Wet weather gear - kit talk

[Paul_B]

I assume we're all into being outdoors as much as possible. That means rain of various levels in the UK. Just curious what sort of wet weather clothing you use.

Personally I have the full on hard shell, modern outdoor kit. Short mountaineering jacket with waterproof trousers. I hate both unless I really need them. I find a lot of weather can be coped with a softshell. I use a thin, membrane free one when it's too warm for a buffalo s6 top. I don't wear more than walking trousers with perhaps longjohns if not too warm. Heavy rain full hard shell except last Sunday when I accepted wet legs when dog walking.

I have problems with not liking wet and warm from full hard shells. I feel stifled. But softshell will wet out. Nothing much keeps you warm and dry when active in heavy rain. It's a matter if which version of wet and warm you accept.

What's your view? How do you go about in different levels of rain and outdoors activities? I mentioned brands but really just interested in approaches to it if that makes sense. This is a genuine learning activity for me in that I wonder if there's an approach I'm missing.

 

[Woody girl]

I'm a bit of a wimp with rain. Not having a dog to walk in all weather's anymore. , I tend not to go out if it's wet. If I do its a gortex jacket and waterproof boots with a massive umbrella.
Wet weather can cause my arthritis and fybromyalga to flare up as it has this week and I'm sadly in too much pain at the moment to do much more than struggle to the local shop and back.
Miss having a dog so much but it wouldn't be fair not being able to walk it regularly.
The woods are out of bounds for me this week.

 

[Chainsaw]

I think warm and wet is always an issue for most of us. I've messed with 3 approaches and am on my 4th!

1. Ventile, love it in snow and cold and windy conditions, light rain is fine too. In heavy rain it wets out and is much less breathable. We'll skip the corrogated cardboard and hellish to dry on the assumption that isn't an issue for 95% of the time. IME it functions less well than a good modern, hard shell as the DWR sheds a lot of water to keep the goretex or whatever reasonably breathable
2. Modern Hard Shells, yup they work ok for me but I'm a bit of a 'sweater' and overwhelm the ability of the shell to dump perspiration pretty quickly. I only use these for low sweat activities and they are acceptable around town etc
   
3. Ponchos! Ok you look like a bit of an idiot but they certainly help with the perspiration thing and also usually keep you pretty damn dry. The issue I have is that they a bit restrictive in movement and are a bit blowy, if it's windy, it's a problem The looking like an idiot issue is not really a problem when out of town etc but the blowiness and movement restriction kinda gazumps a lot of high activity stuff, they just don't go together. Fond of them when doing the tourist thing in hot, wet countries.
4. Latest one I'm trying is a Keela Munro jacket, had my eye on the concept for a while and managed to pick one up second hand. They are a modern hard shell but they have put some additional thought and effort into the lining, their spiel is

   How does System Dual Protection work?
   We use an outer fabric, which is coated or laminated with a breathable membrane, and team it with a mesh lining, which has a high wicking hydrophilic (water loving) membrane laminated to it.
   These two layers of fabric create an air gap providing a natural thermal barrier, protecting against heat loss and reducing the need for bulky layers.
   The hydrophilic membrane rapidly transports moisture (sweat and condensation) away from the body, keeping you dry and comfortable, even in the rain.
   The combination of the air gap and wicking process regulates body temperature, minimising overheating when active and shivering during inactive periods, keeping you safe and comfortable throughout your adventure

   I'm still figuring out how well it actually works, jury is still out for me.

Just some random thoughts on the same problem, I do find wearing merino base layers helps hugely with the stifling clammy thing but sometimes they are not an option.
Good thread, be interested to see some more responses...

 

[Paul_B]

I hope your flare up dies down soon. Must be horrible having pain stop your activities.

After a broken knuckle from scrambling a good few years back I now get an ache in the knuckle concerned. I was told by a few medical staff that I'm probably going to very arthritis in the joint. I guess it's the early signs now when it's damp. Must Google how to look after the joint.

Don't you worry about wet legs then? A long coat and umbrella won't protect your legs much.

 

[Paul_B]

I find merino keeps excess sweat against the skin. It doesn't wick. Imho polypropylene wicks better than anything.

Having said that my favourite cold weather, high activity base layer is hh prowool with pp inner webbed merino outer. Always dry skin with that until the merino wets out too much. By that time you're probably swimming in sweat anyway.

I'm getting into the buffalo for winter and autumn approach. Or other softshell. I think on drizzle or light rain wet isn't an issue if warm. Plus once rain stops your breathe and dry a lot quicker without membranes or barriers.

My priorities are dry and warm; wet and warm then wet and cold. With the latter to be avoided at all costs.

 

[Woody girl]

I hope your flare up dies down soon. Must be horrible having pain stop your activities.

After a broken knuckle from scrambling a good few years back I now get an ache in the knuckle concerned. I was told by a few medical staff that I'm probably going to very arthritis in the joint. I guess it's the early signs now when it's damp. Must Google how to look after the joint.

Don't you worry about wet legs then? A long coat and umbrella won't protect your legs much.

Thanks Paul B. No I don't worry about wet legs too much. Long boots keep lower legs dry and as the brolly keeps most of the wet off my jacket I don't realy get it running off the coat onto my thighs.
I just change into dry trousers when I get home if it has got through.
I can sympathise with your thumb. . Swop you any day

 

[Paul_B]

Arthritis, more accurate than any meteorologist!

 

[Woody girl]

Arthritis, more accurate than any meteorologist!

Damm right! My knees and spine are telling me we are in for some rain tomorrow

 

[Paul_B]

My first finger knuckle concurs!

 

[baggins]

Over the years i've tried everything, and until my fjallraven jacket came along, my fav was the Lowe Alpine triple point ceramic, lovely feel, but only lasted a couple of years. Ventile is nice until it gets too soggy, and goretex is too clamy. I like my g1000, now it's well waxed, maybe not as breathable as most modern jackets, but, when combined with wool undies and mids, it's warm and the sweat doesn't bother me much.

 

[Woody girl]

I don't think the perfect wet weather gear exists. If you have complete dryness on the outside you get wet and clammy on the inside. The only thing that keeps me dry is a brolly... a massive one! not realy much good in the wood or windy locations. .. and your legs still get a bit wet in realy heavy rain. The only way to stay dry is stay indoors not much help if you need to be outside though . My most waterproof jacket is my motorcycle one. If you stay dry driving at 60 mph for a couple of hours then it has to be pretty good. I'm not too sure what it's made of but it's a fabric rather than leather or waxed cotton.

 

[Paul_B]

Keela have had their system on sale for years. As often a minor brand supplies an MRT with kit then use them in their ads for years to come. Personally I wonder how many MRTs choose keela?

The big drawback with keela I believe is weight. Since I prefer to wear hard shells for as short a time as possible which means it's probably in my rucksack. Bulk and weight.

I think I prefer a weather resistant softshell and a hard shell only for the relatively few days that are truly wet. I remember a long spell of walking every weekend without using a hardshell at all iirc best part if a year. Sunday group walks in the lakes plus other days too.

 

[Chris the Cat]

Gortex if I am exposed ,hill walking and such.
Wax cotton over wool if in the woods or static camp.
Ventile over wool if a bit of both.

 

[Wander]

Quick question first - what is meant by 'hard shell' and 'soft shell'? I've seen the terms but never really know what it's specifically referring to.

As for what I use. I don't like heavy footwear so instead of heavy-duty boots I prefer sealskinz socks to keep my feet dry. Not everyone gets on with them, but I do.
If it's raining hard then I'll use a poncho which can be folded up and put away when it stops, and a pair of goretex trousers which, again, can be rolled up and put away when the rain stops.
If it's cold then a pair of thermal leggings as well.

 

[Herman30]

Quick question first - what is meant by 'hard shell' and 'soft shell'?

Hardshell is a jacket that keeps you 100% dry from rain like the 3 layer gore-tex and such. Softshell is meant for those conditions where chance for rain is small and main quality for soft shell is to be windproof, excellent breathability and only slightly water repellent.

 

[Duggie Bravo]

I have a combination of different coats.
A Barbour which needs rewaxing as there is some ingress on the shoulders, where my work rucksack gets carried.
A Berghaus goretex 3 in 1, though I rarely have the fleece zipped in to it.
I recently updated my trousers for Trespass T75 and at the same time bought a light weight waterproof jacket for when I am hiking, as the goretex is quite heavy, but have yet to try them out in the rain.
I do have a Buffalo Special 6 shirt, trousers and parka but tend to use them in dry cold.
Otherwise I have a couple of soft shells that have been waterproofed for light rain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Paul_B]

To add to the definition there's softshell with taped seams that are 100% waterproof.

My understanding of softshell is an item of clothing that offers more wind resistance than standard fleece jackets with more insulation, flexibility/ stretch and breathability than a traditional thin layer waterproof. In some ways an in between piece of clothing.

However it should be noted that the original goretex membrane was found to actually leak. WL Gore got clever and sandwiched it between fleece layers and called it windstopper. It became a softshell fabric. Later incarnations perforated the membrane to increase breathability.

Taping seams on windstopper gives you effectively waterproof jackets.

 

[snappingturtle]

Hard shell with massive pit zips mid layer ether a full wool jumper or some kind of puff and a fully vented base layer, bottoms would be tweed breeches an socks ( I can use gaiter's with these) or shower proof trousers, I have hiked a lot with this kind of setup hefting a light pack, if your really grinding out slopes your going to sweat but in the main I'm dry.

 

[cascare]

I think warm and wet is always an issue for most of us. I've messed with 3 approaches and am on my 4th!

1. Ventile, love it in snow and cold and windy conditions, light rain is fine too. In heavy rain it wets out and is much less breathable. We'll skip the corrogated cardboard and hellish to dry on the assumption that isn't an issue for 95% of the time. IME it functions less well than a good modern, hard shell as the DWR sheds a lot of water to keep the goretex or whatever reasonably breathable
2. Modern Hard Shells, yup they work ok for me but I'm a bit of a 'sweater' and overwhelm the ability of the shell to dump perspiration pretty quickly. I only use these for low sweat activities and they are acceptable around town etc
   
3. Ponchos! Ok you look like a bit of an idiot but they certainly help with the perspiration thing and also usually keep you pretty damn dry. The issue I have is that they a bit restrictive in movement and are a bit blowy, if it's windy, it's a problem The looking like an idiot issue is not really a problem when out of town etc but the blowiness and movement restriction kinda gazumps a lot of high activity stuff, they just don't go together. Fond of them when doing the tourist thing in hot, wet countries.
4. Latest one I'm trying is a Keela Munro jacket, had my eye on the concept for a while and managed to pick one up second hand. They are a modern hard shell but they have put some additional thought and effort into the lining, their spiel is I'm still figuring out how well it actually works, jury is still out for me.

Just some random thoughts on the same problem, I do find wearing merino base layers helps hugely with the stifling clammy thing but sometimes they are not an option.
Good thread, be interested to see some more responses...

+1 for Keela, been using their gear for years, no complaints here, made in the UK as well, Bonnie Scotland to be precise.

 

[Paul_B]

UK led brand. As in designed in Scotland but made outside of the UK. They've outsourced for decades I believe. Part of the reason I bought their trousers was because of this. They hadn't sorted the quality of their SE Asian manufacturers. Sewing quality was ok but the sizing standardisation was shot. My local keela retailer used that to my advantage. They were the only brand that had 34" trousers in xl waistbwith leg lengths varying from 30" to 38" when they should be 33". The retailer kept the trousers with a 34" waist but xxxl leg length to one side for me. The only decent outdoors trousers to fit me that I could afford at the time.

Seriously better size control now the second generation is in control but definitely not UK made. They are one of many uk designed but overseas made brands including but not only Lowe alpine (some products), Rab and Montane. Point being a British flag on a label doesn't mean UK made anymore. Montane put British flag on zip pullers for decades but I doubt you think they're British made.

Sorry but there's very few British made outdoor brands these days.