Rain Pants State of the Market Report

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You might think that reviewing a stack of rain pants would be easy, straightforward, and generally delightful… “cake.” I’m here to tell you that reviewing rain pants is a whole lot harder than reviewing a tent. Seems strange, right? But you have a lot less to work with, a lot fewer possibilities to critique, and fewer things to readily objectify. Testing rain pants for review is surprisingly difficult! Nevertheless, we selected the lightest rain pants on the market-all under 8 ounces (227 grams)-and started work. What I found surprising, even given my years as a buyer in this market, was how differently some of the pants were constructed given our tight weight constraints. If you’re skimming to find “the single best ultralight rain pant,” sorry, you’ll have to keep reading. It just isn’t that simple.

The major questions on rain pants are few: Do they keep you dry? How do they fit? How do they hold up, how’s the quality? All of the pants will keep you dry. The finish quality and materials of all the pants are equivalent (with one exception). Fit is easy enough to describe… so what else is there? Field testing is not great for combing the finest hairs of breathability. But there is hope for ye gear hounds and your wayward reading habits… there are tiny details that come alive.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

Introduction
Sub 8 oz. Rain Pants
- Montane Atomic DT
- Montbell Thunderhead
- GoLite Tumalo
- DriDucks DuraLite 3 Rain Suit
- Montbell VersaLite
- Marmot Essence
- GoLite Current Mountain
Conclusion

# WORDS: 4790
# PHOTOS: 16

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Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

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May 29, 2012 at 8:34 pm #1290482

Stephanie Jordan
Spectator

@maia
Locale: Rocky Mountains

Companion forum thread to:

Rain Pants State of the Market Report

Jun 5, 2012 at 8:04 am #1884175

Jerry Adams
BPL Member

@retiredjerry
Locale: Oregon and Washington

I have a different conclusion, not that I won't change my mind in the future

WPB isn't perfect but a little better than totally non breathable fabric when exercising

With a poncho, if it's windy, it blows around too much, and rain blows in. If I have a loose jacket, I can unzip front when it's not too windy and get benefits of poncho. Occasionally I pull my arms out of sleeves.

Worse points are shoulders and top of head where the fabric pushes against skin

If I quit exercising, then I'll dry out after a while with WPB, not with waterproof

Jun 5, 2012 at 2:46 pm #1884303

William Johnsen
BPL Member

@sixoclocknews

Thank you both very much for your responses. I realize my comment about how BPL should devise a test might have been taken the wrong way and I apologize for that. I know it's not a novel idea, sorry if it came across like that.

So if there are physical limitations (of the fabrics) to achieving the breathability required, is there a test that could approximate the relative crappy-ness of a fabric for mountain use? Or are the 2 layer, 2.5 layer a 3 layer fabric all the same? I know there are some minor functional differences depending on the layers (ie proshell is more comfortable than precip, to me at least). Are all 2.5 layers the same?

I understand that each environment, metabolic rate, wear, etc will all affect the garment. It just seems like we didn't get any of that information in the report, which is why I was questioning it's value. I can also understand not wanting re-hash all this with each report, but if it's pretty much a fit guide to some pants, why not include measurements?

Does BPL have to worry about flack from companies? Or were you referring to if one of the manufacturers was designing the test?

Haha sorry Roger I don't have 50K to donate to the cause, just curious as to what you think a good test would be. Never know what could come of it.

Jun 5, 2012 at 11:47 pm #1884485

Roman Vazhnov
BPL Member

@joarr
Locale: Russia

Richard, could you please tell more about J.E. Ruckman test?
At first Event has full breathability (=1). After 24 hours it has 1/10 of full breathability. After 7 days it has 0 breathability.
Questions:
– after 24 hours hydrophilic PU has 1/10 of full breathability of Event? (And at first hydrophilic PU had, let's say 1/2 of full breathability of Event). Then it maintains 1/10 of breathability for 30 days? What happens after 30 days? No breathability too?
– What causes Event to stop transporting vapour after 7 days?
– Why does hydrophilic PU last longer?
– Is there some data for new hydrophobic PU membranes, for example Neoshell?
//excuse me for my english.

Jun 6, 2012 at 2:55 am #1884497

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

> Does BPL have to worry about flack from companies?
I think the question might be better worded as 'Does BPL worry about what reaction the companies might have if we are critical?'

I can tell you quite positively that the answer is NO. BPL does NOT worry. (That's one reason BPL does not carry the usual ads from companies: we are independent.)

Realistically, as long as we review the product, that seems to be enough. That gets Google hits.

Cheers

Jun 9, 2012 at 12:13 pm #1885519

Eric Blumensaadt
BPL Member

@danepacker
Locale: Mojave Desert

OK, nobody in UL backpacking likes to carry the "extra weight" of rainpants. That's a given, evidenced by all the alternative solutions like rain kilts, trash bags, bare legs, Cuben fabric rain chaps, etc.

My "forced" solution, for budgetary reasons, is Cabela's PacLite rainpants. Light "enough" at 15 oz. and very packable into their own hip pocket. They have protected me well in high Sierra and Rocky Mountain downpours. I got 'em on sale for $79. + shipping. I also have the companion Cabela's PacLite GTX parka at a great price as well.

THEN… last year I bought an REI Kimtah eVent parka, on sale, because it is the breathability of the parka that is really most important. Torsos seem to produce more "noticable" perspiration than legs. Plus parkas are used much more often than rainpants and I could justify the cost. (Even gearheads try to justify purchases!)

So with eVent parka and PacLite pants I have a fairly good WPB combo – light but not UL light, but durable AND within my budget.

P.S. Much like an earlier "REVIEW" of State-of-the-Market of mid cut boots this article is NOT subjective, and certainly not helpful as too few products were reviewed, let alone actually objectively tested.
BPL has put out some excellent test articles and reviews but the kind of chaff as seen in this article we can do without.

Jun 11, 2012 at 6:33 pm #1886025

Brian Peck
BPL Member

@brianpeck
Locale: North America

Hi Jeffrey, Re your query, I'm in the same boat, in my case 6'4" and an inseam of 36" on pants. With hiking pants though, you'd normally not want them dragging, so I'd look for a 34" or 35" inseam. The only ones I've found that fit me well were from Arcteryx. The Alpha SL's use Paclite, are quoted at 9 oz. and come in a normal inseam which is 31" but also in a 34" inseam Tall. I had to look for Tall's for quite some time before I found them, so when I did find them, I bought two pairs (and haven't regretted it! Enjoy.

Apr 11, 2014 at 6:28 am #2091854

Ken Thompson
BPL Member

@here
Locale: Right there

So I had to retire my last pair of GoLite Reeds. I wear rain pants often enough that they need to be replaced. Anything new since this article came out that I should be looking for. I want light and simple. I have a heavy Marmot pair for snow with full side zips and all the extras. The Vesalite still a good choice?

Apr 27, 2014 at 10:29 am #2096821

Shane S.
BPL Member

@grinder
Locale: P.N.W

This year I purchased the M.B Versalite rain pant, I was able to get the Japanese sized XL (I have a 32" inseam and 34" waist) which fits me perfect and weighs a remarkable 3.5oz on the nose. I have used them quite a bit this rainy late winter and early spring here in the PNW and I really dig them. They have proven themselves and have had no issues.
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