Looking for a hardshell top and bottom, what's the pros and cons of Gore tex pro vs. Dry Q elite? Currious most about durability and breathability.

Nobody?

CF,

I apologize in advance that I cannot answer your question, but I am going to blabber my opinion anyway. I've been around the block enough times to have seen Gore-Tex, Sympatex, Triple Point Ceramic, Ultrex, Membrain, H2No, and on and on, all claiming to be both waterproof and breathable. None of these miracles of chemistry have ever been perfectly waterproof and perfectly breathable, but most of them have all been very expensive.

From your previous posts I gathered that you are interested in mountaineering. Generally speaking, it doesn't rain in the high mountains. When it does, I go home. Now if you are a long distance hiker that is a different story, but in this case you are better served by a small umbrella. If you see yourself climbing in the high mountains, breathability is going to be far more important than waterproofness.

I have a friend whom I've known for 17 years now. He has climbed Rainier over 30 times, in every month of the year, and by some scary ass routes. We climbed Rainier in winter together a couple of times. This one time I was wearing a $40 wind breaker and he was wearing the latest three layer Gore-Tex mountaineering hard shell. When we got back to Camp Muir, a skier asked me where I had been. The summit I said. "No way, you look too lightly dressed and too fresh" she responded. When my friend rolled into camp a couple hours later, he took his jacket off. It had a thick coat of rime ice on the inside from perspiration.

I live and climb mostly in the PNW, an area known for being wet. Mt Baker, the first 'big' mountain I climbed, has claimed the highest recorded snowfall on the planet. I do have a W/B jacket, it is 10oz and cost less than $100. I can't remember the last time I used it. Far more useful, I have found, is a wind shirt. In fact, I am on my third Marmot DriClime windshirt. It sheds light precipitation and snow, is very breathable, wind proof, and has enough insulation such that I can winter alpine climb in that and just a base layer. The 10 oz hard shell remains stuffed at the bottom of the pack, just in case, although I do find it nice to wrap around my boots to make a pillow at night.

I guess my point is, stop fretting about the relative merits of brand x vs brand y of W/B shells. They won't work the way you want them too. Go to SierraTradingPost and buy a Marmot Precip or similar, inexpensive, lightweight hard shell, a nice lightly insulated wind shirt, and a good pair of soft shell pants. Look for Scholler brand fabric, it seems to be the most durable.

Happy climbing.

EB

I could not agree more with EB above although everything I own is the latest and greatest Gore-tex. I was hiking in cold November rain with a North Face Gore-Tex Active Shell and was soak through and through, I did not understood why, I was sporting the very best... No matter which way you are looking at it, under heavy rain, the jacket will wet out (even when washed with Tech Wash and re-proofing). Once this happen, the jacket stop breathing because the water form a barrier on the surface. So when you are hiking up hill, your core will heat up producing perspiration which you will not be able to evacuate as fast as you are producing it. You will end up being wet from the inside as well. Your best bet at this point is to open all vent available (the sooner the better). But it will not be enough. You have to make sure that your mid and base layer will keep you warm when soaked (merino does that)... So to answer your question, go with Gore-Tex for no other reason than for their warranty, which will supersede the manufacturer. I had a old pair of gore-tex gloves from North Face (10+ years) I used them to empty the skimmer in my pool at the end of the season, only to realize that they were leaking. Although the were lifetime warrantied by TNF, all they offered me was 50% of a new pair because of their age, this by any standard would have been perceived as great but when I contacted Gore-Tex I was asked to send them to them for testing. Once they confirmed that the gloves where in deed leaking the offered to replaced them with any model I wanted. I ended up with a pair of Marmot 8000M mitten... For that reason alone, when I am faced with wether to go with Gore-Tex or something else I always choose Gore-Tex.

On the flip side of thing, I too rarely use a hard shell as I use a Marmot Shoftshell (ROM), the hard shell is pack at the bottom of my pack for the just in case rain or massive wind. Can I have gotten by with something less expensive than GTX Active Shell, absolutely but..... Hight end jacket will come with feature that lower end jacket won't... Look at other feature of the jacket beside waterproofness. In Whites in the winter like in Mount Washington, I am glad to be sporting Gore-Tex Pro shell as I feel sealed form the harsh cold and wind environment....

For me Gore-Tex best application would be for someone who commute all year long by public transport or by foot and could get stuck at the bus stop under heavy rain (without an umbrella), since you are not moving too fast, you know you will stay dry...

I read this outside article which states that MH Dry Q is pretty similar to eVent, and is supported by other articles on the subject.

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-gear/Insane-in-the-Membrane.html

Using that you would be able to find many sites with comparisons of eVent and Gore tex which would be useful.

The friends that have and use MH Dry Q and eVent for the most part are very disappointed with Dry Q and very happy with eVent. Some of these are guys who have done multiple hard FAs and FWAs in AK.

I have owned an E-Vent jacket (manufactured by Rab) for about 3-4 years and I'm very happy with it. I would normally soak any Gore-Tex with my sweat. The E-Vent fabric is better.

But what Excitable Boy states is right on the money.

Good input guys, My last trip I used Columbia sportswear Ridge II run pants and was very happy with them. Very warm, so warm I took my base layer off in 14deg weather. My only complaint was my hip straps on my pack would slowly push them down causing a stop every 20 mins for a readjust. Any good soft shell pants out there with suspenders that wont bug me under my pack?

I've got one thing to say to you guys: Pit zips!!!!! They are the only thing that breathes worth a damn!

Hey ChristopherFranklin:

https://www.google.com/search?q=suspend ... s&tbm=shop

Ten or fifteen bucks at your local department store, problem solved.

Very few pieces have risen to the top of gear conversations like the Marmot Driclime over the years. Some models have been better than others in design but I will always own one. Put an R1 Hoody underneath and you could hike up the Baltoro

I've thought about just buying suspenders just worried the clips will cause a problem under the hip belt of my pack.