Pro shell Goretex is bonded to the cordura, so water pretty much just runs off it.
If you get Goretex Performance shell (P shell) or anything else, it is a layer under the cordura. These jackets also keep you dry, but just soak up water and take forever to dry out (bitter experience!!).
I wouldn't get anything but Pro shell now even if it does cost more....
zappa
The trouble is that I'm limited to choice as after a very near miss, in which a friend wasn't so lucky, I will only wear hi-vis stuff. I'm prepared to pay up to about £350 for a jacket, but not prepared to pay some of the ridiculously high prices. It does have to have good armour though,as well as being waterproof and warm in winter, whilst having good vents for summer.
- wouldn't it be easier to meet your needs with a separate Hi Vis waistcoat?
Bit of a dopey question (but I'm going to ask it anyway)
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Is there a way to tell if it's bonded to the outside, or will it just tell you on the label?
The trouble is that I'm limited to choice as after a very near miss, in which a friend wasn't so lucky, I will only wear hi-vis stuff
I'm a relative newbie here, but waterproof clothing and how it works is somewhat of a pet interest of mine.
Clothing that has a waterproof membrane, whatever it is, GoreTex, eVent, Sympatex, Shelltex the membrane is a second line of defence for waterproofing. It allows you to create a complex item of clothing with may seams and different outer fabrics and then line it with a waterproof barrier to prevent any ingress of water through the fabric or seams from coming into contact with you.
Your first line of defence for waterproofing is what's called the DWR (Durable Water Repellent) coating that is on the outside of the fabric and it what causes the water to bead and roll off the jacket - with a good, well maintained DWR coating the waterproof membrane really doesn't even get a look in, its just there as a belt and braces approach. Outer fabrics of most jacket will be inherently breathable (leather, cordura etc), they have a weave (or pores in the case of leather) that allows vapour to exit and the DWR ensures that the surface tension is high enough the keep water beading and rolling off, so in fact technically speaking the membrane is not required to give you a waterproof breathable jacket (I do a lot of walking and Paramo, a clothing brand I use a lot, that is owned by NikWax use this principle in ALL their waterproof/breathable clothing)
Now, over time the DWR coating wears off a jacket particularly at rub-points and now the fabric "wets out" as it's called, where the water soaks into the outer layer of fabric and no longer beads off - when this happens you are now using the membrane as the water will soak through the outer layer and the membrane will prevent it from entering the inside of the jacket.
So membranes are a good second line defence for a poorly maintained or ageing DWR. Essentially you could line the inside of a jacket with something akin to a bin-liner and get the same waterproof backup for a wetted-out jacket. But bin-liners aren't breathable so this is where the technology in membranes like Gore-Tex, eVent, Shelltex etc come in.
All these membranes use a similar approach to provide a barrier that allows vapour to pass one way and prevent water droplets coming the other the differences are around the materials used to perform this.
Gore-Tex: This uses a PTFE mesh that has tiny pores that allow vapour to pass through but prevent droplets. PTFE on it's own is very delicate and the pores can clog with oils and dirt so in Gore-Tex this is protected by an incredibly thin membrane of Polyurethane (PU). This PU is hydrophillic, meaning it loves water, and as such sweat will condense on the inside, pass through the membrane (basically by osmosis) driven by your body heat and a desire to equalise moisture levels inside and out, once past the PU membrane, the water can re-evaporate pass through the PTFE and ultimately through the jacket outer fabric.
eVent also uses a PTFE membrane but instead of laminating this with PU, they coat the entire mesh in PU - this gives the protection to the PTFE that is required, but doesn't create a barrier so eVent will allow direct vapour transfer without the condensation/re-evaporation step needed for Gore-Tex, so eVent is even more breathable.
Sympatex/Shelltex etc: Most other "branded" membranes can't use a PTFE mesh membrane laminate as this is the patented part of GoreTex. These membranes use different laminates of Polyester (hydrophilic ones and hydrophobic ones) to perform the moisture transfer but due to there not being a truly porous component like the PTFE mesh, the breathability will suffer.
However, an important additional point is that once the outer fabric of a jacket is wetted-out, it is now no longer vapour permeable so whatever membrane you have it can only get the sweat to the inside of the outer fabric and you will still feel wet, but from the inside.
So, in summary, the MOST IMPORTANT thing for keeping dry is not the membrane in your jacket, it's how well you look after the DWR. Regularly washing the jacket in a proprietary "technical clothing" cleaner and treating with something to renew the DWR is your first line of defence - if you neglect this piece, although no water will come into the jacket, your sweat can't ultimately get out you will still feel wet. As someone pointed out earlier, motorcycling is a relatively low-effort activity compared to hiking or mountain climbing so you will not be generating buckets of sweat and I would say that any membrane, combined with clever ventilation and a well maintained DWR should keep you dry and comfortable.
Hope someone finds the above interesting!
I get out plenty, in all weathers and stay perfectly dry due to my well maintained waterproof clothing!!you need to get out more
