What You May Not Know About Gore-Tex

BLOGGER’S NOTE:  Over the next several blog postings I intend to comment on my experience at the Gore Labs2Woods Hunting Blogger Summit that was held November 2010 out in Delaware and Maryland.   About 10 hunting bloggers were invited in on a sponsored trip to learn more about W.L. Gore & Associates, the products they develop and license, plus we got to experience and learn first-hand about Gore’s SITKA specialized outdoor wear and equipment.   Please be aware that although this was a sponsored trip we were not required in any way to write about our experiences.   The comments I am about to make are based on the information I discovered and wanted to share with my readers thanks to this special opportunity.

I venture to say there are few people with a passion for the outdoors who have not heard of Gore-Tex® or how the product is used in a wide variety of outdoor clothing items.   Quite honestly, odds are if you’ve owned a Gore-Tex® membraned product I don’t have to spend a great deal of time here convincing you it can be worth it’s weight in gold if your life depends on staying dry and staying warm.

I first purchased a Gore-Tex lined hunting coat and pants back in the late 1980s and remember at the time paying $250+ for hunting wear was sort of a tough pill to swallow, so to speak.   I had heard the fabulous claims and honestly I was tired of getting cold/wet during many of my outdoor adventures.

I distinctly remember one such adventure that I related in an earlier blog post back in 2004 entitled, “Cheating Death.”   It falls under the section called Duck Hunting #2 where I was wearing Gore-Tex® and my hunting partner wasn’t.   Guess what…after that incident he sprung for the high buck clothes next fall, too.

The point I want to make is I have been a firm believer in using Gore-Tex® long before I went on this blogger summit.   Oh, sure, I have purchased many other articles of clothing that promised to be waterproof and breathable, but they hardly ever performed to the level of Gore-Tex® and after visiting the factory I now understand why.

To begin this series, in this post I want to provide a little background synopsis on polytetrafluoroethylene (or PTFE) which is the substance that makes up the Gore-Tex product.   It was first discovered in 1938 and is derived from a naturally occurring mineral called fluorspar.   Okay, not to get any more technical…but essentially some of the first uses of PTFE was to make the Dupont™ Teflon® coating commonly found on such things as non-stick cookware.

Alright, enough of the boring stuff.   Let’s look at just a few of the over 9,000 ways the W.L. Gore Company licenses this unique product mostly as a component for some important things in life.

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Our blogger group began by taking a tour in the Gore Capabilities Center.   Here we discovered the multitude of uses for PTFE broken down into the four basic areas of science: physical, electromagnetic, chemical and biological.

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Here, Steve Shuster, Gore’s Global Brand Manager, introduces us to the PTFE film and the many variations it can be used as in industry.

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Steve demonstrated the physical properties showing durability, strength as well as the fact PTFE can be manipulated to serve many different needs.

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As he points out, PTFE has many different forms and properties all of which result in meeting a host of capabilities throughout the industrial world (BTW, if you look over Steve’s shoulder you will see a picture of the founder of Gore-Tex®, Bob Gore, who back in 1969 experimented with the ways to reduce the density of PTFE, thus eventually evolving into what we now know as Gore-Tex®)

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Some might only think of Gore-Tex® as a clothing item…but the fibers are used in ways familiar to many of us sportsman, such as…

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…in fishing line.   Other such uses of the fiber can be found as dental floss, even…

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…guitar strings.   Yes, the favorite musician of yours might be strumming on…

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…a wide variety of Gore components used for the music industry.   Now, do you question just how strong products made from PTFE can be?   Take a look at this…

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…Here’s a Gore OmniBend Fiber rope used in the marine industry to secure large ships.   Yes, this rope is as large as your fist and get this…it is rated for a breaking strength at 900,000 lbs.   Absolutely incredible.

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Now one of the uses I thought was really cool was how the Space Program uses the fabric.   Yes, you guessed it…those iconic white suits are made out of Gore-Tex fibers.

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Of course, a bit more down-to-earth is how Gore-Tex keeps some of our bravest heroes who fight fires protected.   Yes, once again PTFE is found in gear where performance is critical.

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Now did you know Gore-Tex® is even found in denim blue jeans?   Well, actually it isn’t…I’m pulling your leg, so to speak.   What you are seeing is Gore-Tex® fabric actually made to look like a pair of well-worn blue jeans.   Remember the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Canada where U.S.A. Olympic Snowboarder Shaun White competed in the Halfpipe event wearing jeans?

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Well, actually he wasn’t wearing jeans…he had on a high-tech material made of Gore-Tex that simply resembled a pair of blue jeans.   These pants were actually waterproof, wind-proof and made specifically for the U.S.A. Olympic Men’s Snowboarding team.

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Okay, I’ve saved what I think is the best for last.   At least it is the most impressive use of PTFE in my opinion.   Gore-Tex is also used for soft tissue patches such as repairing hernias, organ reconstruction, etc.   But imagine a life-saving device that can correct a life-threatening vascular emergency, such as an aneurysm or a blockage, also made out of PTFE…

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Well, there’s a good chance if you know somebody who received an emergency stent placement to avert a cardiac condition…that person is walking around with a piece of Gore technology inside them to prolong their life.

Okay, enough with the tour and explanation of the many uses of Gore fibers.   I hear what you’re probably saying…all of this is great, but I’m not paying an extra $100–$150 or more for waterproof clothing when there are cheaper alternatives on the market.   After all, waterproof is waterproof…correct?

In my next blog post I will explain why this sort of thinking is not necessarily correct or wise.   In fact, we will bring the discussion of waterproof materials back to the realm of uses pertaining to the outdoors.   I just felt it necessary to begin this series by explaining how there’s a lot more to the W.L.Gore & Associates company that perhaps meets the eye.   Stay tuned….

©2011 Jim Braaten.  All Rights Reserved.  No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

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