get wet inside as much as any of the synthetic jackets I have. I usually wear it as my cold weather riding outer layer with a fleece vest or jacket under it, wind does not bother it much.

https://www.outbacktrading.com/oilskin
 
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The price is worth it for me and I would never buy a jacket without it now. Breaths great, keeps me dry and is not an oven when riding on a hot day. My gore-tex jacket has never let me down while pull over rain jackets or self proclaimed waterproof jackets without gore-tex all fail in one way or another.

+1

It is pricey but well worth it IMO. It definitely works as advertised and most other similar products I’ve tried fail in some way


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100 yrs ago sailors going around the world all wore oil skins, now they all wear Gor-tex. There are some outdoor clothing proprietors , making gear and re labeling with names like Musto tec, and Gill 4dot, but its goretex.
When you need to be dry on the inside and outside there isn't much better that I've found.
 
I'm a fan of Gortex and certainly will not buy boots or gloves without it.

My Scott Eclipse jacket works very well in all weather conditions except very high heat. It's a 3 season tho so if I want to be warm in cold weather it's hard to be cool in hot weather.

But it certainly keeps me dry.
 
Interesting video but at the end of the day neither the waterproof or breathability results make a hill of beans difference.

Waterproofness. The hydro-static test used is not indicative of the performance requirement of waterproof fabric. Think about it for a second -- water droplets exert about 1PSI for ever MPH, if you were travelling at 60mph in the rain, each raindrop hits you with a force of 60 psi they would pass straight thru, and possibly disintegrate the material. All textiles used in the garments he showed provide enough waterproofness to keep you dry.

The GoreTex fabric itself is good, but alternative fabrics are just as good. What matters is construction -- that's where the rubber hits the road. This is the main advantage of GoreTex -- they control design and construction for any item that uses the GoreTex brand. Jackets typically leak at stretch/stress points and at sewn seams, Gore takes extra precautions to make sure manufacturers design to minimize fabric stress and they make them glue and seam seal all stitching points.

Breathability. The experiment is interesting however it too is meaningless. All those fabrics are breathable, but only slightly more breathable than a green garbage bag. Again GoreTex takes the lead here with their strict design and construction approvals. Gore makes sure manufacturers' designs provide adequate venting and air circulation to allow moisture to vent from the garment, that's where the comfort factor is proved out.

The long and short on GoreTex is that it's not a wonder fabric, it's a brand name. Gore, the company, makes sure anything that uses it's material and brand name is held to very high design and construction standards - that's the value. It doesn't mean that a jacket made from a competitive product cannot meet or exceed the same made with GoreTex.

Most popular waterproof fabrics:

DWR PUL. These fabrics are the most popular in MC apparel. They are made by laminating a typically polyester, nylon or poly/cotton blended fabric to a waterproof polyurethane membrane. The outer layer of the final fabric is then treated with a water beading coating (DWR, or Durable Water Repellant).

Waxed Cotton - made famous in England as the choice for touring and trials riders by Belstaff. Woven cotton is impregnated with a mix of wax and oil that works to waterproof and windseal fabrics. Waxed cotton has advantages over PUL fabrics in they are lighter, softer, breathe better and are not made porous by stitching. Recent advances in coating and weaving waxed cotton have lowered costs and revived production in MC jackets. (I have a Richa Bonneville -- best jacket I've ever owned).

Oil skin - a very light weight but strong fabric made by extruding vinyl over a polyester mesh. It's typically used for raincoats or maritime, construction workwear, occasionally for ATV rainwear, it's not used in MC jackets or pants. The most waterproof of them all, seams are ultrasonically welded for complete sealing. (Note: Australians and South Africans use the term Oil Skin to describe waxed cotton).
 
The original oilskin was linseed oil, breathable and pretty waterproof, but it was made from used sailboat sails and later a version of 'duck' canvas, invented by a New Zealander in the late 1800's (if my memories of reading the history of whaling holds up) , but nobody has made that since the second world war.

I like that Gore-tex wont sell product unless thier manufacturing processes are followed, if it makes better, drier , I'm in. I just bought pants and jacket from a UK source $900 cdn all in, but I've been cold and wet, I'll gladly pay more.
 
That's a yes to waxed cotton :thumbup:

is also more resistant to burn holes then poly anything which melts instantly.
 
... Think about it for a second -- water droplets exert about 1PSI for ever MPH, if you were travelling at 60mph in the rain, each raindrop hits you with a force of 60 psi they would pass straight thru, and possibly disintegrate the material...

Good thing rain drops don't measure one square inch :| and besides; "if you were travelling at 60mph in the rain, each raindrop hits you with a force of 60 psi" um, no, there is no direct proportionate relationship between miles per hour and pounds per square inch in a rain drop, somebody lied to you about that one.
 
Really cool vid, nice to see some quasi scientific tests as to how waterproof the various materials are.

As mentioned, Gore-Tex gives you a lifetime warranty on anything with their name on it. Had a pair of BMW Gore-Tex boots that started to leak after a number of years, they gave me my full money back as the boots were discontinued. That reason alone, I will continue buying Gore-Tex.
 
Good thing rain drops don't measure one square inch :| and besides; "if you were travelling at 60mph in the rain, each raindrop hits you with a force of 60 psi" um, no, there is no direct proportionate relationship between miles per hour and pounds per square inch in a rain drop, somebody lied to you about that one.

i thought that sounded weird, but i'm not knowledgeable enough to refute publicly!
 
Good thing rain drops don't measure one square inch :| and besides; "if you were travelling at 60mph in the rain, each raindrop hits you with a force of 60 psi" um, no, there is no direct proportionate relationship between miles per hour and pounds per square inch in a rain drop, somebody lied to you about that one.
Ya, I know there is no simple relationship between MPH and raindrops. None the less, a standing raindrop hits you at over 52.9 psi at 60mph. If you really want the math, lookup the dynamic pressure equation for fluids, pretend the raindrop is suspended (vs falling) they use 1000kg/m3 for density of water, and velocity of 27m/s (approx 60mph).

My point is the Fortnine tests are great YouTube theater and maybe useful if you're making pipes out of the fabrics, quite irrelevant for testing waterproof MC jackets.

A more practical test would be looking at a 60 PSI stream shot from a garden hose at seams, pockets and zippers looking for percolation and wicking. Sitting in a saturated towel for 10 minutes, look for same. Then to test for breath ability, run 10 minutes on a treadmill in the jacket, use a moisture probe dead center of the chest to see how the jacket breathes.
 
just for chits and giggles
read up on PFOA resins

docu on Netflix about DuPont
and how they dumped the waste products of PFOA
into the Ohio river
and now everyone in the world has it in their bloodstream
an known carcinogen

and a component in GoreTex manufacturing
 
just for chits and giggles
read up on PFOA resins

docu on Netflix about DuPont
and how they dumped the waste products of PFOA
into the Ohio river
and now everyone in the world has it in their bloodstream
an known carcinogen

and a component in GoreTex manufacturing
Used to be in GoreTex, they haven't used teflon in their barrier fabrics for about 5 years. Polyurethane is better, faster and cheaper so Gore joined the competition before the competition beat them at their game.
 
Even a duck is not totally water tight but they sure do shed water good and they never get all sweaty under the feathers. :duckie: Nature invents stuff, we just imitate it :rolleyes: and too often destroy the nature in the process.

Dupont <- they have a plant near here, did you ever notice how they always put those highly toxic textile process plants on the side of a large body of fresh water, like Lake Ontario :cyclops:
 
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Even a duck is not totally water tight but they sure do shed water good and they never get all sweaty under the feathers. :duckie: Nature invents stuff, we just imitate it :rolleyes: and too often destroy the nature in the process.

Dupont <- they have a plant near here, did you ever notice how they always put those highly toxic textile process plants on the side of a large body of fresh water, like Lake Ontario :cyclops:
I'm with you. Since the beginning of man's time on earth, we used natural skins and furs to keep us warm and dry. Synthetics made with toxic fiber and textile processing has replaced all that -- selective ethics at it's best!
 

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