A NEW PARADIGM FOR ANALYZING PWPB SYSTEMS LIKE THE COLUMBIA OUTDRY EX FEATHERWEI

[Christoph Blank]

thought about a lightweight visor too, will try

 

[John Papini]

In the market for a rain shell (see Rain Shell King thread) and came across this incredibly helpful and well researched post.

For the layman, is it fair to say that the new PWPB technology outperforms the WPB technology, assuming “on trail” use (i.e. no extraneous bushwhacking to ruin the outer membrane)? Put differently, in looking for a new rain shell, should I be focusing only on the PWBP options? Looking at a lot of jackets right now, so any reason to narrow the search is welcome.

Also, Columbia lists their Outdry Ex Featherweight as being 8.8 oz in medium. Folks here were saying 7.8 oz a few months back, so I wonder if Columbia’s site has the specs wrong, or if they’ve upgraded the jacket somehow?

Thanks!

[Link .]

The MEN’S OUTDRY™ EX FEATHERWEIGHT SHELL JACKET is on sale in blue for $118.90 right now

[Graham F]

My weight listed is correct. Just make sure you get the correct model, I believe I came across someone a a few months back that was certain they had the Ex Featherweight. But the jacket weight was wrong- it was heavier than mine in a smaller size. Have probably 200 hours in rain with loaded (8-11 kg) rucksack it looks new. Not enough time to say durability is exceptional but I feel I am on a winner so far. Vents are superb as I stated as did Richard -open in most rain. I think the technology has frightened people off so bargains to be had in the US at least.

[John Mc]

I didn’t get a chance to try out my new Cumbia jacket on the JMT.  I spent 14 days on the trail without a single drop of rain…..  Good for me…..but bad for my jacket test.

[Ito Jakuchu]

My Columbia OutDry EX Featherweight Shell in size Large weighs 200g.

I’m 184cm, slim, around 76Kg, with wide shoulders. The sleeves are great and the torso length too. I can layer my UL Thermawrap Hoody or two of them layered under my shell. But it’s not too loose or boxy a fit when just wearing a thin short sleeve shirt.

I have ok freedom in the shoulders but can’t get the sleeves over my under arms like I think some people can.

We have a couple of rain and typhoon season here in Japan with high high humidity and hard to very hard sustained rain. I find it fantastic not to have the fabric wet out at all, or have a DWR to deteriorate.

I also like the hood adjustment on the OutDry EX Featherweight Shell. I’ve tried some GTX Shakedry models but the ones I’ve been able to try here in Japan didn’t have hood adjustments, just elastic, and that has never worked well enough for me in the high typhoon like weather.

Edit – even with all the rain here I haven’t tested it enough to write a more thorough review. Initial impressions are that I very much like having the wicking liner on the inside. Feels great on bare arms and don’t have to worry about my skin oils and sweat deteriorating the membrane.

I don’t know about how breathable the membrane is, but personally I vastly prefer mechanical venting over any supposed membrane specs. I’ve not had the Shell on while moving hard. The summers are very hot and humid so with rain I mostly wear my wind shirt, if that. I don’t think I personally could wear it when hiking hard on steep uphills or running etc.

Now that the temperatures are getting a bit more humane though, I’ve worn it coming down the mountain after getting thoroughly soaked and in sustained cold rain. This is where the Shell really shines for me.

[Brad Rogers]

I took my Featherweight on the WRHR but it didn’t rain (I’m not complaining).

[Ben C]

I noticed the nice blue skies in your pictures. We did not have that kind of luck when we did it but it was really all snow.

[Graham F]

The real beauty of this jacket (so far) is not the breathability of the jacket on one day of wet rain, but putting it on the second and third successive day and the function is identical to the first day. I have done this twice only so far. Also putting it on under a wet tent in the morning and there are no wetted out spots, wrists cuffs, shoulders maybe. Take it home, dunk it in some tepid/warm water in a trough, slosh it around for 30-40 seconds, do it a second time, bingo. I won’t wash it in anything other than tap water until I learn otherwise-i.e. it impedes it’s function. I’ve done this now about 8 times. Still working as it did when I bought those several months ago.

[Christoph Blank]

I also had two days of heavy rain so far – after decent exposure the fabric looks like it is soaked (dark spots visible from the outside and inside) but does not wet through.
Did anyone experience this as well? I can post some pictures later

[Ito Jakuchu]

By all means Christoph!
I had my liner wet but it was because I was soaked from wearing just my windshirt during climbing and wore the EX Featherweight once I was done. Is that what happened?

[Hans Dampf]

nvm

[Christoph Blank]

Ah no – I mean how the Columbia OutDry EX Featherweight looks after a day of rain.
Here are two pictures, outside and inside – it looks like it gets soaked, but does not wet through:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q92gmqgg2aeka3m/IMG_20180914_155629087_HDR.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8u54azpnx3rjcg1/IMG_20180914_160945461_HDR.jpg?dl=0

[Brad Rogers]

Interested in pics and hearing more peoples experiences.

[Stumphges]

Do not like what I see in those pictures.

[Jarred O]

Christoph:

The photos make the jacket appear that the face fabric wets out. My understanding of the jacket and the appeal of the material was that it did not wet out and thus discouraged conductive heat loss. Could you explain to us what we are seeing in that photo?

As Stumphges said, I “do not like what I see”.

[Brad Rogers]

The material is claimed to not wet out. It does look like it has wetted out or it could be delaminating?

[Christoph Blank]

I cannot explain what you are seeing in the pictures as I’m not aware of how exactly the Outdry EX is constructed. It might be normal or not – that’s why I posted the picture.

The jacket is brand new, I received it maybe 2 weeks before. The photo was taken after around 5 hours of heavy rain, mostly static, no pressure applied.

I thought someone might have any input but I will also send the photos to Columbia.

[Ito Jakuchu]

Do keep us posted. Perhaps someone who’s had the jacket for a while can comment if theirs looks similar? Or perhaps Richard Nisley himself has a good educated guess?

[Ryan Smith]

Christoph,

I’ve noticed mine does the same thing as your #2 pic, although I’m not sure if it’s external moisture or internal moisture. The one time I noticed was when wearing it around town so I wouldn’t think it was internal moisture given my low exertion level.

Ryan

 

[Roger Caffin]

given my low exertion level
Make no mistake: even while sleeping you are giving off water vapour.

And if the outside air is cold enough, the inside surface of the fabric will be below the dew point, and condensation will form.

Cheers

[Christoph Blank]

I would say it’s from the outside – but I can’t be 100% sure.
I will test it again in detail if it’s raining outside (static, to avoid the condensation from inside problem).

[Ryan Smith]

“Make no mistake: even while sleeping you are giving off water vapour.

And if the outside air is cold enough, the inside surface of the fabric will be below the dew point, and condensation will form.”

Yeah, I’m aware of the above.

I don’t *think* I created enough moisture in this case considering it was down hill and only about a 10min walk, but it will take more testing.

Ryan

[Ito Jakuchu]

Shower Test

So just survived Typhoon Trami (Japan) last night and though I do love to hike and run in the rain, this time I wasn’t out there. I did want to test the fabric a little bit further and did a shower test.

Though I guess there are short comings with shower tests, I hung my shell and let the shower go for a bit over 30 minutes. Ideally I would have let it go on for a couple of hours but felt it to be a bit too much of a waste to be honest. Of course the shower was spraying harder than even hard rain storms here (though perhaps last nights typhoon excluded). A plus point with the shower is I can rule out my own sweating wetting the liner.

I put kitchen paper on the inside of the jacket and there were no wet spots at all from leaking through or anything. There was a small spot from a couple of drips that leaked in at the top of the zipper / head hole cause it was right at the top of the zipper. I had the venting pockets closed and there was no wetting of the paper towels along the main zipper or the pocket zippers. Also the liner was completely dry in all places. It was really easy to tell because once I touched the jacket with my hands that had a couple of drops of water on them I could see it where I brushed the liner or the paper towels.

Again, I don’t know what longer exposure would do of course – and if the harder spraying of the shower vs a typical rainstorm would negate some of that time difference. But so far, with or rather during this limited test, it was easy to see nothing was coming through or wetting out.

Looking forward to hear from more experiences and tests.

 

 

 

[Philip Tschersich]

I have a couple of Columbia Outdry Ex Gold jacket size I use for work. I wear them as a marine research biologist when we are out on deck, and also when I go commercial halibut fishing. I have to say that I’ve stayed dry and happy in them. No water penetration in rain or heavy salt spray/deck hose, and they breathe well enough that even when I’m wrestling a thousand pounds of halibut onto the cleaning table and gutting them, I don’t get condensation. In fact, my only gripe is that the main zipper corrodes due to the salt water if I don’t rinse it off and keep it lubed with corrosion block. All that said, I don’t hike or backpack in those jackets. I like the ‘slick’ surface because it’s  easy to rinse gurry off when on the boat. I still take Goretex jackets when I do my backcountry trips. Maybe I should try hiking in the Outdry stuff some day…

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