ZPacks Cuben Rain Jacket

[EndoftheTrail]

For those who have tried the Zpacks Cuben rain jacket — can you share your experience? I'm curious about its comfort, durability, and breathability — say compared to DriDucks or eVent?

>>> comfort

Very amazing comfort. I call it a "silkiness"

>>> durability

Well it is a 1.4oz per square yard material – that makes it pretty tough just in and of itself. It is better to not think of this as "cuben fiber" in the same way that you might 0.54 cuben fiber used for a shelter. This is a true three layer material – along the lines of gore-tex and some eVENT materials.

>>> breathability

There are no published documentation on the mm value of this material. What I can say is that those who have done testing on it and shared their results with me… is that it is about 1/3rd what the most recent release of eVENT is.

>>> driducks

Single ply material, versus a three ply material. Not even worth the effort to compare them.

>>> eVENT

What version of eVENT? There are at least three or four versions of eVENT presently being used by rain jacket makers in the 2012/2013 hiking seasons.

I have not only "tried" but I have used this jacket for almost three hiking seasons now. I use it as a primary jacket around town. I use it as a wind jacket. I have used it in deep snow, hail, mud, 45mph wind, and of course hours and hours of hiking with it in the rain.

My only two recommendations would be (1) that if you primarily hike somewhere that the temperatures are over 50(f) degrees, order it with the pit zips, and (2) ask them to make it with "longer arms" – remembering that Joe is a midget and he was used for the template, and if you have even slightly longer arms, you will want the extended arms. The material tends to bunch up in the elbow region as you hike.

–Abela

[EndoftheTrail]

Thanks, John, very helpful! I mentioned breathability comparison with Driducks and eVent because I have experience with both. My eVent jacket is the ID eVent Rain Jacket.

[Don Selesky]

I used the parka and pants over 5 days this August in CO, getting me through the usual afternoon thunderstorms. They didn't leak, breathed well enough, and seem like they're going to hold up.

Not much technical data there, just a satisfied user.

[Author]

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