Topic

Questions about SilPoly raincoats


Forum Posting

A Membership is required to post in the forums. Login or become a member to post in the member forums!

Home Forums Gear Forums Gear (General) Questions about SilPoly raincoats

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #3729339
    Vimal G
    BPL Member

    @wandering-salamander

    Hi all, I’m an experienced thru hiker tinkering around with my rain system and I’m considering adding a silpoly raincoat to the quiver and was wondering if anyone had experience with this material.

    My current system consists of an  OR Helium (6oz ish) with ULA Sil nylon rain skirt (3oz ish). If I expect serious rain I’ll upgrade to OR Interstellar (11oz ish). My main hope in the rain is to come out of it with fairly dry undies and tshirt, though that often doesn’t work out.

    The big thing about sil poly of course is that it doesn’t breathe. But at home some of my favorite rain gear (for dinking around and easy day hiking) is a full on rubber Grundens top and bibs. Despite not breathing at all and being heavy AF it keeps me very dry. So I’m intrigued by the “not breathable but totally waterproof promise”.

    That being said I really question that these things could be waterproof. In my experience whether it be silnylon or even cuben (I used a zpacks cuben skirt on the CDT) anywhere the material touches me it soaks through. Id estimate that within about 10 minutes of rain my knees and outer thighs start getting wet. Given that these are skirts we’re talking about I don’t think it’s a sweat issue. The cuben was maybe a bit better than the silnylon at first, but quickly began to show wear just from being packed and unpacked. If silnylon soaks through just from touching my knees and legs how can I expect it to hold up under pack straps? Maybe silpoly would be a little better but it seems foolish to expect any miracles.

    lastly I’ve considered rain ponchos, but most of the time I’m in rain it’s around or below 45 degrees, so having my arms and lower body soak out is not preferable. Plus ponchos require lots of material and thus weigh a lot.

    Anyway, I’d appreciate hearing any thoughts you all have. The piece I’m considering is something very light (in the 3oz range) to bring with for something like the Oregon Desert Trail, where it didn’t rain at all except when it was snowing and sleeting.

    #3729341
    Monte Masterson
    BPL Member

    @septimius

    Locale: Southern Indiana

    I’ve never owned a silpoly rain jacket and always thought they wouldn’t be “breathable” enough, but I’m considering one for colder weather trips coming up. I find the OR Helium II to be adequate for short duration, however in sustained rainfall it begins to wet out. So I’ve been considering the silpoly rain jacket by Lightheart Gear. Very light and full featured. Sectionhiker did a lengthy review on the LHG jacket about a month ago and even though I’m skeptical of gear review websites I think Philip has more credibility than most.

    https://sectionhiker.com/lightheart-gear-rain-jacket-review-silpoly/

    #3729353
    Vimal G
    BPL Member

    @wandering-salamander

    Good review with some good insights. I’m looking at the roughly 3oz piece from Timmermade, with the plan of taking it with me when I wish I could just gamble and not bring rain gear at all. That way I’ll at least have something when the gamble inevitably fails, but I also won’t be resenting the 6oz of deadweight the rest of the time.

    Some people don’t mind wearing rain gear for warmth but for some reason I really dislike it. I always find myself waiting until the last possible second to put it on, and taking it off the second it stops raining so maybe the lack of breathing won’t matter so much for me. Actual waterproofness is still my biggest skepticism. Silnylon and silpoly are always billed as  “totally waterproof” but that just hasn’t at all been my experience. At least with silnylon.

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Forum Posting

A Membership is required to post in the forums. Login or become a member to post in the member forums!

Get the Newsletter

Get our free Handbook and Receive our weekly newsletter to see what's new at Backpacking Light!

Gear Research & Discovery Tools


Loading...