Tyvek jacket?

[Mark Hurd]

Roleigh,
I believe they sell Tyvek brand protective clothing as well as some Tyvek-like brands, but I think they are labled as to which is which on the home page. You could alway contact them.

I did not continue to use them because I found them too hot to wear in a light rain and not waterproof enough to wear in a heavy rain. I switched to DryDucks which I find more beathable and more waterproof. However, there are other people on these forums that use Tyvek and find it works for them. I suspect that they may not be using it in hot humid conditions.

-Mark

[Roleigh Martin]

Mark, your opinion was just perfect as I know how Dri Ducks is, having used it. I get hot enough in Dri Ducks if I hike with it on during a hot rain so I assume I'd roast in Tyvek.

[Mark Hurd]

Roleigh,
Well, that has been my experience, but I was hiking in hot humid conditions. I still sweat with the DriDucks , but not as bad. However, the Tyvek is cheap, so you may cosider trying them out.

-Mark

[Roleigh Martin]

Terri measured 3 jacket sleeves the conventional way (neck seam to end of cuff down the top edge of the sleeve) and I posted it as a "PS" above and also here:

"I measured 3 jackets your way. From the neck/hood seam down to the end of the sleeve.

L – 33 1/4 "
XL – 34 1/4 "
XXL – 34 3/4 "

Hope that answers your question."

Terri Beaudoin
Web Sales

[obx hiker]

The protective clothing website has some interesting products. I ordered about a dozen pairs of the protective tyvec boots. They cost @.69 a pair….biggest expense was the shipping. I want to experiment with making a lightweight gaiter to keep water from Southern Appalachian vegetation from wetting through the mesh tops of trail runners and just in general keep things dryer from the knee down on wet mornings. Nothing like getting your feet wet to make blisters a potential issue. The tyvec boots except for the soles ( which are some sort of mid-weight vinyl like a cheap thin upholstery) are made of the light supple tyvek like that sold for making kites. The pair ( with the soles trimmed off) weighs about 1.5 oz and each gaiter rolls into a bundle about the size of a film canister ( remember those?) and is kept rolled tightly with the attendant scrunchies described below.

The gaiters are very easy to put on and are one piece; no awkward zipper or velcro to refasten. The boots as manufactured have a fabric tie to gather the loose material above the ankle. I am keeping them tight over the trail runners with a scrunchie across the instep and another over the forefoot. I also added a tiny grommet to the fabric of the heel- achilles tendon area so I can gather that tightly and pull it forward towards each instep and keep them reasonable snug. Knotted a severed scrunchie into the grommet and tie if off on the instep scrunchie… keeps the whole thing very snug and tidy. Remains to be seen how the forefoot scrunchie will wear on rocky terrain but the things are basically weightless so taking a couple of spares is no big deal.

I don't want or expect them to be "brush-busters" but it'll be interesting to see how they perform.

The questions I have are:
Do they keep the feet and calves dry?
How long do the forefoot scrunchies last
Does the elastic below the knee sag?
Are they hot as hades?

They sure are light and pack small. The lightest I can find on the internet are made by Mountain Laurel and weigh @ 5 1/2 ounces as I remember and are sort of mid height. I expect they will last quite well and keep things pretty dry without being too hot but I'll let you all know!

[J B]

I suspect that they can handle a light spray but nothing serious.

I wore a Tyvek pant on the day before I took this photo:

The rain wasn't really… catastrophic, but it was some rain. I stayed dry.

[Joe Geib]

and did you roast inside them?

[Matthew Huber]

http://www.disposable-garments.com/tyvek_coveralls.html?_vsrefdom=ppc&kw=tyvek%20overalls&gclid=CJ3VyP70l50CFQRM5QodtWGl8g

I had a friend wear this in the Adirondacks for a few days. It kept him dry except that off-trail hiking tore up the fabric.

Does anybody know what the weight on a pair of Tyvek coveralls would be?

[Matthew Huber]

I needed to go to the hardware store today anyway, so I picked up a couple of tyvek coveralls. They are KleenGuard brand Heavy Duty and Chemical Splash Resistant coveralls, which are slightly different. I like the CSR one better, as it seems more breathable, has a cover over the zipper, and has a nice blue color (as opposed to white). The HD weighs in at 7.36, while the CSR is 8.25 oz. The HD cost $10, the CSR was $12. They both slipped easily over my shoes.

However, I am sitting in the HD coverall right now in my apt, and I am starting to sweat. The front zips open, which allows some ventilation. Since these are designed to protect from chemical spills, I imagine that it would do a fine job of it, but I won't know until I get a good outdoor test. I plan to do some hiking this weekend, if it rains I will take out the CSR coverall to see how it does.

[J B]

and did you roast inside them?

No, it was just fine.

But then, the temperatures were low.

[obx hiker]

I haven't tried them yet. I'll post when I can. I guess the current temps here on the OBX are pretty comparable to summer time mountain temps. Maybe I'll wear one and leave the other off with light cotton socks and weigh the difference pre and post.

Anyone got other ideas on how to evaluate the heat factor?

I may get to 6000 feet in a week or 2.

I'm picturing these gaiters as a morning dew accessory but of course some times it's just wet all day and the trail has lots of vegetation. I don't really picture them as all day rain wear. Hell in September 2005 I got stuck off the Ptarmigan Traverse coming down to the Middle Cascade ( like an eastern dumb@ss ( though I was with 2 Oregonians; tells you what that was worth!) I hadn't checked on the trail closures and didn't know the Johannesburg fire had all but wiped out the Middle Cascade River Trail..but That's another story. Anyway it rained Day and Night and we were trashing through the alder thickets and head high meadows. I had a complete precip rainsuit, crocodile gaiters and goretex mid heights in the taller range. Was completely soaked in about 30 minutes each day. Shoulda worn a wetsuit.

Point being most times after awhile you get wet; either from the inside out; the outside in, or both.

[obx hiker]

OK here's the first "test" report.

I walked a 4+ mile trail in Nags Head Woods I've walked a few hundred times ( options here are slim but if you have to live with one trail this is a good one )

The temp starting out was 70 dropping to 66 at the fimish ( right at sunset ). The humidity was @ 60% which is low for this locale.

Walked almost exactly 60 minutes ( I've done this trail in less than 55 but for a 5'8" guy with a 28" inseam 55 minutes is as fast as I can walk without jogging) Average heart rate 126 and burned @645 calories.

I was wearing this year's Salomon XA Pro 3-D trail runners w/out gtx. and cotton ankle height light athletic crew socks to try and collect moisture.

The socks weighed 22 grams dry. After the walk they measured 26 grams; but the sock on the gaitered right leg first tipped the scale at 27 before settling at 26 and seemed to take a second longer to resolve it's weight at 26 when re-measuring. I think it had more moisture

By the end of the walk my right foot felt more damp and felt like it was getting borderline on being blister rubbing damp.

Still the difference was negligible and would surely be much less with the synthetic running /liner socks I normally wear. The right foot and lower leg didn't feel noticeably warmer.

One surprise was that the toe area suffered some slight damage/ abrasion right on top of the toe which later when sprayed with the hose leaked immediately.

The scrunchies showed no real apparent wear and with backups seem like they ought to survive most trips of a week or less even if the gaiters are worn often.

The tops were pulled down a little I think by the action of the pants I was wearing. This didn't reach that hard to define annoyance/issue level and may be really negligible with shorts but I'm going to look at ways to tighten up the tops.

I think a duct tape toe cap about 1.5 to 2 inches wide may be in order. The seams also need to be sealed as the holes left by the stitching are pretty big.

Overall I think these gaiters will do the trick on stopping the problem of wetting out the toe area and getting moisture wicked back over the foot/sock from dew and wet vegetation repeatedly contacting the mesh tops of trail runners. I also suspect they will keep one dry in all but the hardest most persistent rainfall.

Stay tuned!

[Author]

Posts