Went out last night with my new mbr 9/10 dhb event jacket & got soaked ?
i thought they were waterproof, i had just a base layer underneath
any thoughts.

Did you do the zip up?

i think so ! it was dark !!

Assuming that you didn’t go swimming, I’m all out of ideas. Sorry.

You got it wet from the inside out?

At first i thought that, but my back was dry my arms & front were wet right threw from driving rain?

It’s not perfectly waterproof, nothing is apart from a binbag, but it should’t get you wet like that.

Are you sure you were actually wet, not just cold? eVent transmits a lot more cold than Goretex, which is why it’s so breathable I suppose. And cold can feel like wet when cold water is battering your jacket and you’ve only got a base layer on, cos you feel the cold of the water seeping through like the water itself.

Otherwise, I have been told that often new jackets need reproofing straight away since the stuff can rub off during transit and handling etc – not sure how likely this is.

If water still beads off it – then send it back, you have a fault.

When i got home i put my hand inside the arms they were ringing wet yet the rear of the jacket were my cameback had been lt was bone dry.
i now its’s not the most interesting topic but it’s bugging when you pay £100 for a jacket that dosn’t seem to be waterproof, maybe next time i should were a base layer & a midlayer.

molgrips speaks sense.

eVent is way better than Gore in most areas, bar the durability of the DWR. If it’s not beading, reproof it.

its just condensation. I’ve never seen the point of eVent if you are excercising vigourously, it just can’t keep up with your perspiration rate. Great for pottering about on bike and walking when you aren’t sweating so much.

Getting sweat away from your back with a camelbak on is a problem.

Look for a cheaper fabric with big pit zips. New Altura Attack loks about right.

The jacket has to match the rider and the occaision. More zips gives you more options. Spending loads on eVent gives you a few more options which you may not use.

it should bead water by the way. If not send it back.
.. and its not much worse than goretex at keeping out the cold. Its marginally better at breathing, not a big difference (its marketing hype).

It doesn’t matter if the dwr rubs off or not, regardless of that it will or in this case should still be waterproof.

It obviously isn’t so send it back!

I’ve never seen the point of eVent if you are excercising vigourously, it just can’t keep up with your perspiration rate

eVent is the most breathable fabric out there (perhaps not counting Endura’s PTFE) and it’s way better than Goretex. However unlike Goretex it does contain millions of tiny holes, so the lack of DWR *might* allow water to be forced through the holes but I really don’t think that would happen.

Perhaps water being sucked up the arms by capilliary action from the cuffs? To be honest sounds like you have a leaking jacket tho. If your arms were wringing wet then it’s not even perspiration, because your arms don’t sweat that much when cycling. If it was sweat, your torso would have been damper.

Definitely talk to the manufacturer.

.. and its not much worse than goretex at keeping out the cold. Its marginally better at breathing, not a big difference (its marketing hype).

I can vouch from personal experience that it IS cooler than Goretex. And it’s not hype that is’ more breathable. Like I say it’s made completely differently and works a different way to Goretex. And it’s much more breathable in warm wet UK conditions, Goretex can only compete if you’re on an alpine mountain top or somewhere else very cold and dry.

I have a Montane jacket made of Event fabric and it is better than Goretex. What you describe is not right…take it back

Pertex and Merino is the only solution if you’re hauling arse.

Just emailed Wiggle hopefully they will take it back?
It’s a dhb Wickham looks like it’s now discontinued so what to buy instead?

It’s a dhb Wickham

Well at least a few other people were impressed with it ……

I’m happy with my Pace three season eVent jacket. And it’s cheaper.

http://www.pacecycles.com/?page_id=132

You sure water didn’t just run down your neck and get wicked down by your baselayer? That’s the problem with waterproofs, they tend to have openings for your head and arms and legs and stuff and they don’t seal well – Buff around the neck helps some. But if you think it’s leaking, er, send it back like everyone says.

i bet none of those magazine testers go out in the rain?
maybe that’s why forums are a good place to get honest answers on products.
Like this one.

eVent has millions of tiny holes and goretex doesn’t? I don’t think that is correct – don’t all of these waterproof and breathable fabrics work by having holes large enough to allow air through but not water?

Therefore these jackets should still work if the DWR is failing – they will just “wet out” and get heavy and maybe cold with the amount of water the outside of the jacket is holding. They will still be dry on the inside though. Reproofing just causes them to start beading water again.

It is very possible that water got in the jacket openings and wicked down, as BadlyWiredDog says, but the pattern of where the inner is wet might give you a clue that this happened. My paclites would do this if you weren’t careful.

If eVent is like paclite then they do feel wet when actually they are just cold from the water on the outside – normal goretex and proshell doesn’t suffer like this but my paclites aren’t good and you need to wear some form of midlayer for them not to feel uncomfortable and think they have leaked.

I had a RaceFace Atlas jacket from some years ago that was ace – just a shell with pit-zips but I wore it in all sorts of rain with just a HH Lifa and was never wet. There have been several different types of Atlas since though, of which some I have, and they aren’t as good – either heavier duty or cheaper material.

was your base layer long or short sleeve?

I did read about Rab eVent jackets failing like that and Rab replaced them without any quibble…

I’ve had 2 Endura eVent Jackets (the 2nd one was a warranty replacement for the same reasons as the OP).

I’ve never been that impressed with it tbh. It’s great for most weather and “breaths” better than most but, even when new, it’s never been able to cope with serious rain. The arms/shoulders soon soak through and leave you sopping wet. And no, it’s not from sweating although I realise that is a factor.

I can only assume there is no such thing as a truly waterproof, yet breathable, fabric no matter how much you spend.

Goretex when it came out in the 80s had the tiny holes, but the membrane itself was very fragile which is why the jackets kept failing and had to be returned a lot. Then they found that they could put a polyurethane layer on the membrane which transmits water through and protects the membrane. However in the PU layer only transmits actual water which means that the inside of the jacket has to be wet. Plus the water transport depends on the relative humidity differential between the inside and out and the temperature differential, I think.

eVent doesn’t have the PU layer and hence the holes are actually holes free to the outside air. So it breathes much better, but you can feel the wind moving through it slightly when it’s windy. So you may need another layer in boderline conditions with eVent, ime.

Also it feels very cold when lying on the snow as I found out recently. eVent jacket and Goretex XCR trousers, I could feel the cold snow FAR more through my top half than my bottom half.

I can only assume there is no such thing as a truly waterproof, yet breathable, fabric no matter how much you spend.

There are trade-offs, as we are discovering. eVent is definitely more breathable but is also slightly less warm, needs washing slightly more (and reproofing) and is slightly less waterproof in extreme rain.

You pays your money and takes your choice. Except that eVent don’t get much publicity because Goretex have all the major manufacturers sewn up, because they have exclusive contracts and whatnot.

Goretex when it came out in the 80s had the tiny holes, but the membrane itself was very fragile which is why the jackets kept failing and had to be returned a lot. Then they found that they could put a polyurethane layer on the membrane which transmits water through and protects the membrane. However in the PU layer only transmits actual water which means that the inside of the jacket has to be wet. Plus the water transport depends on the relative humidity differential between the inside and out and the temperature differential, I think.

Sort of. In fact the problem was that the EPTFE membrane became contaminated by body oils, sun cream, that sort of thing and led to something called reverse osmosis, where moisture tended to be pulled through the fabric from the outside causing leaks.

To counter that, Gore started applying a very thin film of PU to the inside of the membrane which stops the membrane being contaminated like this, but also means that it’s no longer vapour permeable like the original and reduces breathability – PU is hydrophilic, so sucks water across, but isn’t air permeable.

Windstopper is pretty much the original Gore-Tex membrane, without the PU, but untaped. eVent is a similar EPTFE membrane but with the protective element incorporated within the pores, so the fabric is still genuinely air permeable.

eVent can feel cooler than Gore-Tex but that’s because there’s less of a fug building up inside it. Neither have any real insulation value, both are waterproof and windproof unless there’s something wrong with the fabric.

I’ve tested plenty of eVent jackets, they all coped fine with heavy rain. If yours doesn’t, take it back to the retailer.

GoreTex has much better marketing rather than anything ‘sewn up’. It’s a successful brand which the public trust and look out for, hence it’s so popular with the clothing designers.

eVent is pretty much unknown by the general public.

Therefore these jackets should still work if the DWR is failing – they will just “wet out” and get heavy and maybe cold with the amount of water the outside of the jacket is holding. They will still be dry on the inside though. Reproofing just causes them to start beading water again

The problem is that if the DWR fails, which they all do with prolonged rain, the face of the fabric wets out and the breathability of the jacket is dramatically reduced and you get condensation on the inside – it’s far harder for moisture to move outwards when the outside of the jacket is already saturated, so while failing DWR wont cause leaks – the membrane is still waterproof – it will cause condensation and lead to you getting wet, so it’s the same result in the end 😕

Answer to one question i had a long sleeve base layer.
thanks for all the answers they been helpful
the jacket is been returned on Monday. The only problem i have now is finding a suitable replacement.

Footflaps – I think Goretex demand an eclusivity deal, and few manufacturers are willing to ditch it altogether for the reasons you state. That’s what I meant by ‘sewn up’.

You should probably get a replacement of the same jacket – yours was faulty, they wont’ all be.

Other options are the Endura Flyte (I think it is) or there’s an MTB specific one called something else – they’ve got a fabric called PTFE which is supposedly even more breathable than eVent.

I’ve used an eVent Pace jacket for just over a year, been really impressed with it vs a two layer goretex jacket that it replaced and a Lowe Alpine Triplepoint jacket before that. It has been much more breathable (subjective opinion) than either of those fabrics.

Worn it in some foul weather, not had any problems with it wetting out, the DWR seems almost as good now as it did on purchase.

The only problem i have now is finding a suitable replacement.

Montane Velocity, had mine for 2yrs now and best jacket I`ve been able to afford and have used.

I would also say don’t buy a jacket mail order, you won’t know if it fits you well…