New Gore-Tex Pro Shell – Actually, 3 New GoreTex Pro Shells
New Gore-Tex Pro Shell
How do you improve on the industry standard? Gore-Tex sent over a prototype jacket for us to find out! Now, this jacket is not available for purchase (sorry!) but, it does have all 3 of the new Pro Shell technologies built into it. This is the same jacket they sent to their professional athletes to test around the world.
Gore-Tex Durable
They beefed up the durability on this version of Pro Shell. I had a chance to test this new version of Pro Shell in a jacket last season and it withstood everything we threw at it. From tree branches on skin tracks to dog claws while camping. The reinforced Gore-Tex Pro Shell is very durable.
Gore-Tex Breathable
A lighter weight material is used to allow more breathability. I can attest to this working well as I did several splitboard tours in the test jacket and was impressed with how well it dumped heat. Though, I do not have a way to measure this breathability, I can say it was better than I expected.
Check out this video from Gore-Tex to learn more about the new line up.
From Gore-Tex:
Fact Sheet: New GORE-TEX PRO Fabric Technologies Three New GORE-TEX PRO Technologies Yield Customized Performance
In research with GORE-TEX athletes, mountain guides, and Gore brand partners, feedback showed that the existing version of GORE-TEX PRO performed exceptionally well, but there were two distinct groups of users: One for whom more dialed-in performance
New GORE-TEX PRO Most Rugged Technology
Gore used a new testing process to measure the. In its most rugged GORE-TEX PRO collection, Gore offers a variety of recycled and solution-dyed face fabrics. It is the most durable laminate GORE-TEX has ever made in the Mountain Sports category.
New GORE-TEX PRO Stretch Technology
To create stretch in the rugged GORE-TEX PRO category, Gore developed a completely new and totally unique way to create stretch in a waterproof-breathable fabric. In the past, the combination of ruggedness and stretch was a challenge.
Conventional stretch laminates achieve their stretchy properties via a blend of stretch and non-stretch fibers in mostly knitted face textiles, but this approach results in some undesirable properties, such as limited levels of ruggedness. More durable woven textiles, as appropriate for GORE-TEX PRO products, have not been able to offer stretch capabilities.
Gore now has found a way to combine both: reliable ruggedness and elasticity of the laminate at the same time. To add this elasticity, elastane filaments are no longer used within the face textile of the laminate, but in a thin layer between face textile and membrane.
This not only protects the stretch component from outside damage but also allows the use of more durable woven face textiles. Because the membrane used in the stretch version of GORE-TEX PRO is the same as the one used in the most rugged version, it has similar high durability and waterproof-breathable characteristics.
Enhanced GORE-TEX PRO Most Breathable Technology
This version of GORE-TEX PRO is optimized for breathability during higher-intensity activities while retaining the ruggedness and waterproof ratings for which GORE-TEX PRO is known. This most breathable version newly introduces the lightest laminates ever offered in the GORE-TEX PRO category, using 30-denier face textiles and the
GridTM backer. As durability was the top criteria and another for whom breathability was the highest priority. In order to create apparel more tailored for different activities, W.L. Gore & Associates created three new versions of GORE-TEX PRO Fabric. One optimizes ruggedness and durability, a second optimizes breathability, and a third adds stretch. Moving forward, these three versions of GORE-TEX PRO fabric can be combined by manufacturers to create garments that offer for specific end uses.
TEX laminate even stronger and more durable. This version of GORE-TEX PRO combines a
susceptibility of fabrics to recurring physical
damage over time. This was critical in identifying ways to make the waterproof-breathable GORE-
completely new membrane technology with specially selected durable 70- to 200-denier face
textiles and a solution-dyed version of the robust Micro GridTM backer solution-dyed version of the robust Micro in its most rugged GORE-TEX PRO collection, Gore also offers in its most breathable GORE-TEX PRO laminate collection a variety of recycled and solution-dyed face
As the leader in performance fabrics, Gore has always looked beyond the off-the-shelf testing equipment to develop new fabric technologies. Creating new GORE-TEX PRO material was no different. In this case, Gore utilized a new lab test process, the Five-Finger-Scratch-Test, a variation of which is used in the automobile industry. It is designed to expose fabrics to fabrics classified beyond ordinary wear.
That process was critical to guiding improvements in the way scratching, marring, gouging, scraping and other types of physical damage repeated over time – damage the membrane and face textiles were constructed in the new GORE-TEX PRO fabrics. In addition, the three-year development process involved extensive field testing around the globe by GORE-TEX athletes.
For instance, extreme climber Stefan Glowacz and mixed ice/rock specialist and mountaineer Robert Jasper tested early versions of new GORE-TEX PRO fabrics during an expedition to Baffin Island as early as 2016. Their feedback through the process, along with many other testers’ input, helped direct additional testing in the lab to yield the next round of trial fabrics that were sent back out for more field testing. New GORE-TEX PRO fabric went through many rounds of refinement in the lab and field over a four-year process.
The Science of Comfort
Comfort Science – using strict scientific processes to pursue higher levels of comfort in technical fabrics – has been a guiding principle at Gore for decades. With the new GORE-TEX PRO fabric, Comfort Science played a large role in freedom of movement.
With GORE-TEX PRO Stretch Technology, Gore not only developed a new design approach to stretch, but it also used mannequins developed with resistance meters to test different amounts of stretch along with the amount of force applied to create the stretch. The mannequins recreated movements made during athletic endeavors, like mountaineering, to understand what kind of stretch and just how much was needed to make a big difference in freedom of movement and, therefore, in comfort. Garments were then taken to the field for real-world verification of lab results.
Lower Environmental Footprint of New GORE-TEX PRO
Gore Fabrics is committed to continuously improving the environmental impact of its products. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results have shown that the best way to minimize the environmental footprint of a functional outdoor jacket is to enhance its durability. This is why quality, durability, and performance are the cornerstones of our products.
Within the new GORE-TEX PRO research and development process, Gore also sought to improve the environmental footprint. It did that by adding a new solution-dyed Micro GridTM backer in the most rugged and most breathable versions of GORE-TEX PRO fabrics. As opposed to traditional dyeing processes, solution dyeing substantially reduces water use, helping to also reduce carbon emissions in the process.
Gore did this while retaining the high associated with all of its backer fabrics, along with the characteristics of smooth sliding over a performance and durability variety of different layers beneath. In addition, Gore also is offering its GORE-TEX PRO fabric in
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