14ers.com

Your body is putting out tons of vapor all the time.
Put a bag around your hand and wait a few minutes. Tell me if it's wet.
Now do that while you're exercising but not sweating. You'll be soaked very quickly.

I have both all leather Merrell and Scarpa Gore-Tex boots. Have a pair of Montrail Gore-Tex boots as well. The Montrails are no longer made and are worn out. The Merrells are no longer made in a wide. The new Merrells are crap anyway. I now use my Gore-Tex Scarpa boots most often. I have had absolutely no problem with Gore-Tex boots. Of course I always wear wool socks. The Montrails were great. Full leather boots are good too but they do take maintenance. You have to be willing to waterproof and condition them regularly. The Gore-Tex boots are low maintenance. I really like the Scarpas but have to see how they will hold up. As for Gore-Tex jackets, i just replaced an old Gore-Tex North Face Summit Series parka with a virtually unused duplicate off of Ebay for a song. The new North Face parkas are way overpriced and seem cheap to me. I had ordered a new one but sent it back. They have a new waterproofing system called FutureLight. It may be fine but I will take Gore-tex based on known performance.