You shouldn’t move wearing Gore-TEX in my experience. If you stop and it’s wet you put it on while stopped. You take it off when you start moving again. If you’re moving you’re going to be wet anyway (sweat) so no point trying to stay dry from the outside.
Best application is sleeping bag covers. Worst application is boots. Makes no sense.
That doesn't work in cold rainy conditions, you'll freeze without something to keep you dry, sweaty and warm is better than wet and hypothermic. You don't need breathable jackets but you need the waterproof.
Knowing more now about Chris Seaton than I ever did, ironic that this comment got downvoted. Chances are good he knew more about cold, wet, and moving than the vast majority of people on HN.
Gortex works amazing for snowboarding bibs. You do quite a bit of moving in those. You dont need to wrap your entire body in it for it to be effective.
My gortex snowboard jacket has side vents that work great when you need to cool off a bit.
Hard disagree. Goretex motorcycling boots are a godsend. You can easily get a lot of water on the shoes, and if you have waterproof pants that go over the boots, the water will not get inside.
Regular shoes that basically don't breathe are unusable when it's more than 20-25º C. It's not always practical to carry around two pairs of boots when out on a trip.
My pair of boots are usable in the rainy European winters at 0º C, all the way to the scorching heat of the Arizona desert. With regular shoes, I'd just freeze in the winter or have swampy feet in the summer. The wind speed sure helps in the latter, but it works against you in the former.
I used breathable boots but Goretex long socks (knee high) when doing infantry work in marshlands and wetted wood areas back in the military. It was a winning combination. The boot would get soaked and dry quickly, my feet kept dry. I'd put a lot of foot powder in my socks to avoid sweat ruining my feet.
The problem for me is the failure mode - step into something deeper than you thought, not able to stop and take them off, you’re going to be in trouble. Terrible failure mode worse than not bothering in the first place.
I would wear waterproof socks to dry my boots inside a patrol hide though.
This is also what I do on my bike. Waterproof socks instead of overshoes are much easier to use and work well for keeping feet warm and dry even when eg the boot gets completely soaked from spray or splashes.
Maybe for trail running, where you foot are constantly under water and the Gtx keeps the water inside. But for the daily walker in the rain, Gtx shoes are the best thing you can wear (eg the beat a well greased non Gtx Panamas), at least in my experience. Guess I'm at the height of stupidity.
Best application is sleeping bag covers. Worst application is boots. Makes no sense.