Best waterproofing technologies in gear, boots, clothes etc

Pat Mustard

Goretex may be the leading brand in terms of marketing, but Goretex wears out and becomes ineffective over time.

Newer technologies have developed since Goretex became established.

What other technologies are there, how effective and durable are they, and how cost effective are they?

What's good and what's bad?

Alun

The Mustard wrote: »

Goretex may be the leading brand in terms of marketing, but Goretex wears out and becomes ineffective over time.

Newer technologies have developed since Goretex became established.

What other technologies are there, how effective and durable are they, and how cost effective are they?

What's good and what's bad?

Well there's the Analogy fabric that Paramo use, and some similar ones from companies like Buffalo and Montane. They don't use a membrane at all, but a soft outer shell that is waterproof to a degree, and an inner 'pump liner' which is a bit like a thin fleece but with the pile facing outwards. There's nothing in this construction to wear out like GoreTex or any of the other membrane technologies. You do have to look after them properly as the waterproofness of the outer shell is maintained by washing in a NikWax washing solution, and occasional re-proofing.

Most people who wear Paramo et al swear by them, and after a few people I know have switched over, I'm going to take the plunge too (Christmas pressie!) and hopefully I'll be as impressed as they are.

Enduro

Columbia have a couple of technologies that they combine in their high end jackets. The end result is something that is an order of magnitude better than Goretex equivalents. Given that they are full-on mountaineering grade storm jackets the breathabilty is unreal. I literrally go running for hours in the mountain with my jacket on. I couldn't do that with a "boil in the bag" goretex jacket.

Lex Luthor

eVent?

Pat Mustard

Lex Luthor wrote: »

eVent?

Do you find it good? It uses a waterproof membrane so I had presumed that it will wear out like Goretex.
http://eventfabrics.com/technology/

sconhome

All the current selection of waterproof materials are using nano technology to make the material impermeable to water droplets yet remaining permeable to water vapour eg http://www.themarysue.com/super-waterproof/

There is a company in Limerick that supply N101 that you can use to treat your existing fabrics with. Personally, I have the Ronhill Tempest gear and have stayed bone dry inside that gear whilst running and cycling.

sconhome

This is the N101, I've seen it IRL and it is effective and may be an option for existing equipment.

Carawaystick

I had a Lowe alpine triple point ceramic jacket, was completely waterproof, and reasonably breathable. If you were stopped, it would dry out inside half an hour, after strenuous exercise.
I wore it pretty much all day every day for 4 months on several climbing trips along with general use in Ireland as a raincoat, no visible signs of wear and tear, bar the velcro getting fluffed up.
bought it in ~99 so I presume things are the same or better now.

monkeynuz

Hi chaps, new to this forum, I use ventile kit for working outside in all weathers, if is fantastic and breathable and bloody hard wearing being made of pure cotton. Yes it's heavier than the other alternatives but is certainly what I need for my job which would tear other fabrics in a day if not sooner.

Alun

Well, I've got my Paramo gear, or to be more accurate, Santy got it and it's currently sitting wrapped up in my wife's top secret Christmas present hiding place I'll be testing it out on our walking group's annual pilgrimage up Lug on St. Stephen's Day and I'll report back on it then. I have to say it felt pretty snug in the shop, and feels verrrrry different to conventional membrane based stuff.

Alun

OK, so to report back, we went up Lug yesterday in a blizzard. Wind and rain to start with followed by sleet and then snow. Temps down close to zero (not including windchill.) Snow had stopped when we descended around midday though.

Had on my new Paramo Alta II jacket with just a thin baselayer and thin midlayer fleece underneath and Cascada II trousers with nothing on underneath. Stayed absolutely bone dry and warm the whole day, and the water just beaded off.

Fantastic stuff, no more crinkly membranes for me

monkeynuz

Paramo is too fragile for me, had long discussions with the people at paramo and they confirmed my fears. Ventile is silent and hard wearing.

Alun

Well, I've had long discussions with people who actually use the stuff on a day to day basis, including a number of hillwalking colleagues and Mountain Rescue volunteers, and they all swear by it.

It can depend a lot on what you're using it for too, but for my purposes, i.e. hillwalking it seems perfect so far. If you're using it in a working environment where you might get it caught on gorse, branches, barbed wire etc. then maybe it might be too fragile, but those aren't priorities for me.

a148pro

I think outside magazine (the US one not the Irish one) did a feature on alternatives to Goretex, the magazine has a good online presence so if you search for it you might find the article. It was based on an ad campaign which challenged the breathability of goretex "locked up for years...."

Incidentally do people here find they can run wearing completely waterproof gear and not get soaking wet from sweat? I see from some of the above that some can