Why you should buy Gore-Tex motorcycle clothing

Where do we start?

Well, first thing, Gore-Tex is just a brand name. It's sometimes shortened to GTX when used as part of a product's description.

The brand is owned by W L Gore & Associates. They're an enormous, $5bn, American producer of technical fabrics and materials for a huge array of applications; from medicine to the military. And for everybody from sailors to soldiers, and from mountaineers to motorcyclists.

Nonetheless, the company is best known for having invented Gore-Tex; basically the first ever breathable, waterproof membrane. It was Bob Gore, the founder's son who, in 1969, almost by accident discovered how to create a waterproof yet breathable membrane.

The original waterproof membrane was a fluoropolymer called polytetrafluoroethylene that, when stretched rapidly, revealed millions of micropourous holes. Those holes were large enough to allow vapour to pass through it from the inside thus allowing, in the application we're talking about here, the wearer to sweat and stay cool. But those holes were small enough to prevent water droplets from passing through the membrane from the other side, thus keeping the wearer dry.

Gore may have invented the modern, waterproof membrane as we know it, but their patent ran out in the late 1990s. And so these days any Tom, Dick or Harry can manufacture a membrane that works in pretty much the same way.

Staying dry on a motorcycle

Waterproofing, or rather staying dry, is a particular challenge for motorcyclists, and that's because of the force with which the rain can impact upon a garment.

You can find yourself walking into the full force of a hurricane. You can find yourself on the deck of a boat in the eye of a storm. But rarely will a garment ever experience the kind of prolonged and consistent water pressure that is exerted upon it as you're barrelling down the Autobahn in heavy rain at 100 mph!

There are those, of course, who will claim that nothing will ever keep you totally dry if you are riding for long enough in rain that is hard enough. And we have some sympathy with that because, like many motorcyclists, we've been there! And of course it has to be acknowledged that there is a big hole in the neck of most jackets that makes keeping the insidious wet stuff out somewhat of a challenge. To say nothing of the zips and vents.

But whilst one might never be able to keep every last drop at bay, it is these days possible to ride at speed for many miles in hard rain, and arrive at your destination pretty much unscathed.

The secret, and particularly the secret to being able to do this regularly and reliably, is to make sure you are equipped with properly waterproof gear that’s man enough for the job.

Waterproof motorcycle clothing

In talking about waterproof motorcycle gear, we will use the jacket as the exemplar, but most of what is being discussed here will apply equally to pants.

Boots and gloves are constructed in different ways, but we will circle back at the end to talk about them; with particular reference, obviously, to the benefits of those that come equipped with Gore-Tex membranes.

Now not all waterproof garments are born equal. Some waterproof garments don't make use of a membrane at all. They might just have a coating; what is known as a Durable Water Repellant or DWR. This will cause water landing on a jacket to pool, and run off. But in any kind of heavy rain such a coating will easily be overcome.

But most of the time when we're talking about waterproof, motorcycle clothing we are referring to something that's equipped with some kind of waterproof membrane.

A membrane can be incorporated into a jacket in three different ways.

If the membrane comes in the form of a separate, inner liner that can be taken out of the outer, protective jacket, we term it a 'removable membrane'. If a jacket has a waterproof membrane that is fixed permanently into a jacket, but that hangs independently behind the outer fabric, the jacket has what is known as a 'drop-liner membrane'. If the membrane is bonded or heat sealed to the inside of the outer chassis of the jacket it has what is known as a 'laminated membrane'.

Now this isn't really the time or the place to go into a huge amount of detail about how these membranes perform and work, but there are some things we need to highlight, as there is an implication when it comes to Gore-Tex.

Removable membranes work fine, but they don't represent the gold standard when it comes to staying dry. The main reason you buy a jacket with a removable membrane is so that, when it's hot, or when you are working hard off-road, you can remove it. And when you do this the outer jacket becomes much more breathable.

Now all membranes offer a degree of breathability, but in extreme conditions a membrane won't be able to cope with the copious amounts of sweat that you might be generating. And to cool down that sweat needs to be able to escape from the body in its vaporous form.

The second type of waterproof membrane to be found in a motorcycle jacket is known as a 'drop-liner' membrane. This is the most common way of incorporating a membrane into a jacket.

Basically, the membrane gets sewn into the jacket at the shoulders and the neck. It hangs independently inside the outer fabric, but is then protected on the inside by a mesh or cotton lining that sits next to the body. This is a tried and trusted construction. It works. And it's very reliable. Drop-liner garments tend not to fail. They don’t let the water in.

The only issue with drop-liner garments is that if you're riding for a long time in really heavy rain, the rain can pass through the jacket's outer fabric. After many hours, the jacket can soak up a fair amount of rain that can then swill about between the jacket’s outer layer and the membrane. This is known as ‘wetting out’. Now the rain won't reach you because the membrane is in the way, but the water swilling around between the membrane and the jacket's outer can make you feel colder. And it will make you feel colder because we lose body heat 20 times faster through a wet environment than through a dry one.

There is a third form of construction; and it's the one that is the most pertinent in the context of Gore-Tex.

This form of construction is known as a 'laminated membrane'. In a laminated jacket, the membrane is bonded or heat sealed to the inside of the jacket's outer fabric.

The benefit here is that the rain cannot pass through the jacket's outer material in the way that it can on a drop-liner garment, because the membrane prevents it from doing so. And that's obviously a good thing because it means there's no real possibility of 'wetting out'.

Laminated jackets have a tendency to be a little stiffer and less comfortable because that’s what happens when you bond a membrane to a fabric. They are also less warm in the cold. And more warm in the heat. But from a purely waterproofing perspective, it cannot be denied that in extreme conditions laminated garments do not get as wet.

But there is a problem with laminated garments. And it’s that every panel join on a laminated garment has to be properly sealed with waterproof tape. If that is not done well enough water will find its way inside the garment through one of those panel joins.

This taping needs to be done with the very best-quality tape. You need to use a lot of tape, especially in vulnerable areas where, for example, three panels join up. And you need to apply the tape with great care, which inevitably takes time.

Now given the nature of the motorcycle business, most manufacturers of laminated garments are looking to do this job 'on the cheap'. They use less expensive, inferior-quality tape. They use as little of it as they think they can get away with. And because time is money, they apply it quickly, and in a slap-dash manner.

Yes, these manufacturers would like their jackets to be waterproof, but their key focus is price not longevity. Their aim is to produce a jacket that is secure enough not to leak inside the one, two or perhaps three, year warranty period. They are not making gear for the long term. Longevity is not their guiding principle.

Everything we have said here about motorcycle jackets, by the way, applies equally to motorcycle pants.

Gore-Tex membranes

Gore-Tex is the market leader when it comes to waterproof membranes.

They are far and away the most technically-advanced player in the market. They make the most waterproof, the most breathable and the most dependable membranes.

Now a clothing manufacturer cannot buy Gore’s membranes by the metre. When you work with Gore you take out a licence, and enter in to a partnership with them.

When you want to use a Gore-Tex membrane, you submit your jacket design for approval. If Gore approves the design they will issue detailed instructions on how the product is to be made. And it will have to be made in a Gore-approved factory where only Gore products are manufactured.

Gore will want to see a sample. They will also want to see the final production item, which they will test in their in-house facility, before giving their final approval.

No other membrane manufacturer does any of this. You just buy the amount you need. The factory will send it out, and you get on with it.

And so when you buy a product with a Gore-Tex membrane you get not just the best-quality membranes; the most waterproof, the most breathable and the most reliable. Just as importantly, when you buy a product with a Gore-Tex membrane you buy into the fact that corners will not have been cut, and that the garment will have been put together in a way that minimises the possibility of failure.

But here's the clincher. By controlling tightly how products with their membranes are put together, Gore feels it can guarantee for life that its membranes will never fail. Bear in mind that no other membrane manufacturer in the world offers any kind of guarantee on its membranes. Not for a year. Not even for a month.

And Gore’s is a guarantee that stands up to scrutiny; unlike most of those offered by the clothing manufacturers.

If you think your Gore-Tex jacket leaks, you send it to an independent, Gore-approved test laboratory. They will test the product. If they find that the jacket leaks, they will report this to Gore, and Gore will send you a brand new replacement. If the product is no longer a current line, they will send you a cheque for the price you orignally paid.

If you like living on the edge, and don’t mind getting wet on the bike, don’t waste your money on a jacket with a Gore-Tex membrane, because a Gore-Tex product will always cost a little more. But if you don’t like being let down, if you don’t like getting wet and cold, then Gore-Tex is the way to go.

Gore-Tex

Products with Gore-Tex membranes are normally priced at a premium, but one might take the view that it is worth paying that bit extra for a membrane that works better.

But it is the Gore warranty that makes buying a product with a Gore-Tex membrane a bit of a no-brainer.

As we have suggested, most motorcycle products will come with a one, two or three-year warranty. Now usually, of course, the warranty includes the guarantee that the membrane will do its job and not fail; either through the membrane itself or through the taping.

So let us say you buy a non-Gore-Tex, laminated Revit jacket that costs £600. It comes with a two-year warranty. And what that means is that you are paying £300 a year for the guaranteed life of the jacket, because if it starts to leak after, say, 25 months, you're going to have to throw it away and buy a new one.

Buy a £600 Gore-Tex jacket, and it's a different picture. If it does leak after a couple of years, and that's still always a possibility, there's no big deal. Gore will send you your new replacement in the post.

And that means that waterproofing will never be the reason to discard a jacket with a Gore-Tex membrane. You can carry on wearing it until it falls apart. If that's five years down the road, that £600 jacket owes you just £120 a year. If it’s 10 years, that’s just £60 a year. But the bottom line is that however long you own your jacket, waterproofing will never be an issue.

And this is the pivotal point. Waterproofing is far and away the most common reason for a motorcycle jacket to be retired. Buy a Gore-Tex motorcycle jacket, and you permanently remove waterproofing as a reason to ever buy a new one.

Gore-Tex and laminated jackets

Whatever kind of membrane your jacket is equipped with, there's potentially an argument to go for a jacket that's equipped with a Gore-Tex one. You'll get a membrane that functions at a higher technical level. The jacket will have been better put together. Plus, of course, the membrane will be guaranteed for life.

Now it might be argued that Gore-Tex brings less to the party if the membrane is a ‘removable’ one or a ‘drop-liner’ one. And that's because both are pretty reliable. They don't fail a lot, so whilst the Gore-Tex membrane will extend the one, two or three year warranty on waterproofing to a near-infinite one, most people will never probably never need to take advantage of it if they have one of these jackets.

But with a laminated membrane, it's a totally different matter.

And that's because laminated jackets, in general, are horribly unreliable. And we do mean ‘horribly’. In the past we have discontinued lots of laminated jackets from our range solely because we lost faith in their ability to keep the wearer dry.

We have opened up, and examined, lots of inexpensive, laminated jackets over the years; and we have sometimes been surprised that some of them should ever have purported to be waterproof. But, truth be told, we have often seen poor-quality taping on premium-priced laminated jackets too.

The fact is that laminated products are intrinsically prone to failure, because they are so difficult to make. They may never wet out, but if there's been even the slightest lack of attention paid during the manufacturing process, water will find its way in through the offending panel join.

Of course, even though they're put together with greater care, even a Gore-Tex laminated garment can leak. We might see this less on a Gore-Tex equipped Klim, Rukka or Held laminate jacket or pant, but we do see instances of Gore-Tex, laminated products leaking pretty much every month.

But here's the difference as far as we're concerned. If your Gore-Tex laminated jacket or pant leaks, it's no big deal. Send it off for testing, and if the test house agrees, a new one will be sent to you. It's that simple.

And frankly that's why, if you have decided that you really do need a laminated jacket, you'd be mad not to go for one with a Gore-Tex membrane. You might pay a bit more up front, but without doubt you’ll save money in the long run.

In our world it’s very simple. Most people, by which we mean 95% of motorcyclists, don’t need a laminated jacket, but if you do insist on going laminated, pay the premium, and go Gore-Tex. And with just a couple of minor exceptions that's the way we have gone as a company. And that's because we are just not happy equipping our high-mileage, touring and commuting customers with laminated jackets that we fear will let them down.

Now, as I said at the beginning, even though I have been talking about jackets here, most of what we’ve discussed applies equally to pants and trousers.

So now let’s look at boots and gloves.

The laminated vs. drop-liner distinction does not apply in quite the same way with boots and gloves.

Yes, there are laminated gloves, but the membrane is not bonded to the outer fabric in quite the same way. Yet it would be true to say that what we might term 'laminated' gloves are also less prone to wetting out. But they are not as prone to leaking as laminated clothing is because the seams don't need to be taped.

Boots are made differently again, the most reliable form of waterproof liner being what is known as an inner 'bootie'.

But the over-riding issue of reliability remains. And in some ways is exacerbated because even the best brands tend to give their boots and gloves just a one-year or a two-year warranty. And in some ways that makes the Gore-Tex lifetime warranty, which applies as much to boots and gloves as it does to jackets and pants, even more important.

If you have ever been let down by a glove or a boot that let water in, you can be sure that it won't ever happen again if you buy one with a membrane supplied by Gore-Tex.

One small word

A few years ago, the guy from Fortnine did a supposed exposé on Gore-Tex.

Except it wasn't an exposé at all. His story might have made for great 'click bait', but what it revealed was nothing new. What's more what he said applied and applies to every membrane; not just Gore's.

His supposed revelation was that a membrane could not block out the rain and breathe at the same time. And whilst that's not completely true, let's go with that for now, and assume that it largely is.

The fact, however, is that when we're riding in the rain, our body temperature is likely to drop, and so a membrane's breathability is usually not such a crucial consideration.

It is when it's not raining, and when it's warmer, that a membrane's breathability comes to the fore.

All membranes will, to varying degrees, serve to keep the wet stuff out when it rains. And importantly they will allow your skin to breathe to help you ride cool when it's hot. But no membrane will ever be able to do both effectively at the same time.

So Gore-Tex, in principle, operates no differently to other membranes. A Gore-Tex membrane will keep you totally dry when it rains. And when it’s hot, or you’re generating your own heat, the membrane’s breathability will help you stay a little cooler.

Gore-Tex is a membrane like many others; it just does everything a bit better than other membranes. And just in case it does ever let the rain in, it comes with an unimpeachable, lifetime warranty.

And we really can't see what there is to argue about with that!

You can buy a Gore-Tex motorcycle jacket with free next day UK delivery online, or visit our store in Guildford to try one on.