UKC

I've recently sent my eVent jacket back to the manufacturers due to area's that were delaminating (rear of the hood and creases in the inside elbow area).
I've had a response today from them stating that the delimitation was due in areas of environmental soiling?

Can anyone give me an idea what the hell this means please?

In reply to Darkskys:

It got dirty?

On a more general point I've had an eVent jacket and a pair of gloves and I wont be having any more. Both worked brilliantly for about 6 months then started leaking like sieves.

In reply to DaveHK: that's what I was thinking or going along the lines of. But I know I've taken good care of the jacket and for it to be coming to the end of its life this early it's pretty poor compared to my gore tex jacket that's pretty much had one wash since I bought it and our performed everything else I've ever owned!

In reply to Darkskys: How old's the jacket and where did you buy it from? I've never heard of delamination from anything other than excessive wear or a bad batch of fabric. I.e. they are trying to pull user misuse caveat!

remember your contract is with the retailer not the manufacturer so you shouldn't have to deal with them directly.

In reply to DaveHK:
>

Same here. I had an event jacket which lasted about the same period of time before letting in water every single time it was worn thereafter!

In reply to higherclimbingwales: I had to go direct as it was purchased as a gift.
Its about 2 half years old and has been very well treated

In reply to Darkskys: Yep, i had sent a jacket back to themanufacturer too. You wont get much safisfaction there. I managed to get a replacement jacket after two years on to them, but the replacement was only better because it was waterproof for twice as long, which turned out to be TWO days.

In reply to Darkskys: I'd be going back to the manufacturer (or the retailer as you still have a contract with them regardless who bought the item) on thebasis of SoGA that the product has to last at least as long as expected, be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. I'd say that 2 years of use is not long enough to be exempt from that legal definition, but that depends on how much use it has had during those 2 years. if it's been worn day in-day out then 2 years might be about fair; every other weekend, well, thats just 1 year of continuous wear!

In reply to Darkskys: oh yeah one of the reasons they gave me, is that there was a dirt build up on the jacket, body oils and sweat, contamination from an outside source, contamination and wear & tear from wearing a rucksack, not washing the jacket regularly enough, not reproofing , and this all happened after one day on the hill. Since then i have heard a friend say that he was on to the manufacturer and was told that "its because the jacket is for light and fast". Ya know a lot of people spend lots on waterproofs, companies rely on purchasers not looking foolish and admittin they dont perform as well as they wish they would.

In reply to all: I sent a further email to them yesterday as I think the chap who was dealing with my query didn't see the initial email I sent to them.

Either way, they've now sorted it and will be sending a brand new one to me next week free of charge!

Happy to say the least!

In reply to Darkskys: Then sell it and go gore-tex.

If you plan on getting your gear dirty then it is the way to go. I was never convinced by eVent and now less so by Neoshell. As both are open pore membranes, they suffer terribly when dirt and grease penetrate the lining and face fabric, and get into the membrane. Gore-Tex has an extra PU layer for increased protection for the membrane, but still needs to be well looked after.

In reply to GrendeI:

I've got an 18 year old Gore Tex (Berghaus Trango Extrem) that I still use as a spare, it (mostly[1]) doesn't leak, only thing I have had to do to it is (get my Mum to) replace the zip. I wore it near enough every day outside summer up to it being about 10 years old. Brilliant bit of kit, it will take a lot of convincing to get me to buy anything else.

I have another one that is about 6 years old (Berghaus Mera Peak) and it is bearing up similarly well, though these days I don't wear it quite as often as I have a windproof fleece which is good for daily wear.

[1] Except the cuffs which are quite heavily worn, and the classic Berghaus design issue that means the outer pockets all leak in very heavy rain (but did near enough from new). But that isn't a disaster as there's a large inside pocket.

Neil

In reply to Darkskys: Winner. They were probably trying it on as I'm sure they must have quotas to retain for issuing replacements!

In reply to Darkskys: What make? I have a RAB eVent jacket - the label says "wash frequently" (which I've done) and re-proofed once in 1 year. It's still totally waterproof...

In reply to Gordonbp:
I wasn't unhappy with my event jackets. The first Rab one I got de laminated in about 18months so I got a free replacement, that started de laminating after about 2 years, which I considered OK and kept wearing it for another 2 years until it leaked too much despite many repairs. When held to the light you could see lots of little holes in it.

I think with event it de laminates and deteriorates much faster / more frequently than goretex.

That said I think if you are going to climb in your waterproof jacket it won't stay water proof that long so I'm not sure goretex is worth the extra cash. My current rab event jacket only cost 150 quid!

In reply to CurlyStevo:

Never had a problem with eVent material - The only bit of kit I've had to send back was an eVent gaiter with a failed strap.

Equip (the company behind Rab, Lowe Alpine, etc..) replaced them by return and were incredibly helpful.