Gore-Tex has (mostly) dominated the waterproof-breathable market for the past three decades. But the competition is stepping up its game. We recently read about Columbia’s new Omni-Dry release for Spring 2011. Turns out several other rivals are poised to enter the mix: “For the past 30 years, the waterproof-breathable market could be summed up in two words (or is that one hyphenated one?): Gore-Tex. No more. Gore’s might is about to be tested by no less than three of the outdoor world’s largest brands. The roll-out begins this spring with Columbia’s Omni-Dry then flows through to fall 2011 when Polartec’s NeoShell and Mountain Hardwear’s DryQ arrive. And Gore itself isn’t sitting still, with a new product, Active Shell, that promises greater breathability. It’s the biggest wave of new waterproof-breathables from major brands in, well, ever.”Source Link
Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.