Wet Weather Gear

Of course all this can be negated if you are still generating water vapour on the inside of the jacket. It can only breathe so fast. To demonstrate to someone, work hard in the jacket to create some sweat. Stop working,trap the heat by sealing the neckline and cuffs etc and preferably stand in a breeze so as the water vapour can be removed faster from the outside of the jacket as it passes through. you will eventually dry inside without removing the jacket and creating convection whereby the wind hits wet or cool skin or clothing. It is the temp differential that makes it breathe.(eg 38 degrees inside and 2 degrees outside). Have someone do the same and after stopping work, open the jacket. They will generally take longer to dry because they have lowered the temp inside and slowed breathability. Imagine a spaceman floating outside a spaceship in -50 degrees and inside the suit it is +38 degrees (max temp diff). That is where the technology comes from. NASA started the whole Gore-tex thing.

It was about staying dry and removing the bulk of clothing necessary to stay warm. The truth is if you're going to get to a car,tent or building and get out of the wind, remove the jacket and change clothes then you don't need breathability so much. You're not risking convection which is massive heat loss through wind hitting wet skin. Wet skin can lose up to 240 times more body heat then dry skin. See what i mean by standing in a breeze after a shower. the business is all about staying dry to survive and always having something dry to put on after exercise. I have dried clothing in my jacket. It is my portable laundry. You can wring out most of the moisture from a thermal (Synthetic thermals are a momofilament fibre (plastic)such as polypro or polyester), put the thermal in the pocket of the jacket and have it dry while you work in the jacket. Thermals keep you warmer because they wick the moisture to the outside of the fabric (beading occurs) unlike cotton which is porous and holds the moisture in the fabric. If the skin is dryer and the moisture on the outside of the garment, you will be warmer. That is why i still wear thermals so often when exercising in QLD temperatures. Unfortunately the cotton would hold all the moisture and stick to me when wet meaning i would be perhaps cold and clammy in a breeze when stopped, take longer to get dry and comfortable and of course small bad.

I carry a sports towel with the thermal to assist in the removal of moisture faster. That is to dab on the areas where the wicking occurs (beading) Wool thermals take longer to dry because,unlike a monofilament fibre the wool is porous and holds appx 30% of its weight in moisture. However, a process unique to wool called heat absorption actually generates heat through movement of the moisture. This is why wool is warm when wet or dry and hence sheep can exist reasonably comfortably from -40 degrees to +40 degrees. Just don't take cotton to use in the layering system because it will retain all the moisture in that layer.

Also note that as companies have experimented with membranes we have acquired the use of windstopper garments. Windstopper is a trademark of Gore and since its patent ran out decades ago there are many copies. Much like there have been many copies to the Gore-tex membrane in rainjackets. All they are doing is stretching the membrane to increase breathability and perhaps reducing waterproofing (the size and shape of pores will vary to perform differently). The same principle of temperature differential applies. Note how every brand suggests their garment performs better but it is usually based on different conditions. Take a look at the fine print and you'll discover newer fabrics such as EVENT or EPIC or whatever just have different specs so far as breathability and water resistance. Obviously a two layer rain jacket breathes better than a three layer jacket but they will differ in durability for example. Sleeping bag fabrics use the same principles of temp differential.

Here's a website that has the graphs and methodology for the breathable fabrics comparisions commissioned by the US Army. It made Event fabric look good and Gore-tex (PFTE) not so good... http://www.montane.no/info-base/breathability.pdf

For my 2 cents worth I reckon your best bet is anything that will stop wind chill. Use another layer next to your skin to keep you warm and your sorted. I don't tramp often but when I do it's in the Tararua Ranges and it's usually wet and or windy. I traded up to an Ice Breaker 260 top just recently and have been using a Zone (read Fairydown) Goretex top for the last few years. Although the wicking has degraded considerably over the years (despite several treatmeants with Nikwax spray on and similar in wash treatments). This friday night just gone I got soaked over a period of hours BUT with the jacket over the Ice Breaker top remained warm and comfy. For my money it's not about staying dry - its about staying warm - and a light jacket that is wind proof over a warm layer (or two) below is your best bet. =)

Well, you're right. It's about staying warm. You're using wool which is warm when wet or dry. Generally though, if you're drier (especially when using synthetic thermals),then you're warmer.

I accept that no matter what raincoat I wear I get wet inside. Sweat, leakage who cares. My next raincoat will be something from Para rubber for about $150. The main thing for me is that they are light, fit well and keep the wind out.Nowadays with P.Prop, merino and fleece to wear under who cares if you get wet/damp.

You are on to it "risdonro" ! Most people I know that work/tramp in the bush accept they are going to get wet whatever rain coat they wear. I know I was hugely dissapointed when an expensive "Goretex" garment was leaking like a sieve within a fortnight of it being put to use. (Accumulated dirt,sweat & oil was probably a contributing factor) I currently use relatively inexpensive "proflex" - "techniflex" type coats and buy them from farm supply stores. I think they are similar to what you can get at Para Rubber. They do the job of keeping the wind & most of the water out but you do sweat in them. After a while they start to get pin point size holes in them that let the water thru. Even if you replace them, say every two years, they are still cost effective in comparison with the expensive Goretex type coats that can be four times the price but certainly do not offer four times the durability or weather proofness.

I'm with you Glennj in using cheaper raincoats, in fact the $25 PVC coated nylon raincoats at the Warehouse work pretty well in the Tararuas and last at least a year or two. The point of failure tends to the delamination of the PVC coating from the nylon shell. The hood is pretty useless, I use a baseball cap underneath to provide a peak.