ID Event Thru Hiker Jacket

After reading all these posts and checking out the reviews of the Drillium and Quick-Fire, I think I might order the Thru Hiker in XL and try one of the others in XL as well…then I'll send two back and keep what I like best.

I think being tall just means I won't have a really long rain jacket. Unless I go with something like the Bergen..the extra couple of ounces in weight might be worth it.

There should be ultralight handicaps for tall people. Our gear is always gonna weigh more. ;)

Who's the handsome model?

Yeah, Looks a bit short at the waist. Try the XL — the length will be better — and hopefully it will provide you more space for layering — without being too big all around.

I have been using a Thru Hiker for two seasons now. The worst conditions I've experienced with the jacket were two trips on the Lost Coast and a few days of rain in the Emigrant Wilderness, north of Yosemite. The jacket works very well with a fleece layer. When I was wearing my Thermawrap I had alot of condensation due to the lack of breathability of the Thermawrap.

I like the jacket very much and it has become my favorite rainwear shell.

Hi David,

thanks for the excellent pictures, they provide a lot of insight in the sizing of the jacket. I think i should do well with a medium although the jacket is definitly not as long as ID advertises.

Still it looks a great jacket, very simple…not lot to go wrong with.
I will wait for mine altough that my take a while, i ordered them from C&C Outdoors for a really good price but i still have not received a shipping confirmation (they do have a dubious reputation in the Company Review Forums).

Again thanks for the great pictures.
Jeroen

Benjamin, I think you're right. Ultimately, after looking around and doing research on the Drillium, Quick-Fire, and Thru Hiker, I've decided that I need to be 100% satisfied for $250. So I'm going to return the size L.

Denis, thanks for the input.

Jeroen, glad the photos were helpful. I think you're right that it is a great jacket, it's just that sizing needs to be taken into account – especially for taller hikers.

So here's where I'm at: I need to know what constitutes full coverage in a rain jacket. Initially, I found the simplicity of the Thru Hiker very appealing because it allowed for (what I thought was) a long rain jacket that was still very light.

Are there any situations when a longer rain jacket would not be adventageous? Given that thejackets listed above are all sized very similarly, I'm unlikely to find one that provides a long fit. Even the XL Thru Hiker is only one inch longer than the L.

This being the case, I might get the Rab Bergen. It's about five onces heavier, but it'll actually fit properly. After all, an ultralight jacket that just dumps rain right in my crotch isn't so useful!

Alternatively, I've called Integral Designs and they're willing to alter an XL Thru HIker so that it's three or four inches longer (i.e. so that it fits like the photo they use to advertise it).

What do you guys think? How is full coverarge best defined? Are there situations when it would not be useful to have a longer jacket? In my case, might the Bergen be the way to go since, even though it's about 17 ounces, it will actually fit me?

Hi David,

I was contemplating both ID jackets, that's the rain jacket and the Thru Hiker. I selected the Thru Hiker because of it's alleged lenght.

Personally I use a shorter lenght jacket when climbing and wearing a climbing harness but I seldom wear a waterproof (rain) jacket when climbing.
For hiking i definitely would go for a longer lenght jacket because you have better coverage (especially useful when wearing a pack and your jacket rides up at the back…always happens to me). So that's for lenght.

As for weight…I don't enjoy wearing a waterproof jacket, I try to avoid that as much as possible because i never found a really breathable one (hopefully that has changed with the ID Event jacket) so it's more in my pack than on my body. There for i want it as light as possible so 13 oz. for the ID sound a lot better than 17 oz. for the Rab to me.

For me rain gear is emergency gear, it is in my pack all the time untill i really need is so I want it light and simple. For me the ID Thru Hiker fits the bill perfectly (providing it will fit me).
In your case i would go for the ID jacket with extra lenght as offered from ID.

Good luck.

Ps. C&C are going to ship the jacket tomorrow….I will keep you posted on the fitting. Your pictures made me a lot more confident on my purchase as there quite a lot of mixed sentiments on the fitting of the ID jackets.

Hey Jeroen, sounds like you might have better luck with the Thru Hiker fit than me.

You raised a good point when you mentioned that you consider rain gear to be emergency gear. That's a bit of common sense that was escaping me as I agonized obsessively about the fit of my jacket. ;)

Still…

What do you think the ideal length would be for long, full coverage? Where you want the waist hem to fall? Upper to mid thigh? Or is that too long?

I'll probably go with the custom Thru Hiker. Although, the XL weighs in at 13oz. in the standard cut. If I add to that, I'll be getting pretty close to the wieght of the Bergen in which case I might just go with that.

Maybe I'll just flip a coin, as this is beginning to drive me nuts!

Without a doubt, if I had known ID would do a custom length jacket, I would have jumped on the opportunity to have a couple of inches added to the hem of my Thru-Hiker size L. I like a rain jacket to hit me mid thigh when wearing it without a pack this gives me good torso coverage when the jacket (inevitably) rides up with pack on.

So, for those of you that have been following my hiking wardrobe saga, I returned the Thru Hiker (Size L). However, before I did, I got out the tape measure and took measurements to see how much longer it would need to be in order to come to my upper-mid thigh.

I had to laugh: in order for the jacket to fit me like it fit the model I needed to special order an XL with 6" of additional length.

Anyway, in six weeks I'll have a proper rain jacket. It'll weigh more than the other Thru Hikers, but it'll fit right and still probably be lighter than the Rab Bergen.

If it doesn't fit, well… I'm going to give up hiking and become a bubble boy.

Hi David,

sorry that you had to return the Thru Hiker. I am still awaiting mine (which can easily turn into six weeks as well).

I just wanted you to know that your pictures really helped me so thanks for your time and effort in that, really appriciated.

Would like to know which rain jacket you ended up with.

Oh yeah…go for the DAS, you won't regret it.

Jeroen

Allison Miller, I'm interested in buying your thru-hiker if it's still for sale. Otherwise I'm going to take a shot with the C&C outdoor store sale at $212. Just wanted to double check with you before purchasing it.Please contact me. My e-mail is engman@optonline.net Thanks in advance, Eric Falk