Gore-Tex Secrets Revealed: Is That Fancy Membrane Really Worth It?

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Let’s Talk About Gore-Tex and Its Competitors

All right, Snailiens, today we are talking about Gore-Tex specifically, and we’re going to compare it to Patagonia, The North Face, and L.L. Bean because they all have their own kind of specific version of Gore-Tex. Just because a jacket says Gore-Tex on it, it doesn’t mean that the entire jacket is made out of Gore-Tex.

There’s a very specific golden doubloon inside the jacket that does all the work of Gore-Tex, and the outside and the inside are actually very boring stuff. But we’ll talk about how Gore-Tex works, how Patagonia’s version works, how North Face’s version works, how everybody else’s version works, and why Gore-Tex is still the king of all of them by a long shot.

Also, I have the Patagonia 3L Torrent Shell and we’ll talk about why that rhymes, but also, 3L is very specific – that has to do with how Gore-Tex works.

Very very quick review of the Patagonia 3L Torrent Shell jacket: fantastic, I size true to size, it’s fantastic. I got my dad one, too. Very, very, very waterproof, not water resistant.

The Waterproofing Showdown: Gore-Tex vs The Competition

The Science Behind Gore-Tex: PTFE and How It Works

“Gore products allow patients to heal, Gore makes outdoor adventures comfortable even in the unforgiven climate of Antarctica, Gore products reduce carbon emissions, Gore helped transmit signals from the Mars rover back to Earth” – that is Gore’s incredibly robotic and creepy statement on their products.

And Gore obviously is the big daddy who also owns Gore-Tex. At the center of everything that is Gore products is a very specific material called polytetrafluoroethylene, which is not really that important.

You can remember PTFE if you want to, but at the center of everything from cables to the little membrane that keeps the speakers on your cell phone safe when there’s water, everything all has to do with PTFE and, more specifically, expanded PTFE, which is exactly what it sounds like – it’s PTFE just stretched out.

And when you stretch it out, you get amazing qualities. The reason that Gore products can be in cables and can do insulation and can be waterproof and can be windproof to varying degrees is that no matter how much you take that material, you stretch it really far, it’s really breathable.

If you don’t, it’s not very breathable, so there are a lot of things that go on with that.

If you take PTFE and you expand it just a certain amount, what you get is a very durable material that is porous. Still, the holes are actually small enough where drips of water and stuff when it’s raining outside won’t go through the fabric, but if you’re sweating, your water vapor will fit through the little pores in Gore-Tex.

So that’s why it’s so amazing because it is breathable, but it keeps our actual water rain molecules off of you so you stay dry.

And that membrane is basically the only thing on the jacket that matters and the rest of the jacket’s job is – well, there’s one specific job that we’ll get into in a little bit, but the rest of the jacket’s job is to keep everything away from the membrane.

If anything touches the membrane, it gets messed up – not really, but oils can clog it, if it gets dirty, it’s not as effective, it’s just you need to protect the membrane. So 3L and stuff like that is part of that protection and part of the comfort for you.

Why That Gore-Tex Label Is Kind of Misleading

Quick side note: as cool as Gore-Tex is when it comes to the environment, it is horrible. Ironically, it is the number one material used in outdoor wear – it’s literally meant to never get destroyed by the environment, which typically isn’t good.

When people say, “My jacket is made of Gore-Tex,” that’s actually a very stupid thing to say, that doesn’t make any sense.

That’s like saying, “My car is made of engine.” Gore-Tex itself – what you’re really paying for is the membrane in between layers of fabric, and that 3L, 2.5L, 2L that you see on waterproof jackets is basically talking about the layers that are protecting the Gore-Tex or keeping you comfy.

So, 3L fabric, I feel like, is the most common thing that you see, and the Gore-Tex is in the middle and then laminated on the top. The bottom is usually something like a nylon rip stop like this jacket, for example, that’s very tough and hard to rip and also very good at protecting the Gore-Tex, and then on the inside, it’s usually a liner. So that’s essentially how any waterproof garment works.

Gore-Tex was the first to ever do it, and then after the patent ran out other people got in the game – Patagonia, North Face, any big outdoors brand probably has their own proprietary version of Gore-Tex or whatever they call it.

They’re not all made the same, though, and Gore-Tex is still far above everybody else, which we’ll get into, but now the other very important thing that is on all of these jackets and coincidentally is even worse for the environment is DWR.

DWR: The Unsung Hero of Waterproofing

So if you’ve ever been to an outdoor store and you buy a waterproof jacket or a rain jacket, the employees are probably like, “Hey, also, you need this spray.” You may be thinking, “What’s the point of buying this jacket if I could just spray this substance on it and it will do that for me?”

And you’d be wrong because what’s interesting is that your jacket, if it is waterproof will probably – well it will get not waterproof when it delaminates, which we’ll talk about in a second, but the Gore-Tex layer will never stop being waterproof.

It’ll stop being waterproof for a bunch of different reasons, and it’ll stop being breathable for a bunch of different reasons, but what you’re buying is DWR – a durable water-repellent finish that goes on the outside of your jacket with the most important job in the world.

It makes sure that your jacket, the surface of your jacket is hydrophobic, and what that means is when it’s raining on a jacket, the water is essentially rolling off, it’s not sticking to the jacket, so the jacket can be dry very, very easily and not get saturated with water or wet you out.

And being wetted out is no good because if you are wetted out and it’s cold outside, you can die from hypothermia incredibly fast. That’s actually why Patagonia, the most environmentally friendly brand on the planet, still includes DWR.

The Numbers Game: Measuring Waterproofness

So if you ask Patagonia, “Hey Patagonia, how waterproof is your jacket?” they would say, “20,000 millimeters,” which basically means nothing.

They’re saying that if you have a square inch pipe and it’s 20,000 millimeters long and you fill it with water and put it on top of the jacket, it’ll stay dry. Great, thanks, Patagonia – if I ever am in the jungle and a 20,000-millimeter square of water hits me, I’m glad to know I’ll be dry.

If you’re looking for a kind of scale, 5,000 millimeters is typically the bare minimum to be a rain jacket – it’s not very good, so I don’t suggest you go 5,000. They say 10,000 is starting to get a little bit better, 15,000 is a good waterproof rain jacket, 20,000 is basically almost the best rain jacket you can get, that is basically what you’ll get outside of Gore-Tex, and that’s great.

We will save Gore-Tex’s incredible technology for last, but 20,000 is what Patagonia uses, and obviously, that 20,000 millimeters doesn’t mean anything, but basically, if you’re outside, you’re driving on a motorcycle, or it’s very, very windy the rain is just whipping on you, it’s important to have a higher number to keep the water out when it’s under a certain amount of pressure.

And 20,000 is basically fail-safe – it’s very, very difficult to be out in the wilderness in any condition and have your jacket be penetrated by water at 20,000 mm. So Patagonia essentially says, “Look, we do this crazy killer wash, we have the H2O no guarantee, we field test our garments, 20,000 millimeters is the most extreme conditions that you could possibly need a jacket for, we’re good.”

Gore-Tex: Still King of the Mountain

Gore-Tex says, “Oh yeah, Gore products allow patients to heal, Gore makes outdoor adventures comfortable even in the unforgiving climate of Antarctica, Gore products reduce carbon emissions, Gore helps transmit signals from the Mars rover back to Earth, Gore is English luxury.”

Gore-Tex says “but what about 28,000 millimeters” which is – if you remember 5,000 is the bare minimum for a rain jacket, adding 8,000 to that is essentially like not doubling but it’s adding another rain jacket on top of this jacket.

Gore-Tex is insane! People say if you want a truly, truly perfectly waterproof garment, it has to have Gore-Tex and Gore-Tex; the material on the inside is important. Still, Gore-Tex holds every single product with its name on it to an incredibly high, impossibly high standard.

Everything is overbuilt, everything is overdone and Gore-Tex smooshes everybody else in terms of waterproofness by a mile. That’s why Gore-Tex is still relevant today – they are the best of the best of the best of the best in waterproofing hands down. That’s why Patagonia, North Face, and L.L. Bean all still offer Gore-Tex products because if you really want the most extreme version you get Gore-Tex.

The Downside: Nothing Lasts Forever

Sadly, there is a downside to all of these products, and that is that they have a limited shelf life because that 3L laminate that we talked about before, comes delaminated. I’d say after about 10 years – for some people, it’s probably a lot shorter. It depends on how much you wear the garment and the conditions that it’s stored in.

Some people say three to five years, and some people say they’ve had their Gore-Tex jacket for 30 years, and it’s been fine. I doubt that – you’ll start to see, like, in certain areas, the fabric bubbles, and that is the actual two fabrics separating from each other, and then it’s not waterproof, which is a shame because that’s what you want.

Watch This Review

An Eco-Friendly Alternative: Waxed Cotton

So the alternative material to the PTFEs and everything like that is simply wax cotton, which is just a very, very, very tightly woven piece of cotton fabric with beeswax or some type of wax over it that does a pretty good job at being waterproof.

Anything from Barbour is a great option! They’re very, very, very water resistant – I’ve stood in the shower for a very long time to test that out. You’ll stay dry.

If you’re going somewhere where you need a performance fabric, I wouldn’t recommend it, but it is a good, more environmentally conscious alternative.

And you’ll have to reapply the wax every year, and sometimes that’s a pain in the butt, but when it comes to the environmental impact, typically it’s much lower – just don’t use petroleum-based oil, and you’ll be good. You could use Otter Wax.

That’s about it, I will see you all soon!

This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here.

The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered.