I've got a couple of jackets made from Gore Windstopper material. One is a reversible Gore Windstopper DPM jacket the other is a much thinner Gore bike wear jacket for designed specifically for cycling. They are completely different except that they are both windproof.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/-_-/5360026070/http://www.johnbullclothing.com/products.asp?ID=1946Gore Windstopper and Polartec WindPro were essentially some of the first new generation of fabrics called soft-shells and were designed to be used instead of a fleece and hardshell MVP material such as Goretex Taslan or XCR etc. There are other soft-shell fabrics out there which are designed to be windproof with an internal insulating fleecy fabric for warm and still have a degree of movement stretch such as Schoeller Dryskin. Other soft-shells such as Windstopper N2S, Polartec Powershield or WindPro ACT are meant to be improvements on the first generation of soft-shells. i.e. dialing in a bit more fleecy warmth or more breath-ability or more stretchiness.
http://www.schoeller-textiles.com/defaul...=8&langID=2None of the soft-shells are completely waterproof, but then none of the hard-shells really are either because of the lack of breath-ability or the rate with moisture can transport through the shell. This will depend on the temperature and moisture gradient between in the inside and outside of the permeable vapour barrier and the amount of water vapour generated by the person inside the permeable vapour barrier.
The Gore Windstopper DPM Fleece is warm, comfortable to wear, quiet and is reasonably breathable (better than a full hardshell and fleece) and is best used in windy dry cold temperatures from about -10 to 10C. It will also resist light rain quite well as well as light snow and spin drift.
Everybody of course has different rates of perspiration at different activity levels so these soft-shells may suit some folks and not others. They do generally tend to be much more comfortable to wear though improving ease of movement having a degree of stretch in the fabric which hard shells do not have.
At the end of the day there is not a perfect material to suit everyone for every climatic environment, you've just got to dress appropriately for the weather you expect to come across. Soft-shells give that additional option for a surprisingly wide range of weather conditions considering they are a simple one layer garment.
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