Is Gore-tex waterproof?

[Timolgra]

I almost got into trouble on the top of Ben Nevis by getting soaked on the way up in February. I was wearing a brand new Sprayway gortex shell.

Never trusted it since and started wearing Paramo gear which is still going strong.

 

[JJH]

Try non Goretex gloves to feel sweaty hands. When you pull them off half the lining comes with them. I'll be keeping my Goretex gloves JJH

 

[russ996duke]

Goretex is a stupid solution for bike gear and even more stupid for gloves.

Exactly how much sweat do your motionless freezing hands produce that needs to be removed through a breathable membrane?

Fine for hill walking where you produce lots of sweat and there's a temperature gradient from inside to outside that drives the water vapour out. But on a bike all you need is waterproofness and that can be had a lot cheaper than Goretex.

wrong in so many ways......

 

[richie]

wrong in so many ways......

No I quite agree with him

 

[cookie]

i sweat when i get warm on a bike. it's bad enough in gore tex, but much much worse when wearing a non breathable waterproof.

i know it doesn't often get warm enough round here often, but it certainly does when riding on the continent.

 

[spm0912]

I remember the pre goretex era and it wasn't nice. Plasticy, sweaty waterproofs, yuk! The army were early uptakers of goretex and it certainly made life far more comfortable in inclement weather.

That said it has many limitations and is not the wonder fabric some make it out to be, a fact Gore are aware of and the reason they try and control what products carry the Goretex name.

As many have said gloves in particular are extremely difficult to make water tight and quite often the water gets in at the cuff not through the outer skin. It does sound like your gloves are faulty but anyone buying goretex gloves and thinks they will remain 100% waterproof will be disappointed at some point.

Far better to understand it's limitations and plan accordingly. Avoid gloves that you can pull the lining inside out because at the first fuel stop thats what they will do and you'll never get your damp hands back in again properly! I always carry spare gloves, even commuting and on longer trips I might even take 3-4 pairs. If it's really foul I have a pair of 100% waterproof over mitts, horrible to wear but they do the job.

 

[stolzy]

wrong in so many ways......

for example?

 

[stolzy]

I remember the pre goretex era and it wasn't nice. Plasticy, sweaty waterproofs, yuk! The army were early uptakers of goretex and it certainly made life far more comfortable in inclement weather.

Absolutely, but yomping around the Brecons is a very different environment to sitting on a motorcycle.

 

[Schtum]

for example?

Try some boil-in-the-bag gloves and you'll find out. If not, then I guess you don't have very warm hands.....

 

[Schtum]

I almost got into trouble on the top of Ben Nevis by getting soaked on the way up in February. I was wearing a brand new Sprayway gortex shell.

Never trusted it since and started wearing Paramo gear which is still going strong.

What were you wearing under it...?

 

[Schtum]

This is what is on Goretex's homepage! However, I would never take the fact that something was advertised as Goretex to be an indication that it is waterproof. I'd be looking for it to say it IS waterproof in addition to being Goretex. Subtle difference but quite important I think!

There's no difference. WL Gore only sell Gore-Tex to approved manufacturers and allow it to be branded as such on garments which meet their standards of construction and which will meet their Keep You Dry promise.....

http://www.gore-tex.co.uk/remote/Satellite/content/care/guarantee

 

[stolzy]

Try some boil-in-the-bag gloves and you'll find out. If not, then I guess you don't have very warm hands.....

Waterproof over gloves. Very comfy and entirely waterproof. I'm guessing about 20% the price of Goretex.

 

[Beemerman59]

Just got a cheque from Gore for £950 - at least they do honour their 5 year guarantee. I would recommend dealing with them direct - they send prepaid labels for shipping so nice and easy to send gear back.

 

[Schtum]

Waterproof over gloves. Very comfy and entirely waterproof. I'm guessing about 20% the price of Goretex.

An unnecessary and over-complicated solution which doesn't aid fine control.

You don't necessarily have to have pukka Gore-Tex for gloves but a good waterproof membrane is necessary, as far as I'm concerned. I remember when Hipora was no better than a boil-in-the-bag solution but it appears to have got much better in recent years.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Stolzy, I appreciate you seem to be on a one man mission to show that Gortex isn't suitable for motorcycle clothing.

Rather than going into the technical ins and outs of how the material works I would be interested to know what you own personal experience of Gortex v other ways of keeping both sweat free and dry is.

I get hot very easily and hate been sweaty/hot in my kit almost as much as I hate being wet. Given that you seem to consider Gortex to be such utter shite I'd be interested to know what you do in order to manage to clock up big miles in shite weather yet remain comfortable, dry and sweat free.

Me? Well I've ridden bikes for a while now. I have grown up with boil in the bag over-suits, army waterproofs, bright yellow deep sea fishermans' kit, various so called waterproof 'named' kit and various competitors breathable membranes such as Shelltex and whilst nothing is perfect (gloves, the subject of this thread, rarely are waterproof to the 'enth' degree) I will not now buy anything other than Gortex kit. That is based on my experience, not what I've read or been told by other people.

Andres

PS I should have added that my one piece of Gortex kit has taken me through a Central European and Turkish summer as well as English winters and heavy snow in Central France and the High Atlas. It has suffered day after day of torrential rain and also doubles up as my off road kit (and boy, is breathability important there!). It's now 7 years old and I can honestly say I have never got wet (or sweaty) in it......................

 

[richie]

I currently have Hein Gericke full goretex suit including gloves, it is not as waterproof as my previous Shelltex suit from same company. It is as much to do with design as to material.

 

[John Armstrong]

Breathability is very subjective. I tend to buy GoreTex stuff as I know it's not only the manufacturer of the item that's looking at how it's used but also Gore as well.

 

[russ996duke]

for example?

post 25
post 26
summarise very well...

and 35 seems to go some way to explain why you are so anti goretex....bee in bonnet??

 

[wessie]

An unnecessary and over-complicated solution which doesn't aid fine control.

You don't necessarily have to have pukka Gore-Tex for gloves but a good waterproof membrane is necessary, as far as I'm concerned. I remember when Hipora was no better than a boil-in-the-bag solution but it appears to have got much better in recent years.

I've used these Alpinestars gloves for about 10 years for commuting and trips to the Alps. The remain waterproof. They have a Hipora membrane.

 

[Schtum]

I've used these Alpinestars gloves for about 10 years for commuting and trips to the Alps. The remain waterproof. They have a Hipora membrane.

I'm going back 14 years when I had a pair of Motrax Klorz winter gloves with Hipora linings and they were real sweat buckets. However, the Spada Enforcer gloves which I have at the moment also have a Hipora membrane and they're fine.

Edit: I take it all back. A very old post I made on another forum reminded me that the Motrax membrane was branded Helsapor and not Hipora.