Another installment in our occasional look at what's going on in
the OM gear-testing department...
And the good news is that we're just back from a weekend of
extravagant luxury in a five star hotel in Tenerife courtesy
of WL Gore. Now, some of you may suspect that Gore hoped that
idling by the sea while polite attendants wiped our journalistic brow
and catered to our every desire would somehow soften our view of the
latest Gore-Tex developments.
Shame on you, Tenerife was actually chosen because it boasts
Spain's highest ,mountain, a whopping great volcano that rises to
3700 metres or so. The idea was that up top it'd be scary cool while
down on the coast, we could bask in the sun like the fearless
reporters we are.
Except it didn't quite work out that way. Unseasonably hot weather
and a broken cable car put paid to full-on testing, but lunch was
nice anyway. More interesting was Gore's new policy of relative
openness with the press. In the past any sort of question about how
Gore-Tex works was met with the sort of stonewall defence you expect
from an Italian football team, but things have softened up a
little.
Jinking quickly through central midfield, we discovered that there
are around 80 different Gore-Tex membranes which vary in thickness
and pore size / distribution and which are carefully matched to the
face fabric for maximum effect and that the Windstopper version of
the membrane doesn't include a PU layer on the inside to protect it
from contamination by body fluids, oils, sun cream and the like.
That PU Feeling...
A what? OK, Gore tend to gloss over it, but waterproof Gore-Tex
fabrics are backed with a thin layer of PU to protect them from
contamination which changes the way the fabric works. PU is very
hydrophilic which means that it tends to attract moisture and pull it
though. Without the PU the PTFE membrane would be contaminated and
then a process called reverse osmosis would pull moisture in from the
outside, obviously not a good thing.
Obviously though, it changes the way that the fabric works. Rather
than water molecules passing straight through the PTFE membrane in
vapour form as Gore-Tex diagrams tend to imply, it actually has to
change into liquid form to move across the PU barrier and then across
the membrane itself.
All of which makes you wonder how Gore-Tex performs differently
from a simple PU-coated fabric. We're not 100 per-cent sure, but
we're guessing that Gore can use a much thinner smear of PU because
it's only there to protect the PTFE rather than provide waterproofing
in its own right. We also reckon that XCR, for example, is more
breathable than standard Gore-Tex because it uses a thinner PU layer
that passes water more quickly.
All of which was pretty irrelevant in Tenerife because no-one in
their right mind wears a waterproof jacket of any kind in bright
sunshine at 25 odd degrees Celsius. More about Gore's new
developments in our launch
report. Nice to see the company opening up a bit as far as
information goes. Nice place as well, Tenerife. The high-up volcanic
landscape reminded me of Ecuador and there looks to be good walking
there too, Discovery Walking Guides publish a handy walking
guide to the island.
Back Home
Back in the real world after a dismally delayed flight meant that
we staggered through the front door at 6.30 on Monday morning after a
totally sleepless night, we were greeted by a happy, waving pair of
garish boots...
They're
Brasher's new Supalite XCR a blinged-up version of the company's
very, very light original Supalites, but made in fabric and suede
with a Gore-Tex XCR liner for waterproofing.
Okay, they're around 1140 grammes for a pair of size 43s compared
to 1020 grammes for the original leather versions, which are still
available, but the slightly garish looks kind of worry us. You used
to know where you were with Brasher but now with designs like this
and their strange fur-topped women's boot launched for last
Christmas, you have to wonder where they're going.
How many traditional Brasher
customers would touch the new fabric Supalite with a Brasher walking
pole, yet how many younger purchasers will buy into Brasher's
traditional brand values. Don't we really need a souped-up
traditional boot, like a modern-day Hillmaster - think the new Mini
or Beetle car designs - rather than this slightly garish styling
mishmash?
We're not saying that the boot doesn't function perfectly well as
a boot, by the way, the technology that's gone into them looks
impressive - we'll let you know - just musing...
The outdoor industry's dirty cross-dressing secrets revealed...
