> There’s no doubt part of the success is the chemistry of the product, but the required independent testing to very high standards also likely plays a large pa

> There’s no doubt part of the success is the chemistry of the product, but the required independent testing to very high standards also likely plays a large part in the quality of the final products. This is the main advantage to it imho. I hike all day in Northern CA for work, so good rain gear is needed. There are plenty of options without GORE-TEX that are satisfactorily rain proof, but the ones with GORE-TEX are almost always better quality and have a better warranty. The REI Rainer is a good example of something that is generally good enough at keeping water out, but its relatively poorly made compared to their XeroDry jacket that includes GORE-TEX. It just leads to the end product being higher quality.