GORE-TEX PACLITE Jacket Men's vs Mens Balance Made In Usa Cycling Jacket Windbreaker Water Resistant: which is safer?
Mens Balance Made In Usa Cycling Jacket Windbreaker Water Resistant is our pick: better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.
Gore
GORE-TEX PACLITE Jacket Men's
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossibleTeflon-type coating thermal fume risk (coatings/overheating)
Reportedwater-repellent coating fluorinated compound shedding (environmental/aquatic)
PossibleOff-gassing from solvent residues (manufacturing)
Our pick
Mens Balance Made In Usa Cycling Jacket Windbreaker Water Resistant
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
Possiblewater-repellent coating (water-repellent coating) coating composition (non-PFAS hazards)
PossibleMicroplastic shedding from synthetic fabric
Where these two actually differ
- We flag PTFE thermal fume risk (coatings/overheating), DWR fluorinated compound shedding (environmental/aquatic) and Off-gassing from solvent residues (manufacturing) on the Gore and not on the .
- We flag Durable water-repellent (DWR) coating composition (non-PFAS hazards) and Microplastic shedding from synthetic fabric on the and not on the Gore.
- The Gore is PTFE-based ePTFE membrane laminate with DWR treatment where the is Synthetic fabric with water-resistant DWR coating, unspecified, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
- These two are 5 points apart, close enough that price and fit should decide it rather than our grade.
Both products run through the same public rubric: materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →
More cycling rain jackets: see the full ranking