You want to hate WL Gore. They came up with Gore Tex and changed all our lives, raised all our hopes then made us all sad with Paclite, raised the bar with XCR, then called it ProShell. Which is no different than changing your name from Windscale to Sellafield and repainting the gates. (That’s a test for older listeners)
You kind of get the impression they’re spinning their wheels until they actually really need to get off their arses and do something. Like when eVent take a spurt of growth from their market share of 6.66%*
I love eVent. I don’t care what they say in lab tests in Leeds Uni or whatever. In the field it’s always better than Gore on a human body, dryer, cooler, and until ProShell; lighter.
Luckily the limited amount of brands that use it mostly know their arse from their elbow, except maybe some of the bizarre creations of Integral Designs.
So that’s nice, we’re supporting the little guy, the maverick creators of a miracle fabric used ingeniously by pioneering manufacturers.
Or not. eVent as many will know is actually the chemical weapons division of the mighty GE Corp. These guys have an utterly horrendous history of environmental damage, subsequent denial and cover ups, and once found out they display a frankly admirable ability to talk their way out it with a completely straight face.
Does this kind of thing figure highly on your agenda when trying on kit in a shop? I tend to examine the hood, the arm lift, pockets and the company profile doesn’t really come to mind. If it did we would never buy anything, from food to a lightbulb, certainly not a telly or a car?
This all came about as a tangential thought process cul-de-sac™ as I was sifting through Haglofs Winter 07/08. Their new 3 layer ProShell jackets are outstanding, really clever cuts, brilliant hoods, lightweight, they even look nice in a “Sci-Fi crossed with colours only people from outside of the UK could think of” sort of way.
When you look at some of the baggy sacks of shite that Mountain Equipment are putting on the racks at the same time you just shake your head.
*Source: my imagination.