GoreTex (a very old technology whose patent expired many years ago) has many problems: if you are sweating in a humid environment it will not breath much at all because this feature only works if there is a very large differential between the humidity (moisture from your body, which is continual, sweat or not) and the outside humidity. Therefore a base layer that wicks away body moisture can help a little if there is somewhere for it to wick to, also layering so you reduce sweating, and finally an insulation such as wool or something synthetic like Thinsulate that still provides some insulation even when wet. Here is a link that explains some of these technologies better than I can but this link is very limited, there are many more, also some very cheap competitors to GoreTex from China that I am not sure are any better, could be worse. Best to read up and test it out before you travel very far into the wildereness depending on it.
http://www.denalioutdoor.com/gg_wbbrands2.aspx
I had some friends used $1000 GoreTex fabric dry suits for ww kayaking river that was only about 40F water, air 25-60F, their once dry clothes were drenched in sweat and it got them very cold every time they stopped moving. I was in very light quick dry splash top, quick dry pants, 0.5mm farmer john minimal wet suit, with dry clothes in dry bag. I stayed much warmer and dried off much faster, hiking boots in d-bag. If boat was busted could have made it out of there in a few hours. They would have almost frozen as soon as sun went down as their once dry cloths drenched in sweat got very cold. No such thing as a "dry suit", "dry bag", "breathable fabric" these are all aspirational terms, do NOT imply a guarantee.
Bookmarks