a question

WHY NOT?

Since the inception about 1975 or 6 one company has been hawking a material that would when attached to a second material via lamination create a single material that has two very desirable characteristics; 1- being waterproof and 2- being breathable. This so impressed other companies who had their own way of accomplishing the same thing an i9ndustry within the textile industry developed. Manufacturers decided to develop their own product as well.

For almost as long as these companies have been hawking this product people who have tried garments such as footwear, rainwear, etc. have discovered that they were deceived and many have written about their experience including in many cases photographs to prove their point that these products do not work as advertised. I am by far not alone in this regard. There are thousands and I mean thousands more while not necessarily writing about it have spoken about their experience with the garment or boot they purchased that failed to work as advertised.

So the question I pose is why not on the part of these companies don’t they take the critics to task and prove that their product does work as advertised? I suppose taking the critics to task might mean taking them to court.

If you go into a court of law you would have to be able to prove beyond doubt that your product does work as advertised and the critic would have to prove the non-performance aspect of the product was the products inability to do whatever it was supposed to do.

The reason I believe this scenario will never take place is because of the publicity that the waterproof breathable crowd would be faced with.

After 40 plus years the original buyers are now grandparents, who used the stuff and were dissatisfied, but their children bought into the story and also tried it and they too were dissatisfied and like their parents said nothing. Now they have children who are growing up with the false concept of such a product so they buy into it.

The reality is these companies do not care that their product does not do as they hawk because they have a ready stock of uneducated consumers ready to support the lie, not that these consumers know it.

These companies have no incentive to ever try and prove what are selling actually works.

This way of thinking on the part of companies permeates so many products not only in the outdoor industry but all industries these days.

You now know why the waterproof breathable crowd is mum to their critics, the national negative publicity would destroy sales but would be good for consumers because simple urethane coated nylon garments for 1/5^th the price are their equal or better.