Reassessing my rain gear solutions

I think I would most certainly suffer hypothermia in a case like Murali’s with only thin nylon clothing, even with two layers of it. I simply could not hike hard enough to stay warm like that, and what if you can’t hike for some reason? I’ve been in similar weather in Alaska, for days on end, and wool plays a key role here. I also bring a lightweight balaclava, which has been a lifesaver in bad conditions. My backpack is always heavier here than anywhere else I hike, because I will not leave the warm layer behind. There’s also the necessity of carrying a way to make hot water to drink – as soup, tea, chocolate or whatever. I consider a stove critical.  You can spiral down faster than you might imagine, once you are chilled. Vigorous calisthenics or hiking may help, but you may not have that option.

Did you use the vents much or was everything zipped up tight?

Bill – the Copperfield wind pants or Zpacks wind shirt did not stick to skin during the cold rainy day….the top does do that sometimes when it is very hot in the evening as I am going to bed. The wind pants never seemed to stick. The lanyard trick sounds interesting.

On day 2 of the rainy/cold day –  I had two wind shirts on – why two? one is strictly a pajama and one was for the cold mornings or summits – so I usually carry two. Pajama one stays in backpack. The other one stays in my pant pockets for summits etc. So I had the two wind shirts on, then puffy and then rain jacket – which is non-breathable nylon rain jacket. After a few miles, had to remove the puffy as I was warming up. So just had the two wind shirts and rain jacket. Since I was moving and knew I was going to a lodge for the night – I used the pajama wind shirt as well. My rain jacket has vents – but never needed to use them as it was cold. Day 2 was slightly warmer.

Day 1 which was much colder and crazy windy – I had an OR Echo hoody and then a wind shirt (has a hood) and rain jacket. I also had a neck gaiter which I pulled over my face which also helped shield my face from the cold. I think my core/head was okay. Just the fingers and toes were numb and causing issues. One of my fingers locked up towards the end and I was getting stiff as well if I stopped hiking to check my phone etc.

Once I got to the gazebo like structure and changed into dry clothes, I got better. It was heaven sent :-) I was dreading putting my tent up in the rain on water logged ground and then thinking how I was going to dry my rain jacket and pants. I could dry them as there were several nails on this gazebo like structure……I set up my tent on one of the two picnic tables inside.

I am going to have to try wind layers next to skin, as well as two layers of them. That’s a light system, and keeping one layer dry is nice. A textured windshirt (like the Pertex Quantum Air in Kor Airshell, OR Shadow, or Airshed Pro or Taslan/Supplex/Airwave) might feel nicer but will weigh more than the absolutely lightest wind layers.

One advantage of WPBs is that they dry while you wear them (after the rain stops or when you get sheltered). They are better at that than they are at moving moisture while you’re working hard. But there’s at least a small weight penalty, and some are not completely waterproof: tradeoffs.

Thanks for the interesting report.

The EE Rainpants, now discontinued, are a 2.5-layer construction. They have a thin PU textured inner coating that is designed, to a point, to be more comfortable against bare skin.  The Montbell Versalite rain pants, which I mentioned in my prior post, have a similar inner layer and function similarly.

Generally, and especially if we are going uphill, we wear just an MYOG Taslan windshirt. If the weather is bad, we can put an MYOG silnylon poncho over that. It is enough. (We can button the poncho up to block the wind and keep heat in of course.)

Col du Croix de Bonhomme, France, SUMMER

Refuge de Col de Bonhomme – sheltered from the wind of course. Same clothing., but here I am a bit hot.

Cheers

The EE Rainpants, now discontinued, are a 2.5-layer construction. They have a thin PU textured inner coating that is designed, to a point, to be more comfortable against bare skin.  The Montbell Versalite rain pants, which I mentioned in my prior post, have a similar inner layer and function similarly.

I’m still casually on the hunt for the “perfect” WPB jacket, but I’ve found that the Mountain Hardwear “Stretch Ozonic” rain pants are a winner. They sound similar to what you described – a 2.5L fabric that wears exceptionally well. The 3/4 length, bi-directional zippers are nice. I leave unzip the cuffs so that they’ll lay nicely over my shoes, and unzip the thigh a few inches for ventilation. I also liked that they were available in not-black colors as well. I got them in Grey.

Mountain Hardwear, Stretch-Ozonic Pants

While I bought them initially to layer over other pants for working in bad weather, I’ve found them to be comfortable enough on their own, that I’ve worn them several times now as my “main” pants when the weather is iffy. My regular synthetic boxer-briefs underneath is all that’s needed for all-day comfort in these, wet or dry weather…

Perhaps it’s because most men (speaking specifically of myself here) have hairy legs, but I find the 2.5L fabric still feels fine, and not clammy against the skin. Perhaps women with shaved legs would feel differently? That said, I could see them being great for women when the base layer is a pair of standard leggings or so.

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I do wish they had (2) zipper pockets, but I get along well enough with just the one. The DWR was a little questionable when I first got them, but to be fair, I ignored the instructions about washing & drying them before wear, and kind of chased my tail there for a while.

I recently did a full re-treat with NikWax spray. Soaked the garment, scrubbed it in, and then sealed it in a zip-lock bag for a few hours to make sure that all of the face fabric was saturated. Then let it air-dry, before a 20-minute “medium” heat cycle in the dryer.

They took forever to air-dry, which I thought was encouraging – knowing that the Polyester face-fabric is hydrophobic, I felt like them wanting to stay “wet” with the NikWax was a sign that the treatment really “stuck” to the face fabric well.

My very quick test with a kitchen-sink’s spray-nozzle showed amazing water-beading. So I’m excited to try these out for real.

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(This also has my brain working again, on the topic of Nylon vs. Polyester face-fabrics, and the Fabric-Hydrophobicity / DWR performance again…)