Is Gore-Tex Worth It? Waterproof Comparison Test
Gore-Tex, the Mike Tyson of the waterproof membrane world, goes up against 7 contenders to the throne. We have everything from cheap and cheerful basic liners to high-performance waterproof membranes from Alpinestars, Rev’it and Dainese. Round One…FIGHT!
Gear breakdown:
Revit Neptune Gore-Tex Jacket - frt9.co/x5injm
Frogg Toggs Pro Action Rain Jacket - frt9.co/q9l6rr
Fieldsheer Moto Morph Jacket - frt9.co/dfqjq8
Dainese Hyper Flux D-Dry Jacket - frt9.co/7ffjwu
Alpinestars T-Core Air Drystar Jacket - frt9.co/z1ldfi
Revit Sand 3 Jacket - frt9.co/h7lvqx
Olympia Expedition 2 Jacket - frt9.co/2955so
Scott Summer VTD Vented Jacket - frt9.co/6f5wyb
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I have had my BMW gore-tex boots for 20 years, putting at least 200,000 miles on them, in snow, rain, hail, you name it. 6 round trips to Seattle in the winter from SF. Best investment I have ever made, along with the BMW R1150R, put 80,000 miles on it so far with no problems really, bought it used. w/40K on it. New clutch at 100K. That was an all day labor job. The valves can be adjusted in 40 minutes by a pro. I absolutely hate my Alpinestars Dry-stars. Someone stole my heated gear... Has this channel reviewed heated visors? My biggest problem ever was having my visor covered with snow, I couldn't see, but if I opened the visor the snow hit my eyes. Almost died.
Goretex is the best...no if,s no but,s....just pay that bit more, you wont be sorry..
Great job.
Joffry is at it again!!!
And I just bought Alpinestars Andes v3....oh well I don't ride in the rain anyway, it is warm though.
great test! omw to buy some goretex gear :D
Thats not the fortnite video i expected, but worth it.
I wonder how north face waterproofing holds up to these other brands
Without Gortex® motorcycling in Tasmania Australia doesn't exist all year.
The things is about Gortex® is you can stick it hard up against the garden tap which is on full blast not a drop of water gets through but you can blast air through from your mouth, after personally getting frostbite 3 times as a Melbourne motorcycle courier I don't believe all year motorcycling would've been popular let alone possible until Gortex was invented so Gortex speaks for itself.
thank you amazing!
So GoreTex is still a thing? My shoes in 2nd grade were made of it...and that's like 28 years ago
I have a 20 dollar us polo assn that’s gets the job done
How did you come up with the % score at the end? Formula used?
The absolute best you can do for waterproof rain gear is Hayley Hanson or Dutch harbor those are the same ring gear that crab fishermen use on the deadliest catchI have been using said rain gear for the last 10 years and never gotten wet
I'm afraid this test doesn't have much sense. The real problem is that you'd need the fabric to be both waterproof and breathable in the very same moment. But that just doesn't happen. Even the most expensive Goretex will be as breathable as the cheapest plastic raincoat once you start hiking in rain - it's only breathable when the moisture on the outside is smaller than on the inside.
I have no idea why I watched that, but it was amazing. The only caveat I have, is that all my waterproof non-Gore Tex garments tend to degrade in function over time, while I still have a 25 year old Gore Tex jacket that performs basically like new. Hard to test in a video though. Maybe save all the tested jackets and make a new video in 25 years ;)
I've recently purchased several samples of European milsurp goretex or MVP that work excellent. Some are obviously a camo pattern or solid colors . Some govt agencies are providing work clothing for wet climate protection, and the cost is less than retail if you shop around. Wicking under layers recommended for strenuous activities.. venting is also important, choose wisely.
Great informative video, thank you.
Surely the last test was not a vapour test, gravity would allow water to seep through poorer material and be absorbed by desiccant, still believe my comfort level is maintained by using goretex, great channel tho
I would like to point out that a larger surface area generates a larger force. Ie, you could subject the fabric to a higher pressure by using a smaller diameter pipe.
BORING TOO MUCH INFO -
Great work
Great testing protocol! This really adds to the discussion around waterproof gear options
Are the membranes used from the latest apparel models (at the time of the video)? I reckon they evolve every couple of years, e.g. the new Dainese XT membrane.
Paramo?
Amazing video, as always! Small advice as a data analyst about the chart at the end, it's very good but it would be much easier and instinctive to understand and to explain using a bubble chart with for instance the breathability on the x axis, the waterproofness on the y axis and the price as the size of the bubble. This way, you can say that everything in the bottom left quarter is proper shit, top right quarter is amazing, bottom right is good if you want breathability over waterproofness and top left if you prefer waterproofness over breathability. Price bubble area will tell you the value for money and how much GoreTex is a rip off in one glance. Or easier, replace the bubble size for price with different colours for different price ranges (green to red maybe), much easier to draw. But anyway, that's just a small improvement idea, amazing videos... All of them are incredible.
just one question: Isn't stretched teflon or PTFE Gore-tex's patented design? it's what Gore-tex is composed of. He kind of says it as if other companies use PTFE.
no way he actually just covered everything I read about in piles of articles (not quite) and geeking out about for the past couple days!!!!!!! Stellar freaking video!
This review is flawed due to the removal of the waterproofing on the Goretex garments. The waterproofing and the breathability actually work in tandem so if you remove the waterproofing it limits the amount the fabric can breath.
How the f*** are you going to do a waterproof jacket comparison but not have one jacket that is neoshell or outdry seriously
Wonderful video, as always. In the moment of buy this stuff, we should take a look at seams and also to waterproof on wrinckles, the resistance to rips and durability. 👍😊
Wooww just woww!! This is exactly the review I need! Now I know which jacket Im about to buy
For all the mountain climbing gear I own, and I am a gear whore, I only have 5 or 6 pieces that are Gore-Tex, from gloves, to pants and jackets. Maintaining your gear is the most important aspect of water repellency, being clean and even reapplying a DWR coating to the face fabric makes a huge difference. I use NIkwax products and have been happy for decades with the way my gear performs, Gore-Tex or not. I also find that my Gore-Tex gear is way heavier than the other lighter weight gear I find I grab for first. The Gore-Tex gear is more for when I know I will be more stationary and weight isn't an issue with trying to go light and fast.
If you do some riding in the rain, say a brief shower, or in little puddles that splash water on your boot, will the Alpinestars Tech 7 Enduro boot with it's standard gator suffice? Or is it worth spending the extra bucks and buying the Drystar version? Or should I just go nuts and get the Toucan boots with the Gore-Tex membrane? Thanks for the review and any replies.
thank you
I have owned a couple of very expensive Gore Tex Jackets. Their very waterproff when new but if you have to clean it or even wipe a mark off with soapy water , the water repellent always disappears leaving the jacket completely useless against rain etc. I always have to spray something like Scothguard over it to make it waterproof again. You could make a cheap rain jacket just as water repellent by spraying it with a water repellent spray. Gore tex is very overrated in my experience. The emperors new clothes.
Goretex is really good for snowboarding because most times it's cold so you want to hold heat
Is this james mays son?
How about Rukka?
Wow, we need you for hiking and running gear.
Fuck goretex, hello dainese
So at what speed should a motorcyclist expect 40 psi of sustained water pressure blasting against him? 😆
At 73 years old I learn from this channel like I'd never been to school. My outer layer is what is called a Motorway Jack in UK, as worn by road workers, police, builders and others needing Hi-Viz. Cost £35, although there are cheaper ones. Bargain. Fluorescent yellow on top of fluorescent black leather. Waterproof, even the pockets. Of course it's convergent evolution with my jacket, white helmet and Enfield Himalayan with white tank that just happens to look like a police biker, but i don't object when car drivers mistake me for such and get out of my way.
We have the same low-priced waterproof rain gear in our store. welcome. fwg.us
Alpinestars Drystar is crap. I've had a pair of gloves and used them in the rain and my hands were soaked after less than one hour
We have the same low-priced waterproof rain gear in our store. welcome. fwg.us
Science biatch!
And use gore tex insulation on your time machine to allow safe travel through sub temperature space time
As a competitor, the only way to beat gore tex is to create a time machine and develop it before they did
It's like when the best sprinters in the world dominate, because they are the best and cannot be beaten.. period
PTFE is used in space.....enough said
Here are some amusing tests conducted on Gore-Tex and Event hardshell jackets. ltworlds.info/home/vaizdo-ra-as/sGuZk7ujYLeLdZM.html
This is awesome work
I bought a Gore-Tex waterproof two piece bike suit from Hein Gerick for about £450 in 2002. It has been down the road once and is a bit scuffed on a shoulder pad. I still use it to this day. It has never 'leaked' whatever the amount of rain. All I get is a little damp up the inside of the sleeve, but my waterproof gloves deal with that. So, yeah, Gore-Tex for the win. Oh yeah, and the suit is warm too.
On the topic of sweat and moisture, I wear a full sleeve cotton tshirt inside the riding jacket to reduce sweat going into the jacket lining, thus keeping the jacket less smelly. 🙂🙂🙂
If the normal driving gear is decent the waterproof stuff mostly needs to keep out the water for maybe a few hours, and propably shorter time spans that that. I use cheap raingear that comes off the minute the rain stops and that works for me. And has worked since 1974 when I bought my first bike.
Having had used Gor-tex in the military for years, the answer was an easy yes.
aye i use frog toggs at my golf maintenance job and they work great
Super interesting and thorough! I would love to see this done with more of the brands that make jackets marketed for hiking.
One experiment short. How much do these garments breath when wet! We only wear these things incase or when it rains. Last test I saw in the 90s was goretex lost 50% of its breathability. Other than that, well done. Great reviews.
Hi, im no expert but isnt putting pressure and water restrict the fabric that is usually breathable under normal atmosphere pressure? Sort of like squeezing a sponge, the pores will eventually be under such pressure that you can only squeeze a certain amount before it starts trapping a small quantity of water? Sorry my english is bad. Cheers, also great review and helpful
I have a Gore-tex jacket by Berghaus. Run the cold tap over it and the water rolls straight off. Go out in the rain though and it wets out pretty quickly but doesn't leak. I don't believe there's any such thing as a material which makes rain bead straight off and also stays breathable.
Very informative video. Thanks. As a keen hiker, water and wind proofing is highly important. Especially in Britain’s temperamental weather. I’ve always had Berghaus goretex jackets and overtrousers. Not once has any of their gtx gear let me down. Even when it’s been raining sideways on Ben Nevis in the middle of autumn for many hours. Also incredibly breathable for when you’re getting a good sweat on
these tests are awful and do not reflect any real world scenarios.
great video, but who the hell thought 2.5L meant anything other than 2.5 layer? that's not brands tricking people, that's people not knowing what they are looking at.
Once again you've crushed it Ryan. I go a sports clothing store (mostly for runners, but also has bicycle gear) and buy Gore-Tex gear off season. A jacket costs about $25. Why pay those crazy prices. Wait til stuff is on close-out sale.
Great piece!! I shopped and owned several of these supposed breathable fabrics - problem is the amount of heat and moisture that the body puts out waaay out paces what the fabric can pass out its vents - venting designed into jackets like pit-zips and mesh pockets are the only win win - would love to see you do a piece testing some A’rctyrx items which are $upposedly sooo advanced ???
Biking .. great 👍. Hiking / Nordic Walking .. Naah. In wet /adverse weather, when you're pumping out body heat, unless you Ventilate that heat out, to a greater or lesser extent, you're going to get wet from within.
I would have sandwiched the material in some kind of rigid metal screen with a porous pad layer to prevent the ballooning. Inflation isn’t a very relevant condition. Membrane water entry pressure will change if stretched like crazy. For a water entry test, a plastic bag “should” be the gold standard, but it would fail this test since it would just explode.
Science....
like a good canadian, ryan pingpongs frivolously between metric and imperial. we love to see it.
Thanks! This fits with my experience that GoreTex is great for shedding water but retains a bit more humidity than I like. Good ventilation for a jacket can correct that though.
I have been riding motorcycle in many different gear, GoreTex is the saviour when riding in bad condition, I tried the garbage bag version, it is equally bad getting the clothes wet from the inside, but I can't understand how you got so low vent value from the GoreTex. When I get off my bike in cold weather, I can literally see steam coming out trough the clothes
25 year Motorcycle courier, 10 hours per day on the road: Gore Tex Jackets are fine because the material does not flex too much. Gore Tex Trousers, Boots, Gloves, will only last a few months before leaking when riding 10 hours per day ,raining say 1/2 days per week. Where the material bends, i guess the pores open? Boots are the worst , .Gloves :Water finds its way in through the wrist area and then stays in the water proof glove unable to escape. Leather gloves with no lining are the best, ring them out and carry on..Trousers, the crotch is the first to leak then behind the knees.. That being said i still buy only Gore Tex :)
I've always thought of Gore-Tex as a colder weather/low activity level fabric. The warmer things are and the harder you're working, the less useful it becomes.
So which one is the best ?
I don't drive motorcycles and have an exam tommorow
outstanding .. everytime F9
The only thing that's kept me dry is cheapy PVC rain suits, never had a proper gortex lined motorcycle jacket though. I have had hiking ones though and I'd still rather have a fully impervious cheap jacket in heavy rain.
Excellent work, super clear
Well... while interesting, i don't think testing with pressure that way is gonna compare with real life situations. Also, there is multiple membranes from Gore-tex for different use. Same for other companies. I see the effort but i think this is not accurate, been selling those kind of product for almost 8 years, there is more to it.
could you try a test with Komine in the future?
Totally invalid test. Rain water is not under pressure.
fuck me, i just bought a alpinestar jacket and pants,( i tried the others but none fitted me very well) and now i find out that drystar sucks..
Just ordered a brand new Gore-Tex vest + over-pants from a military surplus (Portuguese army) : 107€ shipping included :D Also, I have Drystar gloves and got my hands soaked after 10 minutes under a normal Belgian rain... I think I'll use your rubber gloves hack until I find proper snowmobile gloves... :)
This video is amazing! I actually own a business that is trying to break into the waterproof garment industry. If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to have a deeper conversation with you and your team on the subject.
You have to much FUN, lol
From my experience nothing waterproof made for a motorbike is waterproof it's nothing more than water resistant. The amount of times I've got to my destination and had to wait four more than 12 hours before they dry out that's not waterproof. If you had a submarine and it started leaking with water after 2 hours you would want your money back. He's a little bit of advice for anybody who wants to keep dry while riding. Buy body armour that will set you back about 50 pounds and look for waterproofs elsewhere bye people that know what they're doing when it comes to waterproofing! You end up spending a lot less money and it will actually keep the water out for long periods of time👍 Not even Gore-Tex is waterproof despite what this Guy is saying I've had a lot of Gore-Tex equipment and all of it has started leaking after about two-and-a-half hours in the rain don't waste your money.
I don't understand how a man with such terrible taste in shirts, can talk such good sense.
no DryVent test?
Great test and nicely done! Can you do cycling specific jackets?! That would be amazing.
Polyurethane is the only true waterproof fabric.. Get yourself a Helly Hansen rain jacket it will beat all these 1000$ hacks.
After 10:47 there are some Jacko impersonations.
Thank you for this detailed explanation! The Fortnine Advanced Research Centre for Equipment (FARCE) sealed the deal, I'm now a subscriber.
I understand the need for environmental cleanup rules, I worked on projects for just that, but I'm honestly suspicious on the overall dangers of one such range compared to say an old petrol station's tank that leaked. I always wonder how the bureaucrats rate things and if they are honest. Glad you had a nice day. It matters to have a positive final memory.
Excellent test thank you
I've used a load of these fabrics and although expensive I've found goretex to be more durable. also, The face and lining fabrics do a little more than you give them credit for. The chemical hydrophobic treatment on the face fabric keeps the membrane clear to let moisture through and the liner keeps dirt, and particularly grease off the membrane to prevent seepage. If either is compromised you'll get wet.
I just use a vinyl jacket like the one the sailors use, it's dirt cheap (30$) and doesn't let one drop in. Of course it's not breathable but who sweats in rainy/winter days anyway, also when the rain is really intense one doesn't keep riding for hours except under very uncommon circumstances so again, one doesn't spend enough time with the rain jacket on to really sweat. I'm an all year motorcycle rider, in Belgium where it is always rainy and I just stick to my vinyl jacket. The only goretex jacket I had was 25 years ago, it was an expensive MQP jacket but after some time in the rain, water always managed to pass through and I ended wet so no more goretex for me anymore.
I laugh at the rain in goretex. Tried them all!
Love your videos and your presentations. Is it possible to add pressure (psi) without expanding the fabric? Doesn't elongating the fibers increase the size of the pores/membranes increasing the chance of leakage? Can the fabric be restricted in a screen or other device so the fabric remains in the state it would be while wearing? Certainly a gore-tex jacket isn't going to be stretched while wearing.