Rain jacket recommendations

I have three jackets, different weights/ abilities for differing conditions. I have a Macpac Copland ($250 on sale, 650gms (a bit heavy), breathable but not Gore or eVent, it is long and reaches below my trek shorts) for when I expect rain and or bush bashing to commence. The weight buys you more duarablity. I have a Patagonia H2No fabric jacket brought in the States many years ago, I mainly use it for local daytrips/walking ie on the Port Hills. I love it but its starting to wear out after much use, so not suitable for mountain trips. I own a Marmot Precip jacket (about 300gms, breathable,big hood) for overnighters in Summer and fine weather. I had to buy it from the US to get a larger size, it cost me about $150 including post/packaging. This is my default jacket, it is very good but lightweight, I wouldnt care to West Coast bush bash in it! All are good provided I use them in suitable conditions. I saw a guy at a hut recently who was still rocking a PVC style jacket, he said it was sweaty but he was totally protected from the rain, while I was not. It cost him $50, They really were the standard type not so long ago. I wouldnt wear one (i remember what they were like hot and clammy) but they kept you dry in hard rain. I have one at home for gardening etc. for when it is raining. The low cost of a PVC does put these $500-800 jackets in perspective doesnt it. One fancy eVent jacket or a PVC jacket, decent pack, cheap down bag and a cooker....hmmmmmm

if you're only going to do the odd but if bush bashing, get a cheapy heavy duty coat from an industrial clothing store and get a lighter one for general use from an outdoor retailer..

On the industrial, watrerproof, bulletproof side, I had a loan of a Hi-Viz Tornado raincoat, which are available from NZSafety shops. They have 2 models, a PVC one and another of a softer fabric. I took the non-PVC one round the Pike-Hollyford for 4 days in pouring rain & never got wet beyond cuffs / neck / thighs. The most waterproof jacket I've ever tried. Highly recommended for heavy rain, but you pay the price in weight, breathability, heat. It's lighter / less bulky than PVC, but nowhere near as small/light/cool as fancier, less waterproof tramping coats.

outdoor shops normally have a clearance section as well, so pop in and have a look and see what specials they have another way is buy online from overseas some serious deals to be made but you need a mail forwarding company often to get round export embargoes and you have to be sure of the sizing... precips going for between $60 and $130 in the states depending on size... http://www.gearbuyer.com/site/search.html?q=precip

Being somewhat frugal/cheap, I've used two $25 PVC coated nylon raincoats from the Warehouse over the past 10 years with reasonable success with the following observations: 1, the PVC coating does delaminate from underneath the pack straps and underarms first, then continues to delaminate down the front of the jacket 2, the hood is useless, I wore a sun visor underneath the hood to allow some vision (good trick for any hood that doesn't allow good vision when pulled down tight) 3, the outer fabric is pretty tough 4, like all PVC, you get wet from sweat I've recently picked up a Line 7 stretch PU raincoat for $60 on Trademe that uses the same fabric as Oringi does. I've yet to test it in anger in the hills yet, and it is quite bulky (folding works better than rolling or stuffing). The money saved from not buying gore-tex/event has been well-spent (by my wife I might add, not by me on gear/trips). I've never been convinced yet that waterproof/breathable coats work well when they are wet on the outside from rain, and wet on the inside from sweat, which happens every time I don a raincoat.

Following waynowski's comment, New Zealand Post actually offers a forwarding service, which enables you to have a forwarding address in either the UK or USA. http://www.nzpost.co.nz/tools/youshop Signup appears to be free, and then you pay a weight-based international postage fee to get it to NZ. ($12.50 base + $4.75 per 500g). I haven't tried it.

A thing to bear in mind: in the last 2 years I have only needed to use my full wet weather set about 6 times, usually for short periods of time. The longest I had to wear it for was a whole day in October last year when I did the Andrews-Binser circuit in the tail end of a North Wester. Surprise, I got wet, because it was hosing with rain! I would always carry a jacket. But, if you pick your weather right you are carrying it for protection rather than out of need.

When its not raining and I am not wearing a raincoat I don't stay dry tramping. I sweat, sometimes a lot, especially going up hill. When it is raining and I am wearing a raincoat I still sweat. Water also tends to get in round my neck (if I don't always have my hood up), usually up my sleeves (one of the draw backs from using walking sticks) and if it is really windy gets blown up under the coat if not wearing overtrou. Being wet can be uncomfortable but doesn't really matter as long as you are warm. If you get very wet in crap weather it can be very hard to stay warm. If you don't go out in crap weather it is easy to stay warm. If you do go out in crap weatehr a good coat makes life a lot more pleasant. As with most tramping gear in an ideal world you have a range of coats, packs, sleepingbags, boots/shoes so you can pick and chose what is most appropriate for each trip. This seems to be what 'enthusiasts' tend to end up. What do you do if you don't want to invest in a big range of gear? Do you go for what is needed for the worst/hardest case - the biggest pack, the warmest sleeping bag, the heaviest boots, the best raincoat (all very expensive, heavy and bulky) or do you go for something middle of the road whihc wil be just fine most if not all of the time?

As with most tramping gear in an ideal world you have a range of coats, packs, sleepingbags, boots/shoes so you can pick and chose what is most appropriate for each trip Planned on the basis of the worst possible option. For me that means the good coat on all but day trips with no chance of rain when the $2 shop disposable finds its way into the pack That weighs 50g Middle of the road will work 98% of the time very well and work well enough to keep you alive the other 2 Might not be as comfy but who cares

Re NZ Post Youshop - I've used this service several times (mainly to get around export restrictions) and it's generally very good. Freight charges can seem a little random (I've paid $60 to ship a 3 man tent....and $50 to ship six pairs of socks!) but delivery timeframes are excellent and you know where your package is every step of the way. Worth considering if you want to save a few $$.