Gear: Rain Jackets/Coats/Etc.

Introduction

Rain gear runs a spectrum from very light to heavy, from minimal coverage to full coverage, from breathable to not. Regardless of the characteristics, almost all reasonable raingear will wear out.

Traditional Rain Gear

The oldest type of rain gear consists of waxed or oiled heavy cloth in a long coat or “duster” type design. With maintenance it will last forever. It is not atypical for such gear to weigh up to twelve pounds (pounds, not ounces). It is rarely, if ever, seen on a long trail.

Similar is the more modern raincoat with a rubberized surface that most of us are familiar with from being children.

They even show up in tourist shops on the trail sometimes.

“Lighter,” breathable, and waterproof

“Breathable” comes with limits, and “pit zips” (long zippers on the underside of the arms and sides of a rain coat) are a better source of breathability than the fabric. The original successful breathable material is Goretex, especially in the heavier configurations.

It is lighter than traditional, old-fashioned, rain gear, but still relatively heavy.

Arc’tryx makes the classic examples of this style of rain jacket, which weighs about 12-13 ounces and I’ve worn them in heavy rain in conditions that would have caused hyperthermia. The problem is that they are expensive and relatively heavy.

There are lighter versions, many of which are not quite as waterproof or that do not last as long.

Siliconized

There is rain gear made of sil-nylon and sil-poly. Pack covers, ponchos, jackets, and hybrid gear (thePacka.com is a great example of hybrid gear).

Sil-nylon will eventually wet out. Sil-poly only starts to wet through after it starts to wear out. Many of these rain jackets, with pit zips, will weight around six ounces.

The ponchos and hybrids will weight more, but usually cover your backpack, keeping the shoulder straps and hip belts dry and providing a great deal of air flow.

http://www.thepacka.com/

Dyneema

Dyneema gear is just like the siliconized gear only it is lighter and costs more. It also eventually wears out.

DWR

DWR=Durable Water Repellant. This consists of fabric coated with a rain resistant surface. Generally it will eventually wet out, wears out faster, and is best used as rain gear to get you from the parking lot to a store in light rain.

Often other types of rain gear will also have a DWR coating as well.

Equivalent Gear

EVent and similar fabrics are often used, or combined with a ligthter Goretex approach (Goretex now has varients that aren’t quite as robust but are lighter) and DWR for lighter raingear.

Examples (with third party reviews)

• Montbell Versalite makes a goretex subcategory jacket that is pretty solid. My wife is on her second jacket and second pair of pants, I use the Montbell rainpaints.
  • The Packa is a combination pack cover, poncho and rain jacket. It was the go to for my wife and I on the Appalachian Trail. Review of earlier versions, it has since made improvements.
    • Frogg Toggs (very popular, very inexpensive, easily replaced).
• Lightheart Gear makes a great silpoly rainjacket that has great pitzips. Review.
• Englightened Equipment makes the Visp, a very popular lightweight rain jacket. I’m currently carrying one, now that they are back in stock. Review.
• EMS rain pants (for rough trails, full zip)
• Zpacks Vertice — has quality control issues.
• Dyneema Rain Jackets (even more expensive than other Dyneema gear five ounces). A second brand of Dyneema Rain Jacket (under three ounces). A third brand. (five ounces).

Final Comments

A core thing to remember is that all rain gear will either need maintenance or will wear out or will not breath as much as you might like. The lighter the gear is, the more likely it is to have a compromise that you have to make, either with breathability, how soft the interior surface is, extra features (such as pockets or quality of rain visor), etc.

I currently hike with rain pants, but I’ve used rain skirts and rain kilts and rain gaiters.