UKH

I bought a Mountain Equipment Tupilak jacket 5 months ago and it's already delaminating! I've sent it back to ME for them to 'investigate'.

I've hand washed it with nickwax once and tumble dried on low heat, so I don't think I've caused it.

Surely I'm going to get a replacement jacket as mine is clearly faulty in some way?

I was at Glenmore in September and someone there told me that gore-tex jackets are only meant to be used 30 times, I reckon I've used mine more than that in the past 5 months. So if that's true is the expectation by manufacturers that people who actually use their products for their intended purpose, and care for them properly, will be spending £800 a year on jackets that are sort of waterproof most of the time but not really? That seems utterly ridiculous and antithetical to the increasing message of sustainability in the industry if we're just going to be dumping thousands of overly expensive and fragile jackets into landfill every year.

Bit rambley but I'd be interested in how long other people's goretex jackets lasted, and if they reckon mine is faulty.

In reply to joseph_dyball:

Mine has lasted about 20 years so far.

In reply to joseph_dyball:

Bollocks. Was this staff at Glenmore, or someone else on a course?

In reply to captain paranoia:

Regardless of who it is it's still bollocks!

I will admit my waterproof jackets don't get much use, but they certainly last far more than 30 outings in anger (probably carried at least twice as much as that).

In reply to joseph_dyball:

The number of uses comment is rubbish. I have a (was cheap) Berghaus jacket which is finally delaminating after 25+ years.

Only odd thing from your post was that you had already washed a 5 month old jacket? Maybe it was properly muddy etc, but I normally leave it much longer before a "new" jacket gets a wash? Not that washing should cause it to delaminate.

In reply to joseph_dyball:

I only gentle hand wash my waterproofs these days using soap flakes in a bath followed by multiple rinses, followed by nikwax, followed by a hair dryer

In reply to spenser:

I was advised when putting membrane type jackets in a sack, not to fold them neatly, as the tendency for the fold to occur in the same place, can damage the membrane, so bundling it up is better. So possibly, not wearing can cause degradation of the materials.

Maybe people with more knowledge than me have some facts based information.

In reply to Godwin:

It's more likely to cause wear on whatever is on the outside of the folded bundle, but fairly minor. Mine just gets stuffed in (habit from cadet days carrying it in my webbing which doesn't allow for folding!).

In reply to joseph_dyball:

Back when I used to work in outdoor retail (albeit 30 years ago) the lifespan of Goretex was touted in their literature as 88 days, which often surprised customers, until we pointed out that 88 x 24 hours is a long time in the average user's usage.

For context: I've worn through two jackets after a decent amount of wear and my current jacket, a ME Shilling, is till going strong after seven years and is just starting to show delamination by the seams.

In reply to joseph_dyball:

If you bought the jacket from a retailer (the seller), then your contract is with the seller, not the manufacturer. I had a similar experience recently and the seller was adamant I had to return the item and they would return it to the manufacturer for investigation. As the manufacturer was in the US, this could have taken many months.

I informed the seller that my contract is with them and not the manufacturer and I was happy to send them the item to identify the fault and to either replace or provide a refund. The seller  continued to insist the item had to be sent to the manufacturer in the USA. I offered them the opportunity again to replace the faulty item or provide a refund or else I would take them to the small claims court. The seller provided a refund.

Your contract for the jacket is with the seller, not the manufacturer. It is reasonable to provide the seller with the opportunity to inspect the item. But, if it is faulty, the seller has to repair the item, provide a replacement or a refund. Sometimes a repair is not feasible due to the nature of the item, such as a faulty rope.

There is a very good set of template letters by Citizens Advice here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/template-letters/letters/

I hope you get this sorted.

CB.

In reply to Climber_Bill:

Thanks CB, I’ve already sent it off to the retailer who have said they’ll forward it onto the manufacturer 😬

Do you reckon it’s worth emailing them asking them to inspect it instead and for a replacement to be sent by them? After all the manufacturer is uk based so turnaround will be faster.

In reply to joseph_dyball:

As they are UK based, they will hopefully sort this quickly. My item was going to take months and I needed either a replacement or a refund so I had the item to use.

I don't think it would be unreasonable of you though to ask for a time frame for inspection and a decision.

CB.

In reply to captain paranoia:

my best guess is they were referring to the dwr coating

In reply to joseph_dyball:

When I bought my ME jacket the goretex was guaranteed for life. 30 years later it's still waterproof 😁

In reply to joseph_dyball: I've got one from about 1998 that's delaminated around the collar a bit, and a GoreTex pro that's a few years old and likely used 30 times in the last 6 weeks, so sounds like absolute twaddle to be polite. 

Paramo salesman, espousing the merits of a furry binbag

In reply to joseph_dyball:

I've spent this evening painting seamgrip over the delaminating areas of my Tupilak. Although not heavily used I've had it for 5yrs so ME wheeled out the "symptom of age/wear and tear" line.

Hope you have more success with them than I did.

In reply to markk:

You could also contact Gore directly, they have a tendency to warranty stuff brands themselves won't. 

In reply to joseph_dyball:

My experience is that GoreTex starts to give up waterproofness after ~100 hill days and there’s little that can be done to get it back. That’s approx 10 years of 10 days on and 20 days in a sac per year. Tried re proofing and the effect is akin to soft shell proofing where it starts to fail after 2-3 days. ME firefly quickest to delaminate, various Berghaus jackets from early 90s onwards all consistent.