Rain Jacket– No Price Limit?

I have in my possession a new Cuben Packa by Joe at Zpacks. It is a 3.8 oz prototype that he has been working on with the approval of Eddie Hinnant aka Cedartree. Not quite sure when they will appear on Zpacks web site but I am tickled to death. I have a sill Packa and have loved it but it weighs 12 oz. Now I have the same protection, rain parka and pack cover all in one for 3.8 oz.

I like this!

I made a Roger Caffin Mountain Poncho (similiar to the packa) out of a Golite Poncho Tarp and silnylon and it weighed in at 8oz, made to slightly larger dimensions than Roger’s. It performed wonderfully in 35-50F degree temps on my Tahoe Rim Trail hike, holding off sleet, snow and rain. As Roger says in his article, the loose fit ventilates well, even on steep climbs.

But I’d never wear it in warmer, more humid conditions. When we were making it, I had to put it on for measuring in my apt, and I started perspiring withing minutes while my sewing talented girlfriend pinned it off.

In 3-season Northeastern conditions, I’d likely wear my Gore-tex Pro Alpha Lt, which at least breathes a bit.

But for the above mentione TRT conditioned a cuben paka sounds excellent. I thought about making the caffin poncho out of spinnaker, but that would be really noisy, so I’ve been watchin for the new Golite poncho tarp to go on sale (7oz vs 10oz for my version) so I could make a 5oz silnylon mountain poncho for US$20+ the cost of the poncho tarp.

I'm afraid I'm a bit of a "Packa Junky" – I have a Silnylon one that I loan to friends and an eVent model that I use myself (but it weighs 17 ounces).

I'm sure I'll be signing up to get one in Cuben as long as the pit zips are there…

Yes Kevin the cuben version has the pit zips. If you check out Joe's cuben jacket at Zpacks.com you will see the foundation for the Packa. Myself and a friend approached Joe about two months ago about making us Cuben Packas. I suggested that he contact Eddie and see if he could work out an agreement to offer the Packa in cuben. Well as I said earlier I received the first prototype two days ago. The workmanship is as usual excellent. I am not sure when they will be offered and for how much. I am like you a Packa junkie.

A bit heavier than you are looking for but I have been very happy with the EB First Ascent BC-200. Mine is a Large/Tall and comes in at 11.6 oz.

Cool news about the cuben packa. The original is impressive, but heavy (though it's also burly).

Some folks can get away with non-breathable jackets and pants. I can't. During testing this spring even a baggy packa with the pit zips full open got massive condensation under the shoulders and torso. Even silnylon chaps get too much condensation, even at temps near freezing. I suspect folks with different physiology and hiking styles will get different results.

Comparing the Spektr with the Ozo, I concluded that Event does breath better than Gtex. More accurately, it seems to breath sooner, as I built up a bit of heat and humidity in the torso. I didn't find the overall difference between the two to be that great, and found the PU jackets like the Essence to be substantially less breathable than either.