Everybody claims to have the most waterproof breathable product on the market, Helly Tech, Helly Tech Extreme, Todd-Tex, GTX, GTX-XCR, Mem-Brain, Hydroseal, REI Elements etc. the list goes on and on. But can anybody actually provide real, objective numbers for how waterproof and breathable these fabrics are? Altough I know that nothing is ever truly waterproof, I can personally tell you that Elements, Hydroseal, and Mem-Brain are not waterproof enough to totally stop water in all practical conditions. How much vapor can these fabrics transport? The only person who I have actually seen publish numbers is Bibler (Todd-Tex, now BD Equip.), although they compared themselves to nameless competitors, one of which I assume is GTX, but I could find no data to back this up. If Todd-Tex is so waterproof and breatable (#1 in their own little chart) why do not they make outerwear out of it? Did they cook the books? Choose their “competitors” wisely to compare?
Does anybody have the data?