Need a waterproof jacket and pants.

What kind of ounces are you aiming for?

Not sure. The pants are a bit tricky because the ankle areas should be reinforced for going around boots and stuff.

But the jacket can be less than 10 oz I guess?

Gore xcr is old tech, event and Neoshell are the way to go.

or GTX Pro (not Pro Shell !)

Ah, after reading up on eVent I think that's what I'm going to go for. I'm not too thrilled about the GoreTex inner having to first be saturated before it starts breathing and diffusing.

Will eVent be durable? All my previous waterproof stuff have been cheap and coated and they all ended up peeling. eVent won't peel and should be waterproof for a lifetime with proper washing right? As in, the waterproofness is an integral part of the very structure of the textile?

The new GTX Pro is ± like eVent (pure ePTFE, no PU-inner that needs to be saturated, air-permeable). But only GTX Pro, not regular GTX.

Will eVent be durable? All my previous waterproof stuff have been cheap and coated and they all ended up peeling. eVent won't peel and should be waterproof for a lifetime with proper washing right? As in, the waterproofness is an integral part of the very structure of the textile?

Most cheap waterproof fabrics use polyurethane plastic to waterproof it. Unfortunately polyurethane is not a very stable plastic. Left alone it will on its own degrade, crack,peel, or turn sticky. There are even fungi that will eat it.

The membrane used by Gortex and Event are modified versions of expanded PTFE. PTFE is teflon which is extremely stable. I have a gortex jacket that is about 20 years old now and it has not delaminated (The original DWR is gone and needs to be reapplied frequently but it is still waterproof). However the membrane must be attached to the fabric with some sort of glue. That glue can fail. However if that happens with Gortex the Gortex warranty will cover it. Probably the Same for Event. fortunately delamination of Gortex or Event appears to be uncommon.

As long as the membrane is not damaged it should stay waterproof. The most common causes a damage to the membrane are from tears, punctures, or abrasion. The effects of abrasion can be minimized by keeping the jacket clean and by using the 3 layer versions of the fabric instead of the 2 layer versions.

ANY wpb jacket can delaminate … 3 layer ones tend to be more durable, but a simple google search will show goretex and event DO fail … hell one that was sent to BPL to test failed

you shouldnt expect ANY rain jacket to last a lifetime of constant usage, its simply not realistic no matter what the material or the maker

if you want to be guaranteed coverage buy a rain jacket from somewhere with a no questions asked unlimited warranty … like MEC or OR

thats all there is to it

;)

In your original post you mentioned that you would use these for skiing as well as backpacking, so I think you need to focus on the outer fabric as well as the membrane. If I wore my light weight backpacking rain gear skiing they wouldn’t last a season.

I’d definitely look for Event or Gortex because you will need the durability that those technologies provide but a light weight backpacking solution may not last (especially the pants) if you plan on using them for skiing.

I have a pair of Taiga Summit pants for skiing, fishing/bushwhacking however, I don’t take them backpacking as I have much lighter (less durable) rain gear for that. The Summit pants have re-enforced Cordura ankle patches (which are ideal for skiing) and full side zips and are 3 layer Dry Shell Pro (Gortex). My size large weighs in at 17 oz but they are bomber. For backpacking, my rain gear weighs less than 11 oz. (pants and jacket weight combined). If you can only afford one set of gear then I’d opt for heavier/durable over light weight.

Edit:

Regarding Taiga’s Dry Shell Pro membrane (which I indicated was Gortex in my note above). My Summit Pants have the Gortex label on them but it looks like Taiga has swapped it out for a cheaper material in their current product line (too bad). Taiga makes good products though, so I’d still recommend their gear although I can’t comment on their DryShell Pro.

From Taiga’s website:

“DryShell-PRO™ is Taiga Works’ proprietary name for a 3-layer waterproof fabric that in our tests proved to be more breathable than 2-layer ‘Performance’ Gore-Tex®.”

What kind of skiing? Nordic or downhill?

I'd say you probably want to go with light soft shell pants and jacket for either type, especially Nordic for the breathability. This would be important when backpacking also.

For below 20F, and especially for 0F and below, the best clothing is heavy wool pants and a cotton canvas anorak. These were the soft shells before soft shells.

Above 30F or so or for fairly steady rain, go with eVent.