What is Gore-Tex? What is it used for?

You have already heard this name dozens of times and you don’t know what it is? Today is the day!

Gore-Tex is a brand, but not of footwear… Gore-Tex manufactures, among other things, membranes that the manufacturers of big brands, like Timberland and Merrell, use in their waterproof, but also breathable, sneakers. This membrane is not more than a fabric with 9 million microscopic pores, 20 times smaller than a drop of water, which ensures that it does not go inside. At the same time, these pores are 700 times bigger than steam, which allows the perspiration caused by our body to get out without any obstacles.

It is normal that, if the sneakers that you fell in love with and that you really, really want to buy have Gore-Tex, are more expensive than some that don’t have it. Why is this? Because Gore-Tex is committed to ensure that no liquid from the outside gets in touch with your feet and, at the same time, your feet will continue to breathe. In fact, this is the only big focus of this brand and, if that fails, Gore-Tex is no longer a reference on the market. Since it is a reference, Timberland and Merrell have bigger costs than if they produced this membrane themselves… although they do something very similar, which they call Splash Blaster and M-Select DRY.

However, it is very important to mention two fragilities of this type of membrane. The first one is that its resistance is limited, because, if for some reason it rips due to a very aggressive use, or if it is punctured by a nail, it is going to be enough to let water in that area and, when it does, it’s going to be difficult to get it out, only by taking off the sneakers. The second is that the eyelets, where the shoelaces go through, as you can imagine, are not covered by this membrane and if the water reaches that area of the sneakers, it will get in.

I take this chance to recommend some models with this technology, like the Timberland Corliss Pewter, for women, and the Timberland Tilton Brown.   

Speaking of my own personal experience, some time ago, we were invited by Timberland to do some outdoors activities. We were on a mountain, very cold and wet. The path chosen was virgin, nobody walked there for a long time and the dewy grass was abundant in those lands. Since I never think of what to wear for a certain occasion, I took some sneakers without Gore-Tex… what were the consequences after 2 minutes? My feet were dripping wet and I had to do the rest of the activities like that.

On another occasion, also in a place with the same features, since my brain had registered the suffering from the previous activity, this time I took some sneakers with Gore-Tex. The result? Dry and warm feet. What a delight… I didn’t even want to believe it, the difference was huge.

I learned my lesson! Sneakers? Only with Gore-Tex!

Have you ever gone through the experience of having wet and cold feet? Tell us all!