Check my rain gear philosophy

yeah, sometimes if it’s raining I’ll just stay camped at the same spot.  I can walk around in the rain okay but packing and unpacking is a pain

and, weather reports are good – choose a time when it’s not raining.  But sometimes you have to schedule something ahead of time and can’t do that

Waiting things out can be a solid strategy when you consider the fact that getting overly wet/cold might force you to stop later on to warm up.

I did pretty well on the Colorado Trail hiking through rain. Eventually it would stop and I’d wear my rain gear until it was dry and my body temp was up. I got pretty cold once though when it did not stop raining.  I took a break rather than hike wearing my puffy (which would have eventually got wet leaving me with no dry clothes at all).

I always have a fleece now. And I think hard about my shirt. I want it to dry fast if I get soggy. With a fleece I can stay warm while soggy in pretty cold weather.  If I get soaked I go to sleep wearing my puffy and long underwear bottoms. If it’s so cold I need the fleece and the puffy while moving it’s probably snowing. But if I expected nasty weather I might throw in an extra lightweight fleece and occasionally extra pants. Not SUL but better then bailing on a trip.

“Pretty d@mn waterproof” v.s. TOTALLY waterproof is always choice.

I have a few rain parkas that work differently.

1.) REI eVent parka-> Great for breathability, better than Gore-Tex but also lets wind through that is uncomfortable in below freezing temperatures, as in skiing. Over a light down jacket it’s quite acceptable.

2.) older Cabela’s Gore-Tex PacLite-> not as breathable as the eVentparka but more windproof

3.) KUIU YUKON rain parka, camo pattern for hunting. Not breathable enough at all but at least it has pit zips to help regulate sweat buildup. So this is classified and TOTALLY waterproof. I would not recommend ANY KUIU “waterproof breathable” garments even though they use Japanese TORAY’s WPB laminate, a respected company. KUIU seems to like low breathability WPB laminates. Maybe Alaska hunting requires that. IMHO several KUIU garments need redesigning.

The eVent parks gets the most use for around town and wet snow ski days. The PacLite is my 3 season  backpacking parks, being a bit lighter and “breathable enough”.

With both I use NIK WAX to wash them and Granger’s spray-on DWR and drier on medium setting to renew the DWR. But I haven’t used the KUIU rain shell enough to need DWR renewal.

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Wow that Kuiu raincoat is 26oz! For that weight (and price) I seriously wonder if two 13 oz raincoat would be better? When I worked in a rainy area I would rotate 2 raincoat as they got soggy.  And if there was an absolute deluge you could wear both maybe?

Kuiu is made for walking relatively short distances, then sitting for prolonged periods. Then for carrying out heavy weight. For hunting. Some of it overlaps with our needs.

Terran I’d be an ideal customer for Kuiu except I don’t spend that kind of money on rain gear.

But if your “budget” is 26 oz for a rain jacket you might consider other options that weigh a similar amount. Maybe spend that weight on extra fleece or a small tarp to eat under etc. Just something to consider.

I have an eVent shell with pit zips that weighs 12 ounces and a pertex shell with pit zips that weighs 5 ounces. I’ve added a MLD poncho to the mix.  If I was bushwhacking heavily in wet conditions and needed camo, I’d consider the Kuiu.

Shell philosophy really comes down to this—You will get wet under a rain shell but it’s a WARM WET vs a COLD WET w/o a shell.  A shell will keep your core warm even when soaked which means Survival, esp when moving.  A cold wet core w/o a shell results in Hypothermia.  I switched from a Marmot PacLite shell to an Arcteryx Pro Shell fabric—makes all the difference.

I shop outdoor brands used gear. I ended up getting a Arcteryx Beta Ar for if I know there will be possible rain with highs in the 50s from resale.arcteryx.com. I also got a Patagonia Strom10 from wornwear.patagonia.com for all other circumstances.

I live in Texas, so warm vs cold is a little different for me. I’ve learned since I lived here that when I go to the mountains, I’m cold. My trip this year is in the Sierras ( SEKI ). I don’t know which one I’ll take yet. BUT I want both in my quiver when I look at the weather the day before my trip to decide.