eVent Vs. Gore-Tex Waterproof Breathability
There is much debate regarding the claims made by eVent fabrics that it’s a more breathable fabric than Gore-Tex. Now that I am now an owner of some fine eVent rain gear courtesy of Integral Designs, I wanted to get to the bottom of this debate.
Some simple research turned up the following YouTube videos. One put out by REI, and another put out through Gore-Tex… The test created in the Gore-Tex lab inspired me to conduct a little testing of my own in my super secret backwoods laboratory.
#1. eVent Vs. Gore-Tex Test – This was a YouTube video created by a popular backcountry gear reviewer. It was conducted in the actual Gore-Tex facility and if you watch the video you’ll see it’s not a very accurate test to compare the performance of the two fabrics (eVent Vs. Gore-Tex) and tried to portray the fabrics as being equal. Gore-Tex wouldn’t want you to conduct anything more scientific as it likely won’t make them look too good.
#2. eVent Breathability Test – This is another YouTube video showing the breathability of the eVent fabrics with what is called a “Bubble Test” and it’s pretty cool.
#3. eVent Vs. Gore-Tex BC Hunting Blog Test – I conducted this simple test using two cups and some boiling water. It clearly showed me that eVent can backup their claims with visible performance.
The proof is in the pudding folks… Although my test was also not really scientific and I had no way of accurately measuring the transfer rate, it clearly showed that the eVent fabric was letting MORE steam through then the other fabrics.
FYI not shown on the video but I did also test a few other waterproof breathables I had laying around (keela, Helly Hansen) they also did not even come close to the transfer rate of the eVent.
Bottom Line – If you are looking for the best waterproof breathable on the market start looking for products made with eVent fabrics.
Comments
Jimminyjay
Apr 12th, 2010-
bchunting
Apr 15th, 2010Hey Jimminyjay,
Thanks for your comment! This was my first video review so my apologies that it pretty much sucked… lol… I am aware of the differences between eVent and Gore-Tex. The gaitors weren’t brand new and the jacket was, they were not heavily soiled though. I also tested the eVent against my Helly Hansen “Helly Tech” jacket and a Keela waterproof breathable as well and the eVent was the clear winner. If I could get my hands on a high quality gore-tex fabric sample then I would conduct a more thorough test. From what I have seen though eVent definitely is a “breathable” waterproof material.
Carl
-
FOTIS KAKALIDIS
May 23rd, 2010thanks for all the info. you are doing a great job.Is it possible to tell me “how” much waterproof (in PSI or in MM) Event is?
-
Pascal Girard
May 23rd, 2010Here is a video I did for a French outdoors’ magazine. Oblivously it is in French but the test are interesting. I was testing a Gore-tex Proshell and an event jacket and pants.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9g0Xq0SXE0
I’ll probably put up a version with english subtitles.
-
bchunting
May 23rd, 2010Hi Pascal. English Subtitles would be good. I watched the video, thought it was great, but had no clue what you were saying or what the results were visually. These tests also don’t seem to test much for the breathability factor.
Carl
-
Pascal Girard
May 25th, 2010Hi bchunting, I do talk about the breathability factor but I guess if you don’t understand french it hard to understand it. I’ll post a subtitle version soon or later. But to sum it up quickly, event breathes much more but the Gore-tex Proshell seemed more durable.
-
bchunting
May 25th, 2010Thanks Pascal! I need to get an actual quality Gore-Tex shell to try a few tests on. Carl
Trackbacks and Pingbacks
Leave a Comment
Advertising
Organizations We Support
  
|
Thanks for the post. I’ve been keeping a close eye on eVent, since I love new outdoor products. For an in home test yours definitely illustrated the breathability of eVent. The video that eVent posted with their breathability test was a cool illustration though I wish they would run it with a parallel Gore-Tex fabric so that the comparison could be made. I have the opportunity to test some Gore-Tex materials through a community called MountainTechs and my experience with there current technology is that it is incredibly hard to beat, though in all fairness I’ve only tried an eVent jacket once.
As you probably know, one of the ways that eVent achieved its breathability is by removing the Polyurethane (PU) layer, which Gore-tex has, that protects the expanded PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) membrane (their technology is very similar in that area). The PU layer is what prevents dirt, grease, oil, gunk and grime from clogging the pores of the PTFE layer. eVent does claim that their fabric is not effect by the lack of a PU layer, but they don’t have the same “guaranteed to keep you dry” promise that Gore-Tex does.
Regarding your test… testing against your gator is a bit unfair for a few reason. I don’t know how much use your gator has vs. the event, but dirt (which gators tend to get much more of then a jacket) can have a dramatic effect on the breathability of a product. Also the type of material used for gators tends to be a much thicker laminate. (Gore-tex makes different fabric, w ith different breathability for different uses). It would be interesting to see the test with a similar weight fabric, like gore-tex paclite, in a similar condition. I have a hunch that the outcome would be almost exactly the same, as that would be much more “apples to apples”.
All in all, I do think that eVent is the most legit competition to Gore-tex, which has been in a league of its own for so long, and i think that it will force the industry to keep on innovating, which is never a bad thing for us “end users” of the gear!