Sierra Designs Cogule, Chaps, and Solar Wind Hoodie

For things like kneeling, pack straps or what not, those areas can be reinforced with more truly waterproof stuff without compromising the overall breathablity of the systems.

Thank you for the offer for the fabric leads, i may take you up on it sometime. There is one major problem with using tightly woven polypropylene material for a sort of membrane, that i know of, is that it absorbs oils like crazy and course the infamous stink, though there are some treatments for the latter.

"Let me know if you need any fabric leads. It is easier to get than you might think….."

Did you hear that???
I think it was Justin's head exploding.
:)

"Did you hear that???
I think it was Justin's head exploding."

Dear BackpackingLight Forum,

This is Becky Whitson, Justin's spouse, speaking on behalf of Justin. It is with a heavy, sad heart that I share the following news… Justin recently went through a tragic, unexplained accident. He was on his laptop yesterday, presumably surfing this forum since it was the last page up, when his head spontaneously exploded.. No one can explain the occurrence…though it appears that Christopher * is a one of a kind psychic, having predicted this somehow (or perhaps it was foul play, Christopher, you'll be hearing from our lawyers shortly..)

Because I know Justin held this forum and most of it's members in high esteem, I know he would want me to inform you of this and that he may never partake in BPL again. For the positive side, amazingly he survived this tragedy–perhaps because he had such a big head to begin with, I don't know, we can only speculate at this point. Doctors say that there may be a partial recovery but..but.. he'll never be quite the same again.

Also, occasionally he wakes up and mutters things over and over again, perhaps it will make sense to some of you? He keeps saying things like, "Cuben fiber .51 .33 .74 1, hybrid cuben…Robic…Fusion…Fusion… Paramo…EPIC combo, eVent poncho, spectra windjackets… future of WPB…." repeating these same things over and over again, it makes NO SENSE, I fear for the worst for him. What scares me more is sometimes he wakes up sweating and screaming, as if from a horrid nightmare, yelling out, "Drake Belial hunting me, Ken hates me, no one laughs at my jokes NOOOOOOOOO…..

If you would like to send UL flowers send it to …. ……….. ……. ……. ……

Thank you so much, and please pray for his recovery.

Dear Becky,

Please tell Justin to toughen up, rub some dirt on it, and get back in the forums.

The interwebs are serious stuff and we don't have time for wimps.

Ian??!! Nice to meet you. You just reminded me of something! More rarely he wakes up and whispers something like "Ian..Tutu… Hawt Naglene near nethers…ahhhh" and then this weird, creepy half smile and some blushing happens.. WTF? Do you know anything about this?

(Now a word from Roger*) "Folks, don't feed the Droll Troll."

* Not really, i made that up too.

Just kidding.
:)

At least you are writing from Becky's perspective. The cat/dog post had me a little worried.

"no one laughs at my jokes NOOOOOOOOO….."

Our bad. We thought you were serious about all that galactic core stuff, good to know you were joking. We'll laugh next time you talk about it. You know, because we care….

Please tell me the Cagoule will come in other colors besides yellow.

I use a system similar to Roger Caffin’s (because I can’t sew) in that I use a Pertex hooded jacket and a poncho/tarp. The jacket is a Pertex Equilibrium Westcomb Crest hooded wind shirt because it is durable, breathes well at 10 CFM, can be worn in warmer temps and actually is able to shed light rain for long periods of time. When I know it is going to be a prolonged downpour or very windy I just whip out my poncho/tarp as this allows me full water protection with a good amount of venting and it can be used in warmer temps. I usually pair this with a trash bag rain skirt that comes to above my ankles and has a slit in the back so that I can take long strides.

I do like Justin's system but just couldn't find things that would fit an XLT to try it out.

Kudos for the effort no matter your result. I agree that what we have done for moisture protection in the past is an epic failure.

In my opinion people overuse rain gear anyway. I leave it off unless I absolutely need it for warmth. Something that would go on/off quickly and easily and vented well would be my preferred solution. And…as you pointed out, going under the straps/hip belt is a real design issue.

I've long thought the best solution would be one that vented heavily at the expense of "rain proof". I don't care about getting wet because I know I'm going to eventually anyway. What I care about is having a garment that allows me to exert myself without overheating and is easy to get on/off while allowing maximum range of comfort in wind/rain and use conditions as seen backpacking, not fishing or walking in the park.

Mike, I'm liking what I see on the Cogule, chaps and Stow windshirt. It looks like SD took the cue and is publishing CFM ratings, which I don't think any other manufacturer has done. Kudos on the long side vents too.

IMHO, the current 10oz poncho with even-length pack panel is useless for backpacking. It would be good to see the dimensions published with the other specs.

With the demise of the Golight poncho, there is a real opportunity to step in and offer an ultralight backpacking poncho with a long rear panel to cover the pack. Add thumb loops and a back tie-down as discussed in the thread at http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/xdpy/forum_thread/99555 and you'll have a great product :)

Of course the poncho would make a perfect paring with the chaps.

I have, admittedly, little experience with clothing design but lots of experience with marine industrial coatings (ship paint) and we use white exclusively when trying to maintain cool surface temperatures because it's (by far) the best color for reflecting heat.

So why are so few sun/heat protection garments offered in white?

Just curios

@John:

Probably because darker colors — while absorbing more heat — still remain well within acceptable comfort levels — thus allowing for various color/style preferences? The one big disadvantage of white clothing – they show dirt the most.

Another thought – if black is so bad, how come billions of humans haven't figured out to evolve white hair? Oh wait, they have, it just takes a little longer to grow. :)

Wow, it's been ages since I've been on BPL! Really great to see one of these very informative and light-hearted dsicussions again. Hey everyone who remembers me!

Had lots of thoughts on the ideas proposed here. Just one suggestion for the women's hoodie ponytail and braids slit… would it work better for both if you cut the slit vertically?