William Joseph Ultralight Rain Jacket

Nice find, Chris. I've never seen this jacket mentioned anywhere. It's definitely intriguing, especially with the list weight of five ounces and the reasonable price. I notice that the ad copy on several sites claims that it's made from "the same waterproof, breathable material as jackets costing three times as much," but I sure would like to know what that material is. Maybe a call to the manufacturer is in order…

$50 here: http://www.bobwards.com/bobwards/servlet/item/features/88643-02

Definitely interesting!

Yes Ernie, please call and let us know!

I suspect that "high breathability" has a different degree of meaning to fly fishers versus hikers. Too bad the site linked above as well as the manufacturer's site itself contain only "market speak" and no spec or data whatsoever regarding breathability.

I called the manufacturer, but I didn't learn very much. The receptionist had obviously been asked about the fabric before, but it was abundantly clear that she had no technical knowledge about it whatsoever. She said that it was made of Suflex breathable material with a PBC lining. I asked her to spell everything (she was reading from a note she'd made sometime in the past). None of this means anything to me, and a quick Google search proved fruitless. Maybe someone else will recognize the terms (if they're even correct). She also confirmed that the 5 oz listed weight is correct (for whatever that's worth), and that they'd upgraded to waterproof zips this year.

I suspect she meant PVC lining and it looks like Suflex is a company that makes sheathing.

http://www.suflex.com/

PVC…of course. I probably just misheard her. I've always associated PVC with non-breathable materials, though. I ran across the Suflex sleeving/tubing website, but I saw nothing about fabric manufacturing. Perhaps it's a new endeavor, or perhaps there's another Suflex? Regardless, thanks for taking on the "official tester" role. I'll be anxious to hear your findings.

Ok, I ordered one. I'll post more once it arrives.

I’ve encountered a couple of things that have made me suspicious about the weight. For one, it looks like the 2005 model of this jacket was available at Sierra Trading Post at some point in the past. It’s still showing up here:

http://www.gearapalooza.com/product/9652/william-joseph-rain-jacket-waterproof-mens.html

The listed weight is 10 ounces. My first thought was that they’d trimmed quite a bit of weight from the more recent models, but then I noticed a discrepency in this description:

http://www.aos.cc/live/catalog/william-joseph-ultra-lite-regenjacke-gruen-p-2158.html?language=en

They emphasize over and over that it weighs five ounces, but then they list the metric weight as 280 grams (which, of course, is about 10 ounces). Which is correct? I’ve wondered all along how they could include an LED zipper pull, velcro cuff closures, a full-length-waterproof zipper, as well as two chest pockets and still offer a jacket that’s lighter than DriDucks. This is all idle speculation, of course, so I’ll be anxiously awaiting your findings, Chris.

I'm slightly suspicious as well. The Sierra Designs Isotope (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/sierra_designs_isotope_rainshell_orsm05.html) weighs 4.5ish though and it's similar in design so I'm hoping for the best.

I'm wondering if the material is SympaTex which is made of polyether-ester block copolymer (PBC?).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympatex

I was able to speak with a technical guy and he said the current model is a DWR coated nylon which sounds remarkably like the SD Isotope I mentioned above only a wee bit heavier and about $30 cheaper on the MSRP.

The 08 model will be a breathable membrane.

It wont' weigh 5 oz by the pack size alone. And it probably ins't very breathable. Post opinion after using it.

Cabela's sells their "Rainy River" PacLite Gore-Tex rain suit as separates at about $80. for each, parka and pants.
I have the suit in two shades of olive B/C I bought the pants and parka separately. The many features of the parka and pants, especially for this price, are great and unexpected. When I ordered them I figured at $80. I'd get a bare-bones outfit. Quite the contrary.

Also PacLite is the most breathable of Gore's laminates.
The non-shiny, taslanized nylon outer is fairly strong. The PacLite smooth inner is clammy only on bare skin.

Cabela's garantee is just like REI's.

Eric

i noticed this jacket a few months ago and ultimately decided it looked too good to be true. there are typically a couple on ebay, if anybody wants to take the plunge.

could the receptionist have possibly said Supplex? Supplex is a commonly used nylon DWR fabric for pants & shirts (think REI zip-offs).

Well, it arrived today and I'm not terribly impressed. It weighs 9.6 ounces with the zipper light and no stuff sack. The zipper light is removable so I took that off and it dropped to 9.2 ounces. You could probably remove a few other fringe things and get it down to 8.5 but the seam taping on the inside looks sloppy to me. I also put it on for a couple of minutes inside (87 degrees outside so pretty warm in with no A/C running) and I started to sweat almost instantly so I wouldn't say it's very breathable either.

I'm going to send it back and will probably wind up with a GoLite Virga instead.

On the plus side my AGG treeline arrived as well and it's 1 ounce as advertised.