Will Gore-Tex’s New Fabric Change Waterproof Outerwear?
For all the apparent techno-wizardry in waterproof breathable garments, the actual mechanics of the thing haven’t changed much since William Gore accidentally created his namesake membrane in 1969. But a new technology from W.L. Gore and Associates could be a significant breakthrough in lightweight, waterproof, and—just imagine!—truly breathable outerwear.
The new advance goes under the name of an existing product, Gore-Tex Active, which is the lightest and most breathable version of Gore-Tex, intended for aerobic, high-exertion sports like cycling. It’s the same core technology, but with a significant twist: The membrane now operates as its own shell.
Almost all waterproof breathable garments use the same basic construction approach, which hasn’t changed much since their inception: A waterproof, breathable membrane is laminated between an outer shell “face” fabric and a liner fabric, both meant to help keep contaminants away from the membrane and prevent abrasion wear. The face fabric is treated with a water-resistant coating called a DWR (durable water repellant) finish that is essential to the membrane’s breathability. But all that material adds weight and bulk, and actually limits the range of breathability.
That’s what the new Gore-Tex Active claims to change. The membrane itself has what Gore calls a “permanent beading surface,” which makes water bead up and roll off. Translation: There’s no need for a shell fabric with a DWR finish.
Gore announced the new technology last week, and named five initial partners—Gore Bike Wear, Gore Running Wear, Castelli, Arc’teryx, and The North Face—that will launch the first products with the new fabric. One of the first announced is Castelli’s new Idro jacket, a 155-gram shell (claimed, size large) that is fully waterproof and seam-sealed, but packs up small enough to fit in a jersey pocket with room to spare.
The Idro is a pure road-riding piece; it has a closefitting cut to limit flapping, long sleeves, a slight drop tail for fuller coverage, and reflective stripes on the rear. There are no external pockets. Part of Castelli’s spring line, it should be available as early as March; pricing hasn’t been released. The Idro hints at the potential for Active: extremely light, highly packable, and fully waterproof—in the Gore Tex-approved sense of the word—outerwear.
We still have questions, of course—chiefly, whether or how Gore was able to solve the problems of abrasion and dirt/oil contamination that an unprotected membrane might pose. Also: Will the new Active garments be any more affordable, since construction isn’t as complicated? And how widely will the technology be embraced?
Gore didn’t share much outside of its initial press release. Sister company Gore Bike Wear wasn’t ready at press time to share details of its new Active garments, but we’ll follow up when they are.
Interestingly, 7Mesh, which has worked closely with Gore on several technologies, was not on the initial list of partner brands for the new line. A company spokesman said that 7Mesh has received initial fabric samples and is excited to test the new technology but will not offer products right away.
Where will Active actually make a significant difference for most users? For people who don’t live in wet climates, the distinction between Gore-Tex’s “Guaranteed to keep you dry” waterproof standard (which Active meets), and functionally waterproof (but not Gore-guaranteed) and taped Windstopper garments, like 7Mesh’s Resistance, may be vanishingly small, possibly limiting the functional appeal of the new Active shell garments. But insofar as it replaces pieces with current, traditionally laminated Gore-Tex Active, the potential impact is broad because every single one of those pieces stands to lose weight and bulk.
The world of weather-resistant outerwear has changed pretty dramatically over the past five years. There are ever more companies and technologies on the market, and interpretations of “waterproof breathable” range from adaptations of existing Gore products like Windstopper to entire reconfigurations of how to incorporate the membrane to begin with, like Voormi’s Core Construction technology.
Where Gore’s revamped Active fits in that evolving universe remains to be seen. For years, cyclists had to choose between total protection from the elements at the cost of bulk and weight, and lightweight, packable windshells that are easy to carry but are neither really weatherproof nor (in some cases) that much more affordable. Very recently, that’s started changing. The new Gore-Tex Active garments are another sign that, at a certain price, maybe we don’t have to decide what to sacrifice anymore.
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