Kokatat were an early adopter of Gore-Tex fabrics, and probably the first kayaking kit manufacturer??? And lots of people have noticed that Gore-Tex isn’t in the Kokatat line up at all for 2026, and a question we’ve had plenty this year is: Why is it not and should I be concerned? Well let’s rewind a little bit and then fast forward to address the big issues.
Gore-Tex over the last 30 plus years has built up an amazing reputation for producing super waterproof, breathable and durable materials, and they worked amazingly well for the requirements of kayakers.
The problem is that nearly all the fabrics used or have DWR’s, (durable water repellent) sprayed over them and or waterproof membranes were all teflon based (pre 1993 this was a massive feather in the cap for Gore-Tex & it’s performance, in 1993 Gore lost exclusivity on these teflon mid layers), the problem was that all of the sprays and inner membranes were riddled with PFAS and other nasty (toxic?) chemicals.
What's PFAS you ask? These are basically manmade synthetic chemicals (there are lots of different ones) that are used to make products waterproof. Turns out, however, they are not great for us or the environment and when they are out in the environment (essentially after leaching out of outdoor products) they don’t easily break down, if at all. This isn’t just an outdoor industry issue though, not at all, these chemicals are in Fire Fighting foam, none stick cooking pans (teflon is a PFAS), food packaging, Ski Wax, there’s so much of this stuff out there.
This is bad, and people have been noticing this fact! Bad for the environment and bad for people’s health. People also noticed how the chemicals producers, companies like 3M have been covering up their knowledge of the side effects for some time.… There’s now lots of lawsuits against these companies, the state of Maryland are suing Gore for decades long use of forever chemicals PFOA and other PFAS in their products that has led to groundwater & surface water pollution.
So…Fast forward, the word is now out, and change is coming & it’s potentially happening fast, although, how the changes, and bans will be policed is still massively unclear.
From 2030 there will be or looks like there will be a total ban on products containing any PFAS. So, there’s currently a mad rush on designing new technologies to replace (particularly in the paddlesport world) the mid layers of these waterproof fabrics. Gore-Tex do now have a material with an extruded polyethylene mid layer, as far as I understand Kokatat have tested this material but have chosen not to use it, for now. Read into that what you like! The main problem for Kokatat is that change is happening so fast they simply don’t have the time to properly test the new materials, that they can then release to the public, confidently.
However, Kokatat do have their Hydrus 3.0 and Hydrus tough material that they have been developing and evolving over the last few years, This is a DWR free fabric but it does have a fluorocarbon mid layer, this isn’t ideal although the fluorocarbons in the mid layers are much more stable than what's found on DWR coatings, What it does offer though is a known dependability. It might not be the end goal in terms of an ecologically friendliness but for 2026 it is the best material Kokatat currently have and that's fully tried and tested, and trust not to fall apart. From a kayaking/watersports point of view it’s a great fabric that has already built up a good reputation for durability and performance.
From a manufacturer’s standpoint, this is a tough time. Do you make your products in a nice, environmentally friendly & safe material: even if you know this material isn’t that great and doesn’t perform as well as previous materials and is likely to fail and end up in land fill sooner than is ideal! Or do you stick with a material, for now, that you trust, has a long service life, performs well and will give a customer/paddler a good 3,5,10 years of (hopefully) trouble free use.
With all that in taken into consideration. And to come to my final point! And to answer the Gore-Tex question, why are Kokatat not using it and should I be concerned.
Personally, I’ve used Kokatat equipment for several years now. Partly, yes, due to the performance of the fabrics, BUT mainly because it’s a Kokatat product, the cut of the drysuits is spot on, the production and design of the equipment is what I like. That's personally, for me, the important point. Kokatat is quite unique in the paddlesports industry, (90%??) of their products are all still made in house and the benefits of this to the end user are massive. Would it be cheaper to build them in the Asia, yes. but the quality wouldn’t be the same, the control over the finished product wouldn't be as good, the personal aspect would be lost (if you have a Kokatat product check it inside, most garments will have initials inside where the Kokatat staff have checked and signed the garment for QC & dryness before it leaves the factory).
Not using Gore-Tex for 2026 for me isn’t a worry, being able to continue to buy the products I like and trust when paddling is the important point.
That's probably a long way of answering the question! But I hope you find it useful.
