Dry.Q vs. Gore-Tex?

I picked up the Mountain Hardwear Jovian last December with a 30% coupon and couldn't be happier. It definitely breaths well and seems to repel water with no issues. It's light weight and packs down pretty small. The front pockets are large enough to fit 110mm width skins with no problem. Due to the light weight, I did question the long term durability, but after a year of use it doesn't show any wear and seems to be holding up fine.

Dry.Q Elite is basically the membrane used in eVent, but with Mountain Hardwear's own backer and face fabric. Usually when a garment maker buys fabric, they have to abide by certain construction requirements in order to use the fabric name (Gore-Tex being the most famous example). I purchased a pair of pants with Dry.Q Elite and I was shocked to see that they were a two layer construction with an additional liner (extra weight and bulk). Additionally, some of the seams were not sealed. I wonder if they could get away with that if they wanted to call it eVent. All of my eVent branded stuff (by Rab and Integral Designs) is constructed a lot better than that. Maybe the 3L versions of Dry.Q elite are better? At any rate, they do have the same guarantee that Gore-Tex uses. If you don't like it, they will take it back. I never tried it. I returned the pants before using them.

Aww the MH employee store, my faverite soft goods store of all time! All my ski gear I own is MH including my hats, backpack, and base layers. Even my socks are Columbia. Their jackets could use a little tweaking such as making the powder skirts lower down and they loose their ability to bead water in a few months just like any other jacket I've ever owned. Never had any issues with water getting through them though on rainy resort days, nice and dry. Their pants though are amazing absolutely amazing, love the thigh pockets! So much better for touring as you can stuff them and it doesn't nick your legs on long strides like stuffing regular pants pockets would do.

I also equip my friends with MH in revy so if you see a team in mostly MH gear that aren't euros (they like to wear matching brand names) it is probably my buddies and I.