Rain jacket recommendations?

[michoglen63]

So recently I was out on a trip, and it rained 70% of the time. I had with me a random North Face jacket that I bought on clearance years ago... Needless to say I was soaked after, like, an hour hiking in the downpour. I have about $150 to spend on a new jacket, one I can wear in the downpour as well as use for wind protection.

[blackmacjay]

It probably won't make a difference but ...........

Buy yourself a real mackintosh which covers your knees and is both waterproof and windproof.

[annabell-cagoule]

I am not sure what you’ll get for $150 as i am in the UK but i used to own and run my own outdoor clothing outfitters.

Have a look at the RAB downpour jacket, light weight but waterproof and breathable, they are excellent!

Any brand using Pertex fabrics are best at that price point.
Or if you can spend more then the Gore-Tex Pro fabric is best, look at mountain heritage brands like Rab, Haglofs, Montane, Mountain Equipment, Mammut and Marmot. Avoid North Face as they are little more than a fashion brand now.

With any waterproof breathable jacket using the modern fabrics such as Pertex, Gore-Tex etc then you need to actually wash and re DWR proof them using something like Nikwax Techwash and then TX direct, then tumble dry on a low heat to reactivate the DWR coatings.

North Face use their own fabric called HyVent which is basic but does work, but if your working hard such as walking and hiking and the rain is heavy, then they eventually ‘wet out’ as we say. So the outter fabric starts to hold and no longer shed the rain and as such your perspiration cannot escape out of the fabric as so eventually builds up and you feel wet inside.

You can try and revive your old jacket with a good wash in a normal detergent to get the dirt out of the fabric, then wash with Tech Wash to clean the detergent off the fabric, then wash it again in the TX Direct to re proof it, then tumble dry on low heat to activate it all.

Nikwax products are the best around and do the job properly. You might find thats all it needs. You need to re do it every 6 months to a year
depending on use.

Hope that helps, any questions just ask i am a bit of a waterproof jacket geek xx

[thinkapplefive]

The North Face Apex Flex GTX 2.0. ...
Helly Hansen Copenhagen raincoat. ...
Patagonia men's Torrentshell jacket. ...