its been 3 years now since eVent has entered our world... but how has it lived up to its expectations.

Everyone agrees that it is more breathable than the gore family, but is it tougher? or more durable?

Does anyone have any stories, good or bad? remarkable or unremarkable about the subject?

I've had the Rab Latok (eVent) pants and I might be tempted to say that it gets damaged slightly easier - even in the cordura reinforced regions...

I have the Latok jacket and it's survived winter climbing, and climbing on gritstone.
Toughness will depend on many things, not just the brand of the membrane.

Having bought the Montane Air and only worn it to get to work in the rain for "testing" I don't think I can comment.

Really need to find some high usage peeps out there, three years is hopefully not enough time for it to have failed for many people.

I have to agree with Cara-lyn, Event membrane is applied to many different outer fabrics some heavy duty and some light weights.
I purchased a Craghoppers Epoch for 70 quid originally for trips to the pub/dog walking but despite the hood design being a bit naff the jacket has spent this winter on numerous hills in some pretty nasty weather conditions and I have found the tough ripstop fabric to be very durable indeed, but then again I'm not a believer in crisp packed thin shell's anyway.
I wish LA would bring pack TPC......dream on.

I've been using the same Montane Superfly jacket for the past couple of years, it's become my default lightweight waterproof when I'm not testing anything else and I've had no issues with it. There's a small tear in the face fabric where I crashed a mountain bike badly but interestingly, very little leakage in that spot. I've not used it with a heavy pack, but it's not designed for that.

Generally though, as with Gore-Tex, it will depend on the face and scrim fabrics that the membrane is laminated to. The tougher the face fabric, the more abrasion-resistant it will be so just because one eVENT garment behaves in a certain way, doesn't mean others will, it all depends on the actual fabric used. It's the same with Gore-Tex, even different Paclites will perform differently, the Cassis face fabric, which Berghaus use on some of their jackets, will be more abrasion resistant than an ultralightweight face.

Strictly speaking, what you're actually saying is that the Rasb clothing you're using seems slightly more prone to damage than some Gore-Tex fabric you've used in the past. Choose a different eVENT and Gore-Tex fabric and the converse might be true, if that makes sense :-)

Generally though, clothing is getting lighter, we're seeing full-on mountaineering shells at under 600 grammes but the pay-off tends to be reduced durability compared to the old-style shells that often weighed almost twice as much. It's part of the price we pay for going lighter, though obviously that's a generalisation and careful choice of fabrics will minimise the issue.

What I've heard quite a few times is that, despite the oleophobic treatment that coates the inner structure of the eVENT membrane, it can still be contaminated in the long rung leading to the same reverse osmosis effect the first generation of gore-tex had to deal with. What I don't know is how fast this occurs and I guess it probably depends on how you use the jacket.

I seem to remember that Montane advised to clean an eVENT jacket first with a normal detergent and after that with a technical cleaner, but I don't know if this has anything to do with cleaning the inner structure of the membrane (correct me if wrong but I thought that commercial detergents could lower the surface tension of water in a way that it makes it possible for water to enter the pores of the membrain).

my rab eVENT jacket is not waterproof, not even slightly and never has been (I haven't quite got round to sending it back yet!). My other half had a rab eVENT jacket that was aterproof until he washed it even tho he followed the instructions rab gave him.

I'm sticking with other waterproofing solutions in future!

and i'm open to suggestions!

The recomendations don't seem very consistent even on eth Event website but the gist of it is to use a normal detergent or technical cleaner, rinse it twice and then use a waterproofing wash in. Event might be less prone to taint from a normal detergent than Gore-Tex would be with it's PU coatings etc.

Anyway who want's a durable jacket, I want one I can justify replacing in a few years with an even lighter one.

I've been using a Latok jacket regularly for 3 years now and it's as waterproof as when new. I've stuck to washing it in soap powder not detergent. I haven't renewed the DWR yet but will need to do so soon.

As Jon says, it does depend on the face fabric as well as the membrane. On my usage so far and my usage of various types of Gore-Tex over the years I'd say eVENT has comparable durability.

Re: Looby Loo - back but in scotland!

I'm absolutely sure you eVent jacket is waterproof. After all it's just not possible for water to pass through a physical membrane.

However, it may not be very breathable, meaning that the water you think is leakage is actually condensation.

You're probably expecting too much. Physical membrane water proofs are "breathable" in that they allow some water vapour to pass through but not much. eVent (one of the best membranes) simply will not allow for the condensation generated by a hard working person to escape especially when it's raining or if the outer fabric is wetted.

To get the best out of it you need to wash regularly in Nikwax Tech Wash and every-so-often reproof it in Nikwax TX-Direct Wash In.

If you still get wet, you need a Paramo coat!

:)

I was out yesterday in extremely wet conditions - heavy rain low down then up through sleet into wet snow. I had Paramo trousers on and an eVent jacket over a 100 weight fleece and a thin polyester base layer. After the walk all my clothing was damp. The base layer was wet under the pack but dry elsewhere, the outside of the fleece was damp but the inside dry, the inside of the eVent jacket was damp inside though less so than I'd expect in most jackets in those conditions. The Paramo trousers looked soaked on the outside (I suspect they need treating again) but were dry next to the skin. Once I stopped moving I felt the need to change the base layer for a dry one but no need to change the trousers.

Nothing leaked but it was so wet that staying completely dry was impossible. My WindPro fleece gloves were sodden - I could wring water out of them. My boots - with a membrane lining - were soaked inside though my feet were warm (mainly due to the merino wool socks I think).

Dave Ellis said,
"To get the best out of it you need to wash regularly in Nikwax Tech Wash and every-so-often reproof it in Nikwax TX-Direct Wash In."

No, you have to wash eVENT in BIOLOGICAL DETERGENT and rinse twice.
Some time back a Montane designer came on to this forum and said so. You can wash it with tech wash afterwards to ensure that the detergent is neutralised but she definitely said you must wash it in biological detergent. She also said that you should reactivate the DWR by ironing the outer fabric with a cool iron.
I had a problem after having given my superfly its first wash with tech wash followed by wash in reproofing.
Subsequently I followed the instructions from Montane's designer and I have had no problem since.

I may read care instructions but as they are often wrong I don't pay attention to them. I wash eVent in soap powder and this has proved fine. If a jacket was particularly dirty and was leaking I might wash it in non-biological detergent as there would be nothing to lose but otherwise soap powder works well and doesn't strip out the DWR.

The eVENT website says "Regular washing of your eVENT®-fabricated garment will enhance product performance. Your garment may be machine washed in warm water (40º C) with liquid detergent. You may also use Nikwax® Tech Wash. We also recommend a second rinse to remove all traces of detergent from the fabric." Nothing there about biological detergent.

Quite right Marcus and that is why I edited out the bit about reading care instructions. Bad composition, sorry. However Julie of Montane came on to the forum towards the end of last year to answer a few complaints and I'm pretty certain she recommended liquid, biological detergent.
Put it this way, we never normally give houseroom to the awful stuff but on reading her instructions I immediately went out and bought a bottle and I had no other reason for doing that.
The pity is that I cannot find the original thread.

Macsen, what was the problem you had after using Tech Wash and wash-in reproofing?

I haven't used wash-in reproofing with an eVENT garment yet. So far I've just washed them in soap flakes or liquid soap.

By the way, I'm not Marcus!

Oops! Sorry Chris. You should see how red my face is.
My Superfly appeared to be not even showerproof after washing in techwash and reproofing. I had spent quite an energetic 8 hours on the hill in the rain and I was soaked through to my skin. I didn't realise this until I stripped off in the car park. I had been out several times in similar conditions with a similar amount of exertion before I reproofed the jacket and had only ever been damp but on this occasion I was as wet as if I'd jumped fully clothed into the river and swum about for a few minutes. The outer material had wetted out within minutes of being out in the rain.

Was it actually leaking or was it that the lack of water repellency meant that breathability was reduced so much that there was copious condensation inside? How was the jacket performing before you washed and reproofed it?

If the jacket was okay after washing in biological detergent then the membrane can't have been damaged. I guess if it was really dirty the Tech Wash may not have shifted the dirt and the wash-in proofing didn't actually stick to the garment. Clearly there wasn't any DWR despite the reproofing.

I shall have to wash and reproof an eVENT jacket to see what happens.

When I washed and reproofed my Superfly for the first time it hadn't looked particularly dirty but I had done quite a bit of high energy stuff in it so I thought that it would be well impregnated with sweat salts and it had started to smell a bit.
Have a look at the link below.

Richard Gear's advice

I would add that, according to Julie of Montane, ironing of the outer cloth is essential after washing and reproofing to reproduce the beading effect. I don't think the advice from the above link makes that clear.

I must admit I only wash waterproofs when water no longer beads up on them or they are visibly dirty. I do air them regularly however by hanging them on the washing line.

So far water has beaded up okay on the eVENT jackets I've washed (Rab Latok and Montane Superfly) in soap so I haven't reproofed them.

The current advice on the eVENT site says liquid detergent or Tech Wash. I've used Boots soap flakes without problem.

Ironing, playing a hair dryer over the garment or tumble drying will all help activate the DWR after reproofing. Nikwax say this isn't essential with its products, Grangers say it is essential with theirs.