How important are rain pants

[KClark91]

I’m looking at upgrading my rain jacket and thinking if I should get the pants as well. How important are rain pants to y’all. I usually just use my attack pants with the dwr coating and I wash in nikwax so they’re pretty water resistant.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I’m looking at upgrading my rain jacket and thinking if I should get the pants as well. How important are rain pants to y’all. I usually just use my attack pants with the dwr coating and I wash in nikwax so they’re pretty water resistant.

Depends on the hunt but rain paints are for more than just rain. If you are anywhere with frost/dew in the morning and tall brush, you are going to get soaked without them. Also great for wind protection while glassing. I’ll also wear them while butchering animals if I’m in grizz country and take them off after so I’m not sleeping in bloody clothes.

 

[AK_Chuck]

Day hunt in warm temps with access to the car? Not very important. Alaskan backcountry in September? Very important.

All depends on your style and climate of hunting. I never wore rain pants until I moved to AK. A packed away poncho worked just fine for deer hunting in the southeast.

 

[cowdisciple]

Rain pants suck, in my opinion. If you really want to stay dry, waders will do it.

If I need rain pants I bring goretex ski bibs. I get no value from anything lighter.

 

[Q child]

I live in a rainforest and I wear rain pants all the time. Rain jackets just make your pants wet if your not wearing rain pants also.

 

[grfox92]

For how often it rains In Wyoming I don't even own rain gear. I shot my archery bull in the rain this year, wearing no rain gear at all.

It was supposed to stop raining by 5am and at 6am when we were leaving the truck it was drizzling. That drizzle never turned off until 9am, shot my bull at 8am soaking wet. No regrets.

Sent from my SM-G990U2 using Tapatalk

 

[cowdisciple]

I live in a rainforest and I wear rain pants all the time. Rain jackets just make your pants wet if your not wearing rain pants also.

I live in SEAK, and still hate rain pants. YMMV! Helly Hansen-style fishing bibs will keep you dry, but aren't much fun to walk around in. Expensive goretex bibs will keep you reasonably dry, but are still a big weight penalty to pack. The ultralight, "packable" rain pants don't keep me dry and get torn up in the brush - useless for me.

 

[Sierra Hunter]

I own the cheap shell pants I sometimes bring on longer trips where I know it’s going to rain. I hunt all over the west and don’t plan on spending $$$ on the high ends pants. If I was going to brown bear in AK, I might change that but otherwise I’m good

 

[S.Clancy]

About as important as condoms. Most of the time you don't need them, but if you don't have one at the wrong time you may be really, really unhappy.

 

[yfarm]

Did a horseback pack in elk trip in NW Wyoming couple of years ago. Had heavy wet snow every day and night with temps at or above freezing during the day. Only thing dry was under raingear. Tried to dry stuff at night in the tents with stoves but remained damp. Without rainpants would have been soaked riding out through willows in the morning. Only problem area were gloves and boots which never dried, Showa 282-02 xl will always be in my pack in the future as well as Hoffman thinsulate pacs.

 

[Marble]

IF there is rain, snow or wind in the forecast, i'll put some in my pack. The DWR pants work well for brief storms where you can hunker down. But if you have to do travel in rain/snow, i'll put on the pants. They don't weigh anything and can possibly be the difference between staying on the mountain or leaving.

If it's windy and cold, they act as a great wind blocker when sitting for a long time.

I do not always carry them, but they are always available to me.

 

[Mike 338]

Well, if you're plopped down and just watching a hillside in the rain, your legs are gonna get really wet. I use them.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Depends on your tolerance for hypothermia. Joking. in the mountains where I hunt in Nevada, a sunny, 65° day can turn to crap in a half hour. I never ever leave camp without rain pants and rain jacket. Really good ones. If you’ve tried yours out, and they work in the rain, by all means use them. If you hunt hard, and they’re not breathable, you’ll get wet anyway from your own sweat.

 

[justinspicher]

I don’t use rain gear at all. If it’s raining that bad I’ll put up a tarp and wait it out. I’m gonna get wet either way, either from sweating and moving with rain gear on or from the rain in base layers.

That being said, it doesn’t rain much when I’m hunting, it snows.

 

[Jellymon1]

I use both. Truth is, here you’re getting wet no matter what you wear, might as well delay it for a title while. If you wait it out in western Washington you may not hunt for a week or more.

 

[Douglasr]

Skre rain pants make really nice snow pants.

 

[Q child]

I live in SEAK, and still hate rain pants. YMMV! Helly Hansen-style fishing bibs will keep you dry, but aren't much fun to walk around in. Expensive goretex bibs will keep you reasonably dry, but are still a big weight penalty to pack. The ultralight, "packable" rain pants don't keep me dry and get torn up in the brush - useless for me.

Haha. I guess we're neighbors.
That's all true of jackets too. Vinyl sucks unless you're on a boat. Gore-Tex kind of works, costs a ton, and is pretty bulky and heavy. Ultralight stuff isn't durable. Do you wear a jacket?
I choose raingear - jackets and pants. I have vinyl, Gore-Tex, and ultralight and wear what is right for the day and activity. To each their own I suppose.

 

[Andyram_18]

They are one of those things that are not important. Until they are…. I wish I would’ve had them when we got 4” of snow in sept bowhunting WYO year! Now in my pack. Get good ones, that fit you well.

 

[RojoGrande]

As others have said, it depends on where and when. I hunt mostly in Colorado and don't typically use rain pants. Have a jacket for afternoon thunderstorms. You might also consider gaiters. They are handy for morning dew/frost and after a rain storm when brush is wet. The work pretty well in snow as well if you already have your thermal layers sorted. Can pull off and put in your pack when things dry out a bit and warm up.

 

[thunt52]

I have packed rain pants on most of my back country pack in hunts but have never used them.