I bought the "long" version of the Challenger jacket, and just came back from hiking the Camino in Spain with it. I hiked a bit over a month and 500+ miles, but the majority of the days I didn't use the jacket. It was new when I started. It's showing significant wear now already, and in particular whereever the pack straps or waist belt encountered the cuben fabric. I had been concerned about this, and now feel like this jacket is a fine choice — if you're willing to spend the money — if in fact you're not going to wear a backpack over it. But in the context of a thread on a site named "backpackinglight" — I have to say that I don't think this is a good idea. To be clear, my jacket still works fine, it's just showing significant wear. Like any other rain gear, it can wet out after a while but works fine overall. It's just my sense that the durability factor should steer most buyers to something else. I'll also say that the zipper is sometimes a PITA to get started. Dunno if this is just my particular jacket or if it's a common problem, but I have to fiddle with this to get it started, which on occasion has been frustrating. I have gotten a little better at it, but still. Not recommended.
