Yeah its the clammy arms that get to me with my arc'teryx gore-tex. Way overkill for my climate I'm sure. Long sleeve poly-prop under that is too warm, and cotton just goes icky in about 30 seconds.
Oh boy, just have to throw in my 2 cents here. Have just finished a third of the Appalachian Trail (1150k's) in the US and it was real wet. The first 5-6 weeks we got rained on 70% of the time. I started out with one of the very best light weight sets you can buy from Montbell and still got soaked when hiking.
I was so disappointed but came to realise that nothing will keep you dry if you are hiking and basically even the very best will only keep you dry for a wee while, but will keep you warm. I switched out to a Marmot Precip and it was a little better but probably only because it was new. Not sure anything is made for the amount of rain we got and wearing a pack means that rain will leak after a fairly brief period.
I like the idea of the event fabric that Macpac are bringing out but not sure about the cost benefit and at the end of the day...nothing keeps you dry for long! Psychologically, once I had adjusted to the fact that my raingear wasn't "really" going to keep me dry, but it would keep me warm, I was much better off.
A good number of the thru hikiers on the trail didn't wear raingear unless it was really cold and chose to let themselves get wet. I mostly ended up wearing my rainpaints with no other pants underneath and my raincoat with either nothing or a very light weight merino wool t-shirt.
What gets me is that they say that part of the breathable, waterpoof fabric system is that the material is not meant to "wet out", ie it sheds water like off a duck's back. Washing is supposed to revive the fabric.
I am yet to see a parka that isn't wetted out after more than a few minutes in a normal tramping situation.
Has anyone managed to get a parka to remain not wetted out for any length of time and if so, how did you achieve that?
Spend a fortune on DWR stuff and dry the coat in the drier to set it. High maintenance, baby! I also take my DriDucks and wear that under my raincoat in times of heavy rain. It makes quite a difference but I still get wet cuffs, yuk!
Ive used wollen swannies,oil skins (or japara)coats,all manner of modern polar fleece garb with limited success,until a couple of mates bought and tried swazi's thar anorak a few years ago.
one was an ex forest service culler (les tunbridge)and the other a very experienced bushman and hunter mike craig.
They both swear by these garments,and after using one on the tops some time ago tend to agree,very expensive though.
If you want a bargain parka that is really waterproof and light 'northridge' (made in china) do one for about $100,mainly hunting in wellington has them,will do the job.
hey...i have an arcteryx alpha and cant fault it at all while its not the cheapest jacket out there and i still cant see how they quite justify a price tag of $650 Canadian it is quality and definatly gets the job done i love it never being wet yet
I'm going to write this in stages because i'm fed up with writing it and timing out before posting the message.
All breathable rainwear needs washing at some point to remove body oils that get trapped in the pores of the membrane (eg gore tex). Pure soap is better than detergent and a good deal of rinsing to remove all trace is necessary. This will lead in time to the removal also of the DWR (Durable Water Resistance) treatment on the outside. That is what makes the moisture bead much like the polish does on your car. Beading is the opposite of wetting out. If the moisture beads then more water vapour can pass to the outside through the fabric (breathability).
Before spending money on more DWR treatment, iron the jacket after washing and the heat will usually assist to restore the barrier to water droplets some more. DWR treatments do need to be applied with the heat of a medium heated dryer for about 45 mins. Turn the jacket inside out first.
Water vapour is a gas molecule significantly smaller than a pore in the membrane of the jacket (up to 20000 times). This is what collects in the jacket through sweating until enough of it pools to become a liquid. A liquid water droplet is much larger than a pore and that therefore is why a jacket is water resistant. note a spike from vegetation can create a hole bigger than a pore (even though you can't see it) and compromise breathability.
Because of the nature of vegetation and people's usage of jackets in AUST and NZ, gore (the company) will often not warranty a jacket more than five years or so. Lifetime warranties do not mean YOUR lifetime but the lifetime of the jacket.
It is temperature differential that makes a jacket breathe. A law of physics suggests that two temps the further they are apart in difference will work quicker to meet middle ground. Trap the heat in the jacket and create as big a temp diff to the ambient temp (outside) and the jacket will breathe faster.Tags on most jackets often suggest more effective use in colder climates.
It is the reason a black cup of coffee cools quicker than a white cup of coffee. A white cup of coffee has had the temp lowered and is already closer to the ambient temp.
