Gore-tex Gloves

Alpinestars WR-2 for £79.99 @ J&S

Held 2570 Freezer for £89.99 @ GetGeared

Dainese New Jerico for £139.99 @ Infinity Motorcycle

Rukka Argosaurus for £199.99 @Sports Bike Shop

This is the logo motorcyclists look for when buying clothing for those unpredictable journeys, but what is it?

W. L. Gore & Associates has made its name by creating innovative, technology-driven solutions, from medical devices that treat aneurysms to high-performance GORE-TEX® fabrics. A privately held company with annual sales of more than $3.2 billion, Gore is committed to perpetuating its 50-plus year tradition of product innovation.

Gore-tex is a thin material that claims to be waterproof, windproof and breathable, so how do they achieve this?

The waterproof part is made by the microscopic pores on the membrane are 20,000 times smaller than a water droplet, which means water droplets can’t pass through. Garments have a treatment called DWR – a durable water repellent polymer – applied to the outermost fabric layer so that water beads up and rolls off.

To make the material breathable, The pores are 700 times larger than a water vapour molecule which means perspiration passes right through. It is not, as many believe, about a fabric’s ability to let air move through it, rather it refers to how well it let’s your sweat escape in the form of moisture.

The windproof part is the volume of air that passes through one square meter of fabric in one second (l/m²sec) is 5.0 or less, creating a truly windproof membrane. A fabric can only be considered truly windproof if the air permeability is 5 l/m2sec (volume of air that passes through one square meter of fabric in one second) or less. All gore-tex products meet or exceed that standard.

All information is available here.

So next time your purchasing a new pare of winter gloves, look out for the wee Gore-tex logo.