Does Goretex go bad?

[Wiaxle]

Hunting this weekend was wet, of the 4 times I went out it rained 3 times, Saturday morning it started raining 10 minutes after I got in the stand and didn't let up till just a bit after noon, and my Browning jacket, with a Gore-tex lining, did not hold up very well, got very wet.

The jacket is 10+ years old, and gets worn every time I go out hunting, normally it is pretty quiet but I noticed after washing it a couple weeks ago, it seems to 'creak' a bit when I move around.

Is this a sign that the Gore-tex is reaching the end of its life for the jacket? Is it time to start looking for a new jacket? or is there something out there that I can prolong the life of the jacket, without spraying it down with a smelly water resistant spray? (unless there is an odorless spray that will allow me to make it through the rest of the season?)

[sclwald]

If you got a good ten years out of it you got your money wrth. Gortex does wear down over time. Even broken down Gortex is better than no gortex at all.

[NY/Al]

I would say you got your money's worth, id go get me a new one!

[BobCo19-65]

Yes it does wear. I believe the fabric will stretch from wear with time letting water in.

[Retaks]

Im sure it dose wear. I know 2 years of Concrete work and my Goretex boots started to leak.

[davidmil]

It does break down or seams will leak. As far as the noisy sounds. I'm thinking you dryed it to hot in a dryer or something. You've had a good run with that suit. Go buy a new one. They now have better zippers and pockets and all that stuff. Mine started leaking through on the shoulders this spring. IT was OLD. I went out and got a new one. Love it. I've had Goretex boots, well let me rephrase that, I HAVE Goretex boots that are so old I don't remember how old they are. They're still water tight. One time I bought a light weight set of "Waterproof" turkey boots that were NOT Goretex. They felt great and were indeed light. On the first campout for turkeys it rained for 3 days. The boots sprung a leak the second day. I'll never again buy a "make believe" Goretex. If it doesn't say Goretex, it sucks. I was in one of their plants one time helping them out with a filter/still distillation problem. Their testing and quality control are first class. In addition, they sent garments and fabric to the International Fabricare Institute for unbiased tested and quality control to determine the limits they could push their products to. So did London Fog. I had a similar problem at their plant, at least they thought they did. The problem ended up being the glue used in bonding.