Rain jacket recommendations

How much are you willing to spend? Gortex and Event fabrics are still king but they do come in several weights and the lighter ones are not as durable. Even they cant do everything they say they will in all conditions and if the conditions are contary to those fabrics they work exactly as well as your current plastic mac. Some of the other fabrics are as good but dont carry the reputation or cost. Keep to known reputable brands. (Im using Patagonia with H2No fabric and before that Katmandu NGX Both were/are good) Talk to your favorite salesman in your favorite shop as to where you tramp etc You will quickly work out if they dont know what they are talking about.

what are you going to do with the jacket? go bush bashing? climbing>? or tramping on tracks? that determines how heavy a jacket you need.. and whats your budget?

Mostly tramping on tracks although I do have some bush-bashing planned. Climbing the odd mountain but nothing technical. I'd like to take it over to the Coast too. I have heard good things about Earth Sea Sky Hydrophobia but I don't want to pay $500. I'm thinking maybe $2-300. I think I would also like something slightly shorter. What's the verdict on eVent? I know there was some grumbling about it a while back. I am a bit of a Macpac slut though...

Event and gortex are similar in theoretical performance but event aparantly doesnt feel clammy inside. Some event fabrics did delaminate but dont know more or even if it was the fault of the fabric. The problem with all breathables is there has to be more humidity inside than out for them to work. Ie heavy rain but dryish air they work great but get that foggy drisel NZ is so famous for and they breathe as well as a plastic bag

I think your search criteria are all wrong. If you want to look cool, you should go to one of the outdoor fashion retailers. If you want to actually *be* cool, you can consider an Oringi Milford Bush Walking jacket. http://www.oringi.co.nz/Products/Tramping-Rainwear.aspx Might get a little bit sweaty, but you'll be instantly recognised by the cool people in the bush as one of theirs. :-P

Gosh. Im over this crap. I bought a 400gram event jacket from macpac. Cant remeber its name. I could look but cant be bothered. The guys at macpac will know what it is. It rules. Its 400grams. I wore it to the top of kala pather twice i wore it to everest base camp. Over cho la pass to the top of gogkyo ri. It is a great jacket. Its 400grams. Buy it. Im the master of lightweight. My pack for a 16 day three passes trek to base camp was 8kg pack included. Steripen. Down jacket. Down sleeping bag etcetc. Dont go heavy you dont need it. Merino longsleeve. 300 gram polarfleece. 200gram duck down jacket. 400gram event jacket. Polyprop gloves. 10buck waterproof fco gloves merino long johns. 10buck warehouse rugger shorts 2x warehouse merino trekker socks and you can survive the apocolaypse. Its just you and nature get fit and man up.

I have an Arcteryx Alpha that weighs 292 grams. That's 108 grams greater than your Macpac!

if you're bush bashing DON'T GO LIGHTWEIGHT. sounds like the Traverse that gaiters has, i have it and wouldnt use it for any bush bashing, it's pretty thin ripstop over most of it... depending on the bush you're bashing through will depend on how heavy you need to go... check mountain designs, they do some of the better prices around.. if youre going in seriously dense bush you might need to check out a hunting shop... doyles do a heavyweight jacket, poor breathability though event is the most breathable of shells sold in nz. then gore tex and pertex get a jacket with pitzips, thats the best way of getting good breathability.. macpac don't do pit zips

I agree with waynowski, probably best not to go lightweight if you intent to go bushwacking. In order to know what jacket you want you will have to refine for yourself what you are going to do with it... or what you might want to do in the future. I've been through this earlier this summer (european summer) and I found that there's to many problems coming up with the Event clothing so far (same for many other fabrics). So I will wait buying it for some more time. This website really helped me, tons of information and really good reviews on a lot of jackets. Though not all brands are included in their lists. And even when you choose a jacket online, you will still have to fit it has to feel right. (I wanted an Arc'teryx jacket, but it fit like I wanted it to, so had to choose another) http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/clothing-mens Have a look, and good luck choosing your jacket :)