Rain/windproof UL jacket

One thing mentioned in the recent article

In order to make them weigh less, they make them shorter, but you want it to be longer to keep your dry

That's a good point.

I'm planning to pick up a rain skirt here shortly…I guess you could pull that up higher to account for this?

Hi Zack,
Check out the recent BPL UL WPB jacket SOTMR, there plenty of other options to consider.

Maybe give the Rab Pulse or Kinetic a look – both are UL rain shells weighing between 7-8oz (the Kinetic is about an ounce heavier than the Pulse). The Kinetic has semi decent venting options for its weight via mesh-backed front packets. Neither jacket has pit-zips, but then again, I don't think you're going find a <8oz WPB jacket that does. Er, well, z-packs does make a WPB cuben jacket where pitzips are available as an option (and weight is just 4.9/5.1oz w/ zips), but it costs $240 and I haven't seen any reviews for it yet…

Sorry, it's been a while since I was more active, I'm learning to navigate the forum and find all the features. However, I don't know what SOTMR is. Is it under the "ARTICLES" link?

OK. Found it. State of the Market Report:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/ul_wpb_jackets_sotmr_part1.html

Hmm…the Ozo is the clear winner, but price tag is well over $200.

@ only $60 sale price, the CAMP b-dry is looking good. But, after reading that review, I wonder about the quality of the hood.

The Antigravity Gear hooded rain jacket weighs around four ounces, and it is not expensive.

–B.G.–

Does the antigravity jacket perform well as a windstopper? I notice my Marmot jacket really stops the cold and that's an important feature to me.

Also, does the velcro on the antigravity tend to absorb water?

Looking at the hood, it doesn't appear to have a bill, so that concerns me in terms of the BPL article that talks about the importance of a full hood.

"Does the antigravity jacket perform well as a windstopper?"

Rather completely. I've worn it on a cold/snowy/windy day, and I could have used a little more ventilation blowing through.

"Also, does the velcro on the antigravity tend to absorb water?"

I've never noticed the Velcro absorbing _any_ water. The Velcro is in short pieces, not long strips.

"Looking at the hood, it doesn't appear to have a bill, so that concerns me in terms of the BPL article that talks about the importance of a full hood."

Well, it does have a full hood, but no bill. My baseball cap has a good bill, so I never looked for more.

–B.G.–

I second Bob's statements about the AGG sil jacket.

It does indeed block the wind, and a hat with a bill makes the hood function just fine.

As far as the velcro, it does not absorb much water like Bob said, and I actually removed the velcro from the wrist cuffs. I replaced it with a shock cord run through the hem at the wrist and use cord locks to cinch it closed. Works much better IMO.

However, in terms of the jacket absorbing water, I would be more concerned with the silnylon absorbing water more than the velcro. I have yet to weigh it after being exposed to rain, but IME it takes a little while for sil to dry out after getting wet…

I have not seam sealed mine and do not feel the need to do so just yet, although I have not been out in a lot of extended periods of rain with it. Just some here and there, and the longest being a couple of hours while hiking down from Blood Mountain on the AT.

The one thing I wish though was that the sleeves were just about an inch or two longer. And as has been mentioned, it is a bit short in the back, but it does end up with a light weight jacket. My XL weighs 4.8 oz and will roll up to the size of a 12 oz soda can.

It seems like a great jacket… but I haven't had mine out in the rain yet. It's certainly light and packable, it fits in the lid of my backpack.

Plus, EB had a 25% discount on them last week when I picked mine up.

Great feedback guys. Thanks.

It keeps making me want to get into design of my own gear.

I agree that longer sleeves is always a must. I really like the rubberized cuff on my Marmot Essence. It kept the water out. I would also like to ensure the jacket dips down in the back like a biking jacket. I really do like the bill on the new Marmot Essence that is shaped so that it will stand out on its own. I would probably also go with a velcro pit zip.

Typically, I do have a lightweight Patagonia hat with a bill that does a decent job, though the bill is soft, not shaped.

At only $60, I couldn't pass up trying the CAMP B-dry jacket.

I received it today. It's very light, fits into it's own integrated pocket.

It is VERY fitted..as in athletic cut. I purchased a large and it was nearly skin tight over medium thickness clothing. Part of this is due to the sewn in elastic under the traps. But this section will expand as you move, so that may end up being a nice feature.

The bottom will pull tight, and they have a cool design to this, however, I'm not sure that it will stay tight during use. The hood has a drawstring, but it's not a one hand design which is too bad. The hood also doesn't have a brim, so you'd need to wear it with a hat to prevent water from running down your face and into the neck of the jacket. The sleeves have some nice elastic on them.

The pocket opening is so small that many people with larger than medium sized hands won't be able to reach into it. It's a snug fit for medium size hands.

I'm thinking about designing a bill that can velcro on to the hood from the underside and provide shape as well as rain protection without the need for a hat.

How is the breathability of the CAMP jacket you picked up? I'm a trail runner, so I'm considering picking one up, and then taking it to a seamstress to get pit-zips added.

I'd love any updated thoughts you have on the jacket after using it for the past month!

I ordered this for my son.

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/product/index.jsp?productId=12535914

It is the Brooks L.S.D Men's Lite running Jacket. Currently on sale for $36.93 and 4.3 oz (m).

This is a VERY lightweight jacket. It is the lightest weave of ripstop nylon I have encountered. Just arrived last Friday. It is reputed to be wind resistant and even good in a light rain. This may be light enough to hike in in the 40s, but for around camp, I would layer with long sleeve shirts to be effective.

Still the price and weight are good. The Large weighted in at 4.7 oz. I tried it on and it fit me at 6'1" and 195. I have long arms and it was fine. But if I had a bigger chest I would go with the XL.

I wish I had seen this before I left on my trip. I just returned from the Smoky Mountains and did an 8 hour hike in the rain. But, I took my old rain jacket, which I now know has some waterproofing issues to contend with.

I still haven't had a chance to use the new Camp jacket for extended periods to determine breathe-ability.

I will say that with the high temps and near 100% humidity, wearing the Marmot rain jacket was almost worthless due to my sweating inside of it. I was completely drenched. Still, I found that thrown over my back with the hood over my head, it covered me from a lot of the uncomfortable feeling of overhead rain while still being breathable because the whole front was open. I wore my Z Packs rain skirt as well and that made a big difference.

I'm a bit disillusioned about what I can do in the future for an extended hike in the rain that doesn't involve me from being soaked regardless of rain jacket.

Thanks for the response.

I suppose that if you took your old Marmot then that is telling enough that you aren't "in love" with the CAMP. I've been heavily eyeing the Marmot Super Mica due to the added pit zips. I suppose I could always take the CAMP to a seamstress to add the zips, but who knows how well that would turn out.

I just loved the Marmot for so long…it's very versatile and looks great as normal clothing around town. I wasn't really anticipating all the rain I got and thought I'd bring it more as a wind jacket for the night time and wanted more of a "street look."

The Camp looks nice, but it's sort of a loud orange color, mostly see through, and is all crinkly looking and sounding rather than the Marmot.

I bought the Camp jacket because the price was right and thought it would make a good dedicated backpacking jacket and I'd use the Marmot for normal wear.

However, I think it's obvious now that the Marmot needs some re-waterproofing if I'm going to continue to use it. The Marmot definitely looks like it would be more durable than the Camp.

My only gripe on the Marmot was venting, and I know it didn't have pit zips because of the weight….but I still think they can be useful.

I started to design a new, minimal rain protection system while on the hike that would also allow for ventilation. It's something I'll have to try to flesh out and see if I can mock up before I'll get too excited though.

going out for a long time in the rain will result in you getting damp no matter what ….

the only partial solution ive found is very good venting, wearing as little as possible under the jacket on the move, and using quick drying synth layers

Well, it was quite warm and I was pushing it up a steep grade for a long period of time, so I was working up quite a sweat. I did have on a lightweight smartwool short sleeve shirt and nothing else…but it was soaked. When I put on the rain jacket, I felt hot and sticky in it.

The rain would stop and then start and then stop again…it was aggravating. I couldn't keep the rain jacket on continuously as it was simply too hot. But as soon as I would take it off it would start raining and it would be light enough that I'd just leave the jacket off. But then it would get stronger and I'd stop and put on the jacket.

Finally, I just attached it to my pack so that it wouldn't fly away, and placed the hood over my head and draped the rest around me. This seemed to do the trick for the most part in keeping rain off my head and shoulders and from soaking my pack. But, it also allowed venting because it was completely open in the front. Since my t-shirt was already soaked, I didn't mind much and my rain skirt kept my pants dry. (but my ex-officio underwear was soaked through as well)

In a way, I needed a kind of umbrella set up to just keep the vertical rain off me as much as possible but allow what little breeze there was to reach my core.