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Gore-Tex:
A Public Radio Commentary
by Bill Hammack
Listen using RealAudio
I have a favorite pair of shoes. With them I've stomped in
puddles all over the world. I like them because they keep my feet
dry. They're lined with the most amazing material: Gore-Tex.
It's also used in running suits, hiking boots, mountaineering
gear, fishing equipment and ski outfits. Gore-Tex is usually
advertised as waterproof, but really its secret is that it's
breathable. There are many waterproof things we could wear; for
example, a piece of plastic would seal out water, but it would
also seal in everything else, making us feel clammy and
uncomfortable. In contrast, Gore-Tex has billions of microscopic
pores, which allow body heat to escape, but are small enough that
water can't get in.
Gore-tex came about because Bill Gore, a chemical engineer, fall
in love with Teflon. The stuff that's used to make nonstick pots
and pans.
Here's a quote from Bill Gore, paying tribute, as only a chemist
could, to Teflon: "From a chemical point of view," he said, "it
is unique, there is really nothing like it. You have carbon
combined with fluorine, which is the most electronegative
element, and the bond is one of the strongest in chemistry.,, it
is the ultimate all-American material." I wasn't aware these were
the criteria for an all American, but his sentiment did get me
Gore-Tex lined shoes.
Thrilled with the properties of Teflon, Bill Gore felt, to quote
him, that "if we could ever unfold these molecules, get them to
stretch out straight, we'd have a tremendous new kind of
material." In fact, that's all that waterproof Gore-Tex is:
Stretched teflon. But this is not as simple as it sounds, as Gore
found out when he started developing Gore-Tex in his basement,
with his son Robert. They took a rod of Teflon, heated it, then
carefully stretched it. It snapped, a bit like the mozzarella
cheese on pizza. Day after day they failed in their home
laboratory. Then one night, angry after repeated failures, Robert
Gore grabbed a rod of teflon and violently and quickly stretched
it. It didn't snap. Then and there Gore-Tex was born.
The first field test was done by Bill Gore and his wife
Genevieve. In the summer of 1970 they fixed an old tent with
Gore-Tex patches, then took their annual camping trip to Wyoming.
The first night it rained, but the Gore-Tex kept them dry. Based
on the success of this trial, the Gores started making
mountaineering clothes, a logical choice since they were
accomplished mountaineers, having climbed to 16,000 feet in the
Himalayas. By 1978 word of mouth has spread to other outdoor
enthusiasts, and soon Gore-Tex became an essential tool for all
outdoor sports.
It's now even moving into areas unseen by Bill Gore. The
All-American Gore-tex is becoming all-Scottish. The breathability
and waterproofness of Gore-Tex make it ideal as the bag of a
bagpipe.
Copyright 2002 William S. Hammack Enterprises
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