GORE-TEX®
A textile answer to dealing with the coldest, wettest, most-exposed places on Earth.
Purchasing shell clothing made of GORE-TEX® is your guarantee of not only the highest quality product, but of maximum protection in even the nastiest weather. Professional expeditions to the planet’s coldest and wettest places consistently choose GORE-TEX® products because they remain the most durable material for extreme conditions available today.
Tierra uses GORE-TEX® for the same reason; although we constantly reassess our material choices to see if we can achieve the same—or even better—results while reducing environmental impacts, we see the longevity of a garment as one of the most important environmental considerations, for which GORE-TEX® remains today’s best choice. All GORE-TEX® materials used in Tierra clothing are both Bluesign®- and Oeko-Tex®-certified.
We see the longevity of a garment to be one of the most important environmental considerations, for which GORE-TEX® remains today’s best choice.
Guaranteed Waterproof
Every step in the production of GORE-TEX® products is controlled by GORE-TEX® themselves. Which means your new jacket or pants come with their own guarantee of function. Backed by the company’s GUARANTEED TO KEEP YOU DRY® warranty, if you’re not completely satisfied with how weatherproof or breathable your GORE-TEX® product is, we will either repair it, replace it, or give you your money back.
Note: this guarantee applies only to garments exposed to normal wear and used for what they were intended; there may also be time limitations; to invoke the guarantee, simply contact the store where you bought the garment.
Different Types of GORE-TEX®
Different types of GORE-TEX® fabrics and laminates have specific functions and properties. Tierra's clothing is designed for specific activities and uses, which means that the type of GORE-TEX® material used in a garment can vary. To learn about a specific material, check the GORE-TEX® logo on your garment and refer to the information below.
Gore-Tex ePE
A breakthrough in sustainability, ePE is a true innovation from Gore when it comes to waterproof performance materials. Short for expanded polyethylene, this membrane is 100% free from PFCs (perfluorochemicals. The DWR is also 100% free from PFCs. You can read more here.
GORE-TEX® Pro
Three-layer GORE-TEX® Pro is the company’s strongest, most-durable laminate, consisting of an outer fabric, an interior membrane, and an inner fabric (backing): the outer fabric is made of extremely durable polyamide; the microporous membrane blocks liquid water from penetrating while releasing water vapour formed when you sweat; the backing is a ripstop polyamide that protects the membrane. This 3-layer combination gives GORE-TEX® Pro its amazing properties of being weatherproof, breathable and extremely durable.
GORE-TEX® 3L C-Knit Backers Technology
C-Knit™ is lighter, softer and more flexible than other 3-layer GORE-TEX® laminates. This is mainly due to an inner fabric (backing) composed of fine polyamide threads that is joined to the same membrane and outer fabrics used in GORE-TEX® Pro by a special lamination method. The threads are “knitted” in a circular pattern to form a structure that is slightly elastic, and, more importantly, soft, porous and highly breathable.
GORE-TEX® with Paclite Product technology
Garments with Paclite® laminates are extremely light and packable—an ideal solution for activities where weight and space are crucial considerations. Paclite® clothes keep you dry and cool during demanding activities, but warm during cool-down no matter the weather. A protective layer on the inside of the GORE-TEX® membrane means that a separate lining (backing) is unnecessary, resulting in minimal weight and pack volume.
Surface treatment and impregnation on GORE-TEX® products
All GORE-TEX® products undergo some form of surface treatment and/or impregnation. With the exception of our Nevado and RocBlank jackets in which Gore DWR is used, Tierra’s broad range of GORE-TEX® products make use of fluorocarbon-free impregnation—or PFCec Free DWR—as explained below.
The acronym “DWR” stands for “Durable Water Repellent,” a coating applied to the outside of fabrics to make them waterproof (hydrophobic). In order to maintain the membrane’s ability to release water vapor (i.e., breathability), DWR protects the outer layer of membrane-containing laminates from becoming saturated with water and dirt.
The phrase “PFCec Free” is a direct guarantee from GORE-TEX® itself that the garment’s treatment and/or impregnation are free of dangerous “Per and Poly-Fluorinated Chemicals of Environmental Concern.” While Tierra has used PFCec Free DWR in the majority of our clothes since 2014, GORE-TEX® has set the ambitious goal of eliminating these harmful chemicals from its products by 2023; the first step was fluorocarbon-free impregnation on all two-layer materials and Paclite®.
