Goretex proshell

[peakbagger]

I had some Discover card cashbacks, so I bought some LLBean gift cards at 20% off and took advantage of a Beans sale and picked up some Goretex Proshell pants. I used them for the first time on Sunday for a South Moat hike. I was quite impressed by the breathability compared to standard Goretex. The pants are equipped with welded rubber zippers on the 3/4 side zips and other pockets. I did open the side zips for cooling purposes but never detected any buildup of moisture that I would get with the standard Goretext on my close to 20 year pants. I sure didn't run up the mountain but did keep a steady pace up and down with very few stops. It was dry and breezy so the conditions were ideal for breathability. Only a few more hikes in less ideal conditions will determine its limits.

Not sure how long they will keep the breathability up, but in general a nice upgrade and I encourage others to consider Proshell. The trade off is the gear is not cheap and it looks like they only use it on the top end of most lines.

 

[bignslow]

I have had similarly good luck with the Mountain Hardwear Dry-Q Elite (note the "Elite", the comparison between GoreTex and Gore ProShell is the same as DryQ and DryQ Elite). A few nasty days had forced me to wear my hard shell for the majority of the day (heavy snow, wetting out my soft shell) and I was shocked when I got back to the car and my inner layers were dry.

The membrane of the DryQ is eVent but the total laminate is MHW proprietary

 

[DougPaul]

I researched waterproof-breathable fabrics a while ago and learned that while Gore-Tex and eVent both have high moisture permeability at warm temps, the permeability of Gore-Tex drops significantly at low temps while the permeability of eVent drops much less.

The key is in the construction: eVent consists of small holes in a hydrophobic membrane* while Gore-Tex bonds a similar membrane to a thin layer of polyurethane (PU). Thus water molecules can go right through eVent at any temp, but in Gore-Tex they must first condense on the PU, diffuse through, and then evaporate from the other side. The diffusion and evaporation steps slow down at low temperatures.
Ref: http://ar.newsmth.net/att/a3a1b591de9ec/635711-Breathability.pdf

* The original Gore-Tex used this same construction but it is no longer available.

For more detail about the construction of the fabrics, see http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/rainwear-how-it-works.html

In both cases, the moisture is driven across the fabric by the temperature and humidity differences.

Doug

 

[jfb]

I dunno about GoreTex, but I usually wear Sporthill Symmetry pants and carry eVent or Precip pants in case of rain.