Following on from earlier, here are some more photos from my visit to the Callanish
Standing Stones on New Year’s Eve 2009. The weather lightened up and s...
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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About Me
- Jason Klass
- Denver, Colorado, United States
- I'm a fanatic when it comes to backpacking gear and DIY projects. This is my "e-soapbox" for sharing my ongoing discoveries and ideas about all things related to backpacking, hiking, snowshoeing, and camping. If you have similar interests, feel free to connect with me. Please give me your feedback by leaving comments and be sure to check out the archives too!
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Interview with Jason Klass
In this podcast, Jerry Schleining from the Scoutmaster Minute interviews me about DIY gear and my thoughts on commercial backpacking gear
What's Happening in the Backpacking Blogosphere
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Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) kits, or young, playing and play-fighting, sunset, on the coastal plain, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR, Alaska.
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Spring is making me start to think about planning some hiking trips. With a family these vacations need to include more than a backpack and tent. REI, y...
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Backpacker Magazine has an article out featuring recipes submitted by their readers. This is a great article for other readers to see what kind of recipes ...
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I just received my GooseFeet. I’ve been looking for a product like this for years. The perfect sleeping socks for the cold footed camper. That would be ...
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Last year Mora of Sweden decided to discontinue the Mora #510 and #545 model knives from their line. Since then they have still been fairly easy to find bu...
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In the winter, I love to walk, hike, trail run… you name it. I have had several people ask me how I stay active in the winter, and frankly, it is pretty si...
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A good loss this week. I am kind of surprised to see it too. Yesterday Was my fathers 60th birthday and I made a 100% homemade carrot cake. I made it Mo...
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Kooka Bay UL pillow arrived today, very light weight and compact, hopefully won't be too long before I can get out on the trail and test it out. More info ...
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I normally ignore PR mail that I receive but this one concerns an area of the Country, that I have a soft spot for. An invitation to explore Swanage & Purb...
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I’m a little sorry to keep harping on Anza-Borrego here, but I really want to let LA hikers know about this little gem to our southeast. Also, the wildflow...
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Like Hendrik, I had the chance to get away for a quick over night trip. The focus of the trip was very much on testing some gear for up coming longer tr...
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Last Sunday, I took a break from the woods and went fossil hunting. The area I went to was Walton-on-the-Naze in Essex, which is about an hour away from wh...
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Druid Fluid and Big Foot are not Appalachian trail names, although they'd be great ones. Instead, they're the names of two Barley Wines that I've taken a l...
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In january the entire family went on skiing vacation to Orsa Grönklitt in Dalarna, Sweden. From experience I knew that transporting the children back and f...
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With our base camp established somewhere over 8,000' and a well earned night's sleep behind us, it was time to get down to the business of training. The ne...
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Canada Geese This will not be the post I wanted to bring to you today. Yesterday's warm day has finally brought out the animals to my favorite nature park...
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Today was maintenance day for my old 2003 Specialized Stumpy FSR. Very little of this bike is stock anymore. Basically just the frame, fork, and rear sho...
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Hey Everyone, What a killer day. I spent the day talking fly with two of the most respected fly fishers in the sport. Not only did Anthony Hipps show me ...
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I was talking with Teresa “Dicentra” recently about our stocks and stores of trail food ingredients – we often share if one has something the other is out ...
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In my recent trip to the Wallawas one of my fellow hikers brought along a little fire starter with a flint. It involves vaseline and cotton balls.
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Can’t imagine I’ll get any hiking done this weekend, as we’re moving to our new place. Next weekend, though, I should be all settled in and ready get out t...
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Drove to Grendon, just outside Northampton. The tarp was set up in no time at all and a meal on the go. Then over to the pub for the evening. A pretty cold...
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Balloon Pump on a Diet About 4 years ago when I first starting playing with the idea of making my own Down Air Mattress or Balloon Bed I looked for a light...
6 comments:
I suppose the real question would be why choose GORETEX over say the very popular Event, or my favorite is Pertex from Outdoor Research. What makes it the better choice.
I'll admit that I'm not one to pay much attention to spec sheets, so some of this might be somewhat common knowledge. But I also know that "common knowledge" and what product engineers think are not necessarily related.
1. What do the engineers who make gore-Tex consider to be the ideal conditions for the material. Put another way, what circumstances are ideal for the breathable waterproofness to really shine?
2. As they look forward to improving the material, what do they (the manufacturer) imagine to be the theoritical limit? Or have we already seen it?
They have been making this stuff for years right! When are they going to get off the price and get it out to the budget challenged folk.
Good questions guys. Keep them coming!
I would also like to know how they plan on lowering the consumer cost of purchasing Gore-Tex products. At some point the costs outweigh the benefits.
Also, where do they see themselves in comparison to other fabrics like eVent and Pertex? Why have those materials been able to blossum at a faster rate? Even the Marmot proprietary MemBrain Strata has almost caught up with eVent.
Aside from a marketing standpoint, they are not superior to these fabrics. Just everyone and their Grandma knows what you mean when you say "Gore-Tex" (said with shaking jazz hands).
I second the question regarding the engineers' design conditions. Where ARE they designing these materials to be used? What are the variables they consider vs the ones they declare to be outliers?
Looking forward to your feedback Jason. Thanks!
I've owned and used both jackets and pants made from Goretex (Arcteryx)and eVent (Rab). My field experience is that eVent provides equivalent rain protection but far surpasses Goretex in breathability, comfort while hiking, and lower weight.
For me, at least, Goretex is an inferior product that delivers breathability only at a minimal, nearly theoretical, level. With more sales than competitive products and presumably a large R&D budget , why isn't Goretex pushing to produce a superior product in terms of comfort/breathability? IMO, it is NOT a superior product based on my experience.
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