Rain pants vs. rain skirt

If you want something with legs, it may be well worth your while to check out chaps. It could be the right combo of attributes for you…full leg coverage but, because there's no crotch there's far less heat build-up.

I've been using a rain skirt in the past. I don't like rain pants for being awkward to put on/off, heavy on your back (for an item that usually sees lots of pack time) and sweaty when in use and I haven't used them for years. I've only missed them when it was cold, like close to freezing but it depends also on wind, exposure, etc.

A rain skirt works very well for all those issues with the pants but not so when it's cold/exposed. I usually carry convertible (hiking) pants, wear the skirt over the shorts and let my lower legs get wet. If it's cold, I just wear the full length hiking pants. I try to get pants with a wicking inner that feel not too uncomfortable when wet and of course dry quick. This works quite well. Actually, I find the problem with rain is not as much the falling rain itself but the wet vegetation: if you rub against it (and depending on the type of vegetation and its density), you get as soaked as if dumping in a river. Rain pants could be useful for this too and I might take them if I expect lots of wet vegetation.

For general use in the summer and unless I'm going to a particularly cold/exposed place, I use the skirt. Or unless I'm using a poncho, when a skirt would be redundant.

The chaps could be a good supplement to the skirt (or maybe knee high gaiters) but I've never used them. One of the things I like about the skirt is how quick and simple it is to put on / take off and chaps mean more complexity. The wet hiking pants option is usually good enough for me, the wet pant still protects from wind chill.

I've never used rain pants before so I cannot comment on them. I have used a rain skirt for a long time, however. When it is warm out, a rain skirt will definitely keep you cooler because of excellent ventilation. It would probably need to be below freezing for me to want rain pants.

A rain skirt also has multi-purpose uses that rain pants do not have. I use mine as a groundsheet to help protect the lower portion of my cuben bottom bivy, which my trimmed pad does not protect. It is also useful to wear when you need to take off your clothes to wash them.