Gore's New Waterproof Soft Shell Scoop!

Here's a bit of an exclusive scoop for you. This autumn, Gore is going to be introducing waterproof, fully-taped, soft shell garments.

Up till now, Gore's soft shell kit has used a Windstopper membrane laminated to a fleecy inner to give the fabric insulation qualities. The membrane itself is effectively waterproof, though doesn't have as high a hydrostatic head as their dedicated waterproof fabrics.

The seams though are untaped, so in wet conditions, the garments will always leak at these points. The new version is fully taped using a specially engineered Gore-Seam tape and will carry Gore's "Guaranteed to Keep You Dry" promise.

Scoop pic of what might be Lowe Alpine's new Gore Soft Shell in mean and moody black. Bear in mind that production models may differ.

And the Sprwayway version, again not a final production model

The fabric is being promoted as ideal for use in snowy conditions, but potentially could do away with the need to carry an additional lightweight waterproof shell to cope with rain.

The only other waterproof soft shell we're aware of is Mountain Hardwear's Conduit-based Synchro Jacket which was introduced last autumn and uses a Conduit membrane with external seam taping to create a fleece-lined, waterproof garment.

Companies due to use the new Gore Soft Shell include Arc'teryx, Eider, Lafuma, Lowe Alpine, Mammut, Marmot, Sprayway and The North Face.

Gore will also be at the OS Outdoor Show in Birmingham next month on stand OU252 complete with the infamous Storm Cube torture chamber that you may have seen or even stumbled inside, at last year's show, the Rain Chamber plus the latest Gore-Tex clothing and footwear.

For more information on the Outdoors Show, see the show website.
For more about Gore-Tex, see the WL Gore website.