eVent warranty just one year?

I made 2.5 layer eVent jacket. Delaminated after 1.5 years or so.

Next time I'll put a lining on shoulders and hood. I think body oils from sweat is what does it.

Seems very surprising they'd have such a lackluster warranty, especially considering their main rival (GoreTex) has one of the better warranties in the industry.

They aren't joking when they tell you to wash your jackets often. It isn't gore-tex. They don't put the protective liner over it, so you have to clean it much more often. No big deal. Also, which type of event jacket did you get? Is it literally just a layer of thin silnylon with event on it? The best event jackets use heavier fabric that protects the waterproofing. I never compromise weight on a good rain jacket. Something in the area of 11-12 ounces gets you a WAY better jacket that can last 5-10 years. Or just accept that the 7-8 ounce jackets are just more flimsy and won't last. Its a trade off – more breathability and washing or ignore it and let it fail. That's life.

which is why i always recommend folks buy something with a no questions asked unlimited warranty …. or at least some manufacturer which is known to have a generous policy for rain jackets

delamination, even among skilled BPLers, is a fairly common cause of rain jacket failure

ANY WPB fabric can delaminate

gore's warranty just gives you and additional avenue of recourse

which is why many folks buy gore tex

;)

Maybe they're acknowledging what so many of us have already figured out- WPB doesn't work, at least not for long. If you don't wash it, it plugs up. If you do wash it, it ruins the WPB lining. It wets out and doesn't work in heavy rain. I think you can have waterproof, or you can have breathable, but I don't think you can have both, regardless of the marketing.

I don't necessarily agree across the board, the jackets don't all fail, not all eVent (or other WPB) jackets are created equal. I don't know if the failure is exactly BECAUSE of the UL nature of some jackets, but basically I assume that it is, based on my limited personal experience and that of my friends. All of the lighter weight jackets that I've ever owned or seen that are a very thin layer of fabric and no real coating eventually fails. This type of jacket also wets through faster. I find that there are certain jackets that have, maybe an extra layer of fabric, maybe something else, that allows them to perform better and for longer. One such jacket is my eVent Rab Drillium jacket, that I bought many years ago. In fact I bought the "prototype" sample jacket from a store before they got their shipment. The fabric has a backing that basically puts some distance between you and the outer edge of the shell. This in itself seems to greatly increase the breathability, and it actually entirely eliminates the "clammy" effect you get when your jacket feels like a garbage bag of thin material on your skin when its raining or when you're sweating. Problem is, this type of jacket doesn't come in 6-8 ounce versions. The fabric is heavier. You see it in jackets between 11-13 ounces and up. Westcomb makes some polartec neoshell and event jackets that also exhibit these traits. These types of WPB jackets are extremely different in feel, performance, and durability. Personally I would never ever cut the extra ounces out of my pack in this category, simply because I know the durability and reliability are there. I wash the jacket after every few hikes where it gets regular wearing/use (IE after I sweat in it) and it has stayed good for a long time. I haven't had to refresh the DWR in a while, but its probably due for another coat soon. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about with the difference in jackets using stronger fabrics with backings/layers and the jackets that do not use them?

(edited for grammar)

Adam,

The backing layer (3rd layer) is typically a tricot that provides good abrasion resistance and negligible effect on breathability.

3 layer eVent Tricot Layer (40x)

Yeah that makes sense, thanks for the close up, pretty cool. Whether the numbers say it or not, the jacket feels better on the skin when its clammy or warm or wet, so I've always preferred these styles of jacket. What about protection from delamination? would you think that it makes a big difference in practice, not just in theory? I would imagine so…

What I have learned about rainwear in the last 10 years is two things, buy something with a lifetime warranty because there will usually be an issue or purchase something made out of a waterproof non-breatheable material. Too bad I waited too long and missed the OR Rampart in XXL because that had both conditions. I no longer care about any of the WPB materials because they are too expensive to keep replacing.

I just can't agree with giving up either. As someone backpacking in the northeast US, which unfortunately means days of rain, some times a few in a row if you have bad luck… and a good quality WPB jacket is really key for those conditions. If its mid summer, close to 80 degrees or above, sure its useless too. Better to hike wet. But realistically if its on the verge of cold or cool, the WPB jacket does its job well and keeps you from getting soaked. If you buy a 3 layer jacket and treat it well, you will not need to replace it often. Again, I've had one I love from Rab for about 5 years. I have one I gave a friend in need of a jacket an old 2.5L gore tex and its still going strong. Again, I think the key here is to go lightweight, but not UL. Again, I guess its just a matter of preference but location matters too. I can't use one of those montane jackets that is practically as thin as a garbage bag… even the golite jackets are close to too thin for me. I want to be able to plow through the tight pine trees leaning into the trail and know I'm gonna stay dry and not rip my jacket. Plus these jackets go on sale every year. Its easy to score something from backcountry or any other closeout type site, or to wait for a sale on something good, and pay as low as half price or less. Buy it once and use it 5 years plus. If you invest $250 or less its a pretty good investment I'd say.

I have to agree: I have a GTX-jacket for more then 10 years and it is still going strong and way more comfortable then the WPnon-B's I had.

I've had a couple of GoreTex jackets fail by delamination, and they were Australian jackets with very heavy face fabrics, so I don't think that the weight of the face fabric is the issue.

My understanding is that there was a problem with the output of a particular mill a couple of years ago – the owner of Macpac posts on forums in Australia and said that there had been an issue and that as a result they'd swapped suppliers.

A one year warranty is fine for eVent because, in my experience, it always delaminates within a year.

My REI eVent parka is still going strong after around town, backpacking and skiing use.

I run it through a wash cycle with no soap or cleaner. Then I dry it and then spray with Revivex.

Had the parks 3 years and "washed" it 4 times. So far so good.