Raingear that works?

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jrichard said:
It's not raining under an umbrella.

When the world was young I did a lot of hiking in the CDN rockies. We didn't have Gore-tex (allthough I had heard of it) and I tried all sorts of things before settling on using an umbrella. I suppose I looked a little weird cruising along with my brolly but as long as it wasn't too windy it worked a treat.

When I returned to my old Rocky Mtn. haunt 2 years ago I was amazed at the number of people hiking with umbrellas. (I was in gore-tex).

So, if you are out of the wind you may want to consider this option.

Caveat: do not use in electrical storms!
 
Double Bow said:
So far, the PreCip and PacLite sound good. I'll check out Frogg Toggs as well. I question though, why is it said that pit zips can't work for breathability? I would think any opening would vent and allow you to stay cooler. :confused:
Pit zips do work, if they're designed correctly. Of course, you need know when to open them, and when to close them (as in cards ...). Don't pay much attention to that quote.

As for Frogg Toggs - personally, I think you're wasting your time. They're in the same class as some of Columbia's and Helly Hanson's stuff - OK for sedentary or walking from the car to the mall, but not heavy aerobic activity.
 
Marmot

In case you need another vote, I've been very happy with my Marmot shell. I actually wore it running yesterday in the pouring rain, underneath I had a synthetic wicking T-shirt only and I was quite comfy. I haven't really tested it bushwhacking so I'm not sure how it would hold up against the dense brush. They are very thin.
 
The umbrella is a good idea on wide trails, I did this on a warm humid day up Waumbek in a torrential downpour. (Some Streams did come out of their banks, others very fast moving Spetember 00 or 01 I think)

Problem I had was the trail was not wide enough so every time I turned the umbrella to get through some trees I got wet. Would work great on Wilderness trail, Franconia Brook, OBP, C-Path below treeline, etc.

If it's warm (like last years trip to central Presidentials almost 1 year ago) just a tank top, I'd rather get soaked from the outside than stew in sweat. (BTW I used to play in an annual mud volleyball tournament where they cleaned up off with fire hoses, so I like water over mud & sweat)

Regardless of the layers I'm going to sweat, I was sweating in just the tank top. (This winter I wore a T-shirt & G-Tex & that layering was okay on a 20 degree day on Field)

I do have a 3 layer G-Tex which keeps rain out (Moonstone) in summer it's shorts & gaitors or just the shorts. I've worn rain pants twice in the fall when I should have, not worn them twice & wish I had - by then I was soaked, cold & 1/4 from the car & the rest of the time it was winter.

Before I spent another 100 on a rain coat, I'd want to borrow someone elses to make sure it did what they said it does for me. I'm sure the G-Tex is breathing some & helping more than a plastic baggy (old yellow vinyl slicker, etc) but the only way I'm not sweating is if I'm going downhill slowly & who wants to spend anymore time in the rain than necessary by hiking slow.
 
deanmacg said:
From Stevenson`s website

When it rains dumb people add rain wear over clothes which are already warm enough or too warm. That EXTRA layer causes overheat and sweat soaked clothes, and they blame the rainwear instead of excess layers for overheat. That stupidity was THE reason for the development of Goretex and the millions of $$ spent promoting it for what it isn’t. Smart ones avoid overheat by wearing less clothes under rainwear.
Most good rainwear is made of coated nonporous fabric. Since Gore defined “breathable” as passing water vapor about 1/20th as fast as uncoated fabric, (the same as most urethane coatings), and Goretex was promoted as preventing overheat solely due to it’s “breathability”, much of the rainwear made for big spenders is promoted as “breathable” (but note that Gore requires users of Goretex to put extra ventilation in their rain gear {such as “pit zips”, which also can’t work}, and also require a durable water repellant finish on exterior fabric so rain can never reach the Goretex film!) . But most users praise Goretex only for WARMTH, not coolness, which any rain gear can provide if it is snugly closed at neck and wrists so air can’t flow up thru it.
Most ski parkas and snowmobile suits are coated on the inner surface of outer fabric to block wind & water. Warmth is lost if they’re open at the bottom and top so air can flow up thru, like a chimney. Lighter weight warm humid air rises out upper openings and is replaced with cold dry air from below. It’s obvious that heat is lost warming that cold air. What isn’t so obvious is that the relative humidity of that air when warmed is extremely low. It DRIES your skin, dehydrates you, and takes away heat by evaporation.

This is just plain false information about the materials.
Goretex has considerable technical information regarding moisture transport and water retention values for thier products.
They make direct comparisons to urathane coated materials which have poor to zilch breathabilitly.

I am not trying to represent Goretex, I have no vested interest.
But the stuff works and every one else is trying to copy it.
They are a premium fabric producer and can outclass most other material manufacturing efforts worldwide.
If that's not enough to make you realize they are at the top of thier game, then consider this; Gore Ind. is the PRIMARY manufacturer of NASA space suits.
Now that's getting about as technical as is gets for "outdoor clothing"....
 
David Metsky said:
The Stevenson folks are, um, interesting. I'll leave it at that.

-dave-
Yup - I was trying to think of a way to put it in my previous post. I agree with you. They have a point of view which doesn't get in the way of my own real-world experience (how's that for tactfulness?).
 
Kevin Rooney said:
And of course, nearly anything that good ol' Beans makes is also a good value.

That's actually what I have - I think it's their trail model sport rainjacket, or something like that, but essentially a light weight goretex shell with pit vents, etc. I've been very happy with it. It works. And yes, it's purple. ;)
 
As for Frogg Toggs - personally said:
Tell that to the all of thru hikers that use them, from start to finish. Check whitebaze.com or backpacking.net. Many people have turned in thier heavy gortex and have gone to frogg togg or others. Gore was the first to the market w/ a "breathable waterproof material" and got a head start. It is durable, but my gortex only comes out for winter. The original poster wanted a light weight rain gear that worked and was not expensive. Gortex does not fit any of those.
 
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Depends on the temperature...
If it's on the chilly side, I've had success with Mountain Hardwear Epic shell and pants. Hardwear's material is Conduit. The Epic has Conduit Silk, which feels nice next to the skin...not quite like silk. I need to treat both, but they're in great shape after a lot of miles.
If it's warm, I go with a pair of water resistant shorts and a regular ol' wicking fabric t-shirt. I don't stay dry, but I don't sweat myself to death. No need to be wet and overheated.
Saw a few folks with Frog Toggs on the AT last year. I had never seen them before, and they got mixed reviews.
 
Waumbek said:
I've pretty much given up on thinking that any rain gear is going to keep me dry and breathe while I'm hiking in warmer temperatures. I always carry it and often wear it but concentrate more on making sure that I have enough extra clothes in my pack to get and keep me warm and dry if I am stalled by injury or benighted. I am fairly obsessive about keeping the pack and its contents dry--clothes are in a garbage-bag lined stuff sack, which is in a garbarge-bag lined pack, which has a rain cover. That usually works.

Ayuh...I haven't tried any of the products described here, except Goretex, so this is an interesting thread. I can't gamble the $$ on a jacket that may not work, and I have little faith in the idea that a material will stop water one way, and allow it to pass the other way. Sure, it might to an extent...

If it's wet in the forest and I'm in the forest, then I am wet! I'll take rain on my skin over trapped sweat. I simply cannot hike in any jacket if the temps are over 45-50 degrees without sweating. I don't see the rain as something to avoid like blackflies or poison ivy. Rainwater is beautiful. :)

I keep PVC raingear (which actually is waterproof) and wool in the pack for emergency. My whole pack is lined with 2 heavy-duty plastic bags. All items inside are also in bags.

Happy Trails!
 
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My two cents may be redundant because I did not read all of the previous threads....last week I hiked about 5 hours on the Interloken Trail in the Finger Lakes region...It rained ALL 5 hours....I wore shorts and a poly short sleeved shirt with my EMS 100% nylon rain jacket (no cute name to identify it)...the jacket has pit zips which were halfway open...I was continuously brushing up against thorny vegetation (avoiding puddles of mud)....I never once felt clammy or overheated and though I checked numerous times, my jacket never succumbed to the thorny thrashing...the hood folds up nicely into a zipped pocket but when in use, the adjustment allows for good coverage and visibility...the inside of the jacket was just a bit damp from my sweat but dried out in about 10 minutes after all that rain....Cost? About 50-60 bucks.....A very fashionable red and black to match the new red and black smartwool ankle socks I recently purchased......anybody know where I can find a pair of red and black shorts?? :p

...Jade
 
I use Marmot Precips shell and pants for bike commuting in the rain, hiking I will use a mixture of Goretex, MH conduit and the Precip, depending on conditions, season.

I have hiked with an umbrella before (doing Windham HP). It works well so long as the trail isn't too narrow and you're hitting branchs and stuff. I saw two guys in the Whites doing that on my presi traverse last year and said I should try it someday. It was rainy but not windy that day so it worked OK from what I saw.

Jay
 
Jay H said:
I have hiked with an umbrella before (doing Windham HP). It works well so long as the trail isn't too narrow and you're hitting branchs and stuff. Jay
I've got the photo to prove it, but wasn't going to mention it unless you did. ;)
I'd like an umbrella that attaches to my pack, like those hat-umbrellas, but bigger.
 
While hiking on the AT last May I tried attaching an umbrella to the top of my external pack, but it was just too tight on the trail to use it.

Now I just use a Waterproof hat and pack cover (on my pack). If it's clammy like today, I'll use a Sierra Designs rain coat with pit zips and Patagonia Rain pants, but otherwise I just get wet and let the synthetic clothing do its job.
 
To expand on my earlier umbrella post:

We used umbrellas on the Cohos Trail, and I need to use one too frequently (especially this year!) in the Ossipees, the Whites, and various places in southern NH - tight trails or not. You need to allow time to get accustomed to them. The best one I've found is made by GoLite. There are some tricks to using an umbrella on hiking trails:
  • it must be very light or you won't want to hold it
  • collapse it partially when space gets tight
  • spin it before collapsing so you don't get soaked
  • tilt it a little to use it as a shield against drooping wet vegetation (if feasible)
  • after a while, you can rest your holding hand against a shoulder strap and sometimes even wedge the umbrella handle in the strap or between your back and the pack

You'll still get wet from:
  • brush intruding on the trail
  • gusts of rain
  • times when you can't hold the umbrella over your head (ducking under fallen trees, etc...)
So this isn't a absolutely perfect solution. But it works pretty well for three season use, it's much better than smothering in a parka.

Ponchos work pretty well too, but have a host of problems above tree line, they limit mobility, and they're not as breathable.

In gusty winds above treeline, I opt for some sort of waterproof shell and a rain hat with a brim (ie the various Outdoor Research or REI offerings), no hood unless absolutely required. I stuff the hood into the jacket. A rain hat maximizes the ventilation, doesn't attenuate sound, and shields eyeglasses better then a hood.

And if this rain ever stops, they're also a good sunshield.

Ray Jardine's Beyond Backpacking has an entire chapter devoted to hiking with umbrellas. Well worth reading.
 
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