Got drowned today, Ive got a rab drillium jacket with event fabric that is cleaned and reproofed regularly , however around the cuffs and shoulders i was soaked, both areas have recieve the most wear , the cuffs get crumpled up and the shoulders get rubbed by rucksack straps. Does event fabric wear out , I thought that it didnt have a membrame in the same way as gortex which is proteced by a scrim or 3rd layer?

got a drillium too (along with a rab Bergen) so I'm interested in any replies. I also clean with the special detergent etc

The weakness is the outer the material event/gortex is bonded to.

As far as i know, event/gortex is a artificial membrane that pretty much will last forever. When your outer layer starts wearing and water stops sliding off (ie jacket feels like it gets soaked), the membrane can't do its job stops working.

I could be all wrong though.

My Drillium is wearing out too, the shoulders are a bit dodgy and I feel there's some seepage at the elbows.

There is also some separation of layers from where my waist strap sits, which is likely to just get worse over time.

This has been 18 months of usage that's done it, I think I'll go back to Goretex for my next waterproof.

Must have had my drillium for about 2 years , it is a great jacket and my first event jacket .My Research has found event to be more breathable than pro shell interms of mvtr.

Found this articleuseful for cleaning.

I make fabrics, all fabrics wear out/ and fabric coatings wear out, i'm fairly sure this is not a revelation. If you look after them they last a bit longer.

I make fabrics, all fabrics wear out/ and fabric coatings wear out, i'm fairly sure this is not a revelation. If you look after them they last a bit longer.

Just what I was going to say! They're not made of steel are they? AFAIK eVent is also a membrane BTW but they'll all deteriorate with wear and over time.

The oils etc from our hands don't help the fabric to stay waterproof hence the cuffs not being waterproof. When you re-proof put extra proofing on the cuff areas.

I might be wrong here, but I seem to recall seeing an eVent or Paclite jacket that has reinforced shoulder areas. Not sure if it was a bike specific jacket, I think it's an alpine climbing type thing – can't for the life of me think where I've seen it (arggh!). It sounds a good solution – does anyone know if such a jacket exists? (or am i imagining things again)

I might be wrong here, but I seem to recall seeing an eVent or Paclite jacket that has reinforced shoulder areas. Not sure if it was a bike specific jacket, I think it's an alpine climbing type thing – can't for the life of me think where I've seen it (arggh!). It sounds a good solution – does anyone know if such a jacket exists? (or am i imagining things again)

There are plenty of things arond like this. As you say they're usually not aimed at biking but they'll obviously work well enough.