Best lightweight rain jacket (sub 8-9 oz): Montbell Versalite, OR Helium II, Marmot Mica & Essence, MH Superlight Plasmic or other?

The lightest I've found is the Zpack Challenger jackets. The large weights 5.8 oz. I've had good luck with them, but I've only used them in heavy downpours up to an hour. They also have an option to extend the torso length.

My suggestions are either the 8oz Haglofs Gram Comp Pro pullover (gore tex active) at sierra trading post, the Lukes Ultralight eVent shell, or even dri ducks.

Though I think all rain shells are bad, my experience with PU coated shells tells me to avoid them unless you don't expect to wear them and need more durability than dri ducks.

Since you already know you like Montbell, why switch? I like Montbell, have tried others but am now using the Versalite. Size Large, 7.1 oz and good sleeve and torso coverage. I like Versalite because it has pockets, pit zips and good hood. I'm 6 ft tall, 195 lbs.

Adding pit zips to the Zpacks Challenger jacket increases the weight by a mere 0.4 oz, they claim. Pit zips extend the comfort range of W/B shells so much that I would not consider a shell without them, or something functionally similar. The Marmot Essence has the little mesh ports under the pits, but they are not as effective as having some monster 8" hole like pit zips create. Since your rain shell might double as your wind shell, you may as well get one that is as comfortable to wear as possible, and for me that would be via pit zips. I have a number of rain jackets and walk for hours in the rain here all winter in coastal AK, and I pretty much never close my pit zips unless it's really cold and windy.

With working DWR on the fabric, as long as you aren't exerting yourself too much, even in a steady rain a good jacket with pit zips and a light wicking base layer will keep you dry and happy for a number of hours. Days of rain? Forget it.

Have the Zpacks jacket and don't find it very flattering (sorry). More importantly – not durable, even the latest batch. Also, it's hood is not great in the wind. I got the Westcomb Focus LT hoody in EVent DVL and after using it for a few months, now very satisfied. Best jacket there is. Looks great too, with a fantastic hood. Size M 8.7. New Marmot Crux might be great too – breathability of Neoshell.

P.S. They updated the fabric since Ryan Jordan's article – all good now.

Thanks for your comments, Gary. When you say that the Zpacks jacket isn't durable, could you please expand on that a little? Does the zipper go out, or does the fabric on the upper shoulders wear too rapidly due to pack strap friction, or … ?

TIA !

Brian,

I bought a pair of their WPB mittens using their newest nylon/Cuben. The palms wore through and started to leak in one day's use with trekking poles.

uh oh…Richard I so hope that was an anomaly…….

Richard I feel your pain. Ouch. I bought a pair of Cloudraker? WPB gauntlet gloves from MEC – I don't use them often, but they've been pretty durable and they're quite light. And at $19 on sale, a great value. MEC may have changed the name on the current model.

Kenneth, I really like the length of the longer option Zpacks jacket, but no way am I shelling out $300 for a rain jacket when I can get one of the same weight for $100-150. For cold weather use I'd be comfortable picking up a 12 oz highly breathable Neoshell jacket for $150-225 on sale and using it in place of wind shell or soft shell.

Mike, thanks for posting that very wet photo. What's the longest you've been in sustained rain in that jacket without the material wetting out or soaking through?

From a quick glance on screen, the Versalite was my pick of the list for the pit zips and seemingly most waterproof fabric. Going to check if it's available at any retailers outside of Montbell for better discounts – Montbell rarely runs them and their point system just gives you 10% back on future purchases. Though their prices tend to be more reasonable than many manufacturers.

It's a great jacket, don't get me wrong. It's well made and kudos to Joe at Zpacks for pushing what's possible in weight. That said, I have the pre-Challenger version (white) and Challenger pants. The outer layer rubbed off quite a bit around the shoulders and hands after a number of hikes. The challenger pants delaminated quite a bit around the hips and waist. I was wearing them on top of down pants so that may have contributed to the wear. The zipper is totally fine. I added extra cuben tape around the cuffs to help with the durability when it's wet, that seems to work ok.

I've had the Marmot Essence for over a year now and through my experiences it's proven to be durable, breathable, quite water resistant, water wipes over very easily, and has decent coverage. I have a size large. As already mentioned the pit vents are not overly large, but I believe they still serve their purpose. For $200 some may consider it a little steep, though.

Patagonia Alpine Houdini is 6oz and rather durable, but cannot comment compared to the others.

I've had the essence for about a year now and I'm happy with it so far. Can't speak to the long term durability of it, but otherwise I think its got a nice balance of lightweight, comfort and breathability. I also payed around $140 for mine on sale, which is not bad compared to some shells mentioned here. Stayed dry in a sustained hard rain storms in indian peaks and wind river range last september. Wrestled with some pretty thick bushes without any extra damage, too. Its not a miracle material as far as breathability goes, but its prob not far behind my worn out event shell. Beyond that its got good coverage, a good hood, and will easily layer over my puffy at 6.3 oz on my scale. Perfect for Colorado where you don't really need a shell until you
really need one.

delamination is not uncommon with these UL rain jackets

personally i would suggest one that has an unlimited no questions asked warranty whether from a retailer or the manufacturer

OR comes to mind in that regard

its also not unknown for these jackets to delaminate occasional use after a few years, not just constant use … theres enough examples n BPL if one searches

;)

I've been using Marmot Essence since 2006. I bought one in 2006, replaced in 2009, replaced again in 2012. So for my usage (~75 days per year on trail) it seems to be a 3-year lifespan. We've worn them it on two month-long trips (Wales and Scotland) that were very wet and windy and we were satisfied. On those two trips we wore them all day every day for a couple weeks at a time. Our other trips have had occasional rain, sometimes very heavy/windy rain, but not for multiple consecutive days.

I paid $54, $82, $110. Now I wish I'd bought several back when they were on sale for $54!

>> What's the longest you've been in sustained rain in that jacket without the material wetting out or soaking through? <<

The photo in my previous post was taken during a two day stretch of continuous rain (no dry out opportunities, so put on wet the second day of continuous rain).

The Versalite's DWR is not as good as the DWR on my other Montbell jackets (maybe doesn't adhere as well to the windtop-like material… not sure). That said, in my experience, any DWR will fail after a day of full-on rain and brushy trails. So wetting out has been a problem with any of my jackets, including the Versalite but the membrane didn't fail, I stayed dry (no soaking through).

In the photo, I'm also wearing the Versalite pants and they kept me dry even though I was walking through miles of soaking wet, knee high brush that was encroaching on the trail. The pants are made of the same material as the jacket and were dripping wet the entire time and still kept me dry.

The one thing that I do that may be different than others is that I replace my rain gear every 1-2 years as I don't want to be in a situation where it lets me down. If I had to buy new rain gear right now, I'd buy another Versalite.

Have you looked at the M10? I have had one for a bit and so far so good. It seems to breath as well as any other jacket I have had and only weighs 227g in a medium. I know that the price can be a bit high, but I have seen them on sale from time to time.

With this on I have no problem with 3 season layering and the cut fits my frame (5'9" 150lbs) well. The hood is sized well for a helmet and also can be worn without one too. Also rear coverage seems to be more than adequate.

I've had my Helium several years and am pleased with both performance and durability. If I know it's going to be rainy, I carry a eVENT jacket (Rab), but for all other outings the Helium gets the nod (it's roughly half the weight of the Rab)

I don't believe the Superlight Plasmic is available any longer, MH has the Plasmic Ion (pit zips), but it weighs 10 oz, my buddy has one that he really likes.

I don't think you could go wrong with any of the ones you've listed, as Eric points out- delamination is a problem w/ many 2.5 waterproof jackets, OR's warranty is tough to beat in that regard

Thanks for the details on the Zpacks coat.

I've had an OR Helium and now a Helium II (OR actually replaced my Helium for free with a Helium II when lots of use wore out the zipper, so cudos to them for that).

I've used the Helium II some, mostly with a backpack, but haven't put thousands of miles on it yet or anything egregious. Before a recent trip I diligently re-treated it using the approved DWR treatment method. Early in the trip I found that in the shoulder area it was wetting through pretty quickly anyway.

I.e., my sense is that use of pack straps is going to wear this and perhaps many/most lightweight rain jackets at the shoulder are to the point that they're not very water proof (or proof-able) there anymore.

I wonder if a manufacturer might consider somehow reinforcing the fabric on the upper shoulders of backpacking rain jackets to prevent this very predictable problem??

I also wonder if there's some reasonable DIY way of doing so with my own jacket. This is the only reason I'm considering replacing it, I otherwise like the Helium II quite well.

I've been using a Haglofs Ozo as my main coat since early in 2011. It's been to Alaska twice, New Zealand once, across the Bob Marshall close to 10 times, etc. Still going strong, and I've added spray-on DWR all of twice, both times in the last year.

Anoraks without pitzips aren't everyones preference, but when the Ozo dies I'll buy another Haglofs. It does have interior condensation in tough conditions, but has never seriously wet through. I can't see a reason why I'd go back to PU coated WPB raingear, in my experience it just doesn't work as well as Goretex.

I second that. Best 3 layer shell available

"I also wonder if there's some reasonable DIY way of doing so with my own jacket."

A quick and dirty solution would be to put a couple strips of good duct tape or Gorilla Tape on the areas that wear. Easy to remove if it doesn't work, and easy to replace when it wears out.

"A quick and dirty solution would be to put a couple strips of good duct tape or Gorilla Tape on the areas that wear. Easy to remove if it doesn't work, and easy to replace when it wears out."

And this would have the added advantage of fitting very well with the overall sense of style and fashion that I always strive to attain.

I'm not sure that this wouldn't turn into somewhat of a sticky mess, however, ultimately just sort of messing up the jacket? I seriously do on occasion like to use my trail jacket as a "town jacket" (in trail towns) without standing out as too much of an overt hobo.

Without thinking much about it, I guess I had in mind somehow getting a strip of silnylon or cuben or the like to adhere to each shoulder — something a bit more flexible than heavy tape.
Maybe it would help at least with the cosmetic issue to add such a reinforcement layer inside, under the fabric rather than over it.

I have almost no DIY or sewing/fabric experience. I should probably just consult my wife. What I more likely will do is to just live with what I've got!

"Without thinking much about it, I guess I had in mind somehow getting a strip of silnylon or cuben or the like to adhere to each shoulder"

Most of the UL gear makers will sell you Cuben repair tape. If you need syl nylon, just use some Seam Grip and a strip of syl nylon. It is lighter than duct tape, but duct tape is so easy to use, cheap, and a bit of a fashion statement, if I might be so bold…. ;0))