Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Leaking gore-tex

Is there a product to get gore-tex to stop seeping? I've got two jackets that leak after a while in steady rain. I saw a wash prep and treatment for gore-tex on Cabelas site. Anyone have luck with "rejuvenating" gore-tex?

after many years of using it in duck blinds and deer hunting, I have come to the conclusion that the stuff just leaks if you get in a long heavy rain. If I want to be waterproof I either wear my old barbour waxed cotton, or if it's cold enough a tin cloth parka from Filson, but you're gonna sweat in either one, and the Filson, even though its fifteen years old, still makes you feel like the tin man.

Yep, I don't trust Gore-tex for real rain, give me plastic.

I've tried goretex off and on for years, and personally I think it is a highly over rated product in regards to it's ability to keep you dry in a wet environment. The thing to realize is that the goretex is the membrane on the inside of the jacket which is supposed to allow the jacket to breath. The coating on the outside of the jacket (which is not goretex) is supposed to cause the water to bead up and not soak through.

Yep.

It's a good compromise, keeping you dry for a good while while keping you more comfortable than a solid vinyl type membrane, but will eventually start to get damp inside if it rains long or hard enough.

Still a good solution, and so much more comfortable than a solid, truly waterproof, material that has you wetter from sweat and condensation than what Gore-Tex eventually gets to be.

I've got a 10 year old Cabela's Gore-Tex jacket that's still as waterproof as a Trojan latex.

I don't know why, but this seems to be true. Although I can spend a whole day in a river with Gore Tex waders and stay dry in them. This is more mysterious than a Thermos...

How does it know?

Me too, my Gore Tex Simms waders keep me bone dry all day being completely submerged. Then again so does my Patagonia SST jacket that I wear fishing.

Not all Gore Tex is equal I've come to find out, but if you invest in a high quality Gore Tex product AND you take care of it insuring it doesnt get it's outside clogged with mud I have found them to work great.

To the OP-there are laundry detergents made expressly for Gore Tex products, I would use those and see what happens.

and.....stay out of the flipping briars...

I've seen guys busting briars during deer drives with high dollar gortex clothing, then piss and moan over the fact that they are junk because they don't keep them dry...

WTF.

Tony

I had a Gore Tex Columbia Quad Parka for 20+ years and it was still bone dry when I gave it to a kid several years ago. My Brother has a Columbia Gore Tex suit that he said leaked in a couple places. I bought both of us brand new Cabela's rainsuits for about $400 each and they have been bone dry. I imagine the quality of construction, especially the taping of the seams that separates the good, bad, and the ugly! I've had way better luck with Gore Tex than I've had with Omni Tech and Dry Plus though. If you buy a suit from Sitka Gear as both my friends did for our Kansas trip, I think it's guaranteed forever. Construction has to be the difference.

Quite often, the problem is how the seams are sealed...or not. Thank Chinese quality for that.

Thanks for the input. I went to the Gore-tex site and it recommended washing and treating the outer material with a waterproofing spray. I don't think it's the briars since the jackets leak in the shoulder area. One jacket is military issue gore-tex and the other a Cabelas 4-in-1 parka. I'll try a gore-tex detergent and retreat the jackets.
Thanks,
Dave

If you want rain wear that keeps you dry, think Helly Hansen.

My climbing pack does not contain Gore-Tex rain gear...as some posters note, some gore-tex items like gaiters and waders and such do work surprisingly well. But in my experience with gore-tex rain gear, it is not foolproof.

The explanation for gore-tex rain gear not working sometimes is the dew point. At dew point, which mountain climates gets you close to in many situations, when your body is giving off more moisture than the garment can wick off into the saturated air outside, it will effectively "rain" inside the gore-tex. You won't find this fact in any gore-tex advertising...

The other issues mentioned would probably be explained by seams leaking...or tears from briars as was also mentioned.

What worked for me and has saved my life is the simple outer shell by Browning, the DryLite jacket. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/15...-jacket-long-sleeve-waterproof-polyester

I always have my layering system that is customized for the particular trip I'm on, planning for all eventualities. This simple jacket fits over any of the layers and the entire suit has kept me dry as long as I vented properly in rain.

For heavy, steady rain the product that works is called Grundens or Cotton Mather.

Gore Tex is fine for light rain and occasional wetness but nothing works like Grundens.imo

The Gore-tex lovers have not lived where it really rains.

Very true.

In real rain I'd rather wear wool and get wet but stay warm than Gore Tex and get wet and be cold.

Surprised it took this long for this to come up...

I live in Oregon, it "really" rains here.

I've fished for steelhead in coastal streams in Oregon, Washington, and BC. The majority of fisherman I've seen in my travels were wearing Gore Tex waders and jackets, and they were dry too.

Simms waders and Guide jackets or Patagonia waders and their SST jacket is standard gear for many guides in Oregon, Washington, BC, and AK.

Helly Hansen, Grundens, Dutch Harbor Gear, has it's place, but high quality Gore Tex can and does keep wise men dry in many places where it "really" rains.

Grundens are $$$ too. You're talking $300 for a set of rubbers. I live on Narragansett Bay and there are a lot of commercial fishermen here. Grundens are very popular. I have worn them and you will sweat your nutz off. They're rubber! Heavy, clammy, but dry, and the fish blood and guts just slide right off. I wear Gore Tex hunting and in the woods, and working outside. I wear rubbers out clamming and salt water fishing though, unless the weather is too hot. Then it's the thin stuff, or just get wet. I'm not washing clam juice or menhaden blood out of fabric.