Behind the Scenes at Gore, the Maker of Gore-Tex
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Gore’s quality control testing includes six different ?rain rooms,? where finished Gore-Tex apparel like this suit from Klim is tested in real-world conditions. This room includes a nozzle simulating riding at speed in a downpour as well a steady shower from the ceiling. The dummy is wearing a heather gray base layer that will show dark spots where any water gets in.
A behind-the-scenes look at how Gore-Tex apparel is made and tested.
W.L. Gore & Associates is one of those success stories of American ingenuity and innovation. Founded in 1958 by the husband-and-wife team of Wilbert (Bill) Lee — who had spent 16 years with DuPont — and Genevieve Walton Gore, the company got its start making wire and cable insulation before the couple?s son, Bob, made an accidental and extremely fortuitous discovery. In 1969, he was trying to stretch extruded polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE, otherwise known as Teflon) for use in plumbers? tape, but no matter how gently he pulled it always broke. Frustrated and down to his last few samples of test material, he grabbed one of the heated rods and gave it a hard yank — and to his astonishment it didn’t snap, it expanded. The company called it “expanded PTFE,” or ePTFE.
Today ePTFE is at the heart of Gore?s $3.7 billion-per-year business, with uses in everything from laptop computers to prosthetic arteries to astronaut suits…and, of course, waterproof motorcycle gear. We were invited t...
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