New Rain Gear Thread

[WVELK]

Okay, I have searched some for older posts. Here is where I am and need recommendations. I currently have a set of Kuiu Yukon rain gear tops and bottoms. They are good a bomb proof water proof. I am going on a sheep, moose and goat hunt this year. Three separate hunts. The pants are fine for standing up to whatever the brush presents.

But, if you read my thread about the alaskan brown bear hunt in May of 24, whenever I wore the Jacket I darn near froze to death. No idea why but have had others say similar things. Would be great for hunting mild whitetail weather, but for me I have to try something else.

So for those of you who backpack hunt north of the US where the weather can change rapidly, rain can fall at anytime, temps vary greatly, what rain gear are you packing? Ideally I am going to get something that can go over a base, midlayer and a puffy if it is cold. Help please.

 

[Jake Larsen]

What layers were you using when you “froze to death” while wearing that jacket? Conditions? It’s important to the discussion - you may not have had a rain jacket failure, could easily have been a failure of your other layers.


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[WVELK]

What layers were you using when you “froze to death” while wearing that jacket? Conditions? It’s important to the discussion - you may not have had a rain jacket failure, could easily have been a failure of your other layers.


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Fair question. I had multiple combinations of the following: KUIU Merino 145 Zip T as first layer, Kuiu Merino 200 next layer, Peloton 200 Zip T, next layer, Kuiu Axis Thermal Hybrid Vest, Kuiu Kenia Jacket then the Yukon Jacket. With the Jacket raining or not it seemed to keep the cold in. If I were my Kuiu Axis Hybrid Hooded jacket in place of the rain gear even if it was colder and greater wind, i was fine.

This was 99 percent a static hunt. I walked maybe 20 yards from my tent or the cook tent and glassed all the time with the exception of the three times we went after a bear.

 

[Jake Larsen]

Fair question. I had multiple combinations of the following: KUIU Merino 145 Zip T as first layer, Kuiu Merino 200 next layer, Peloton 200 Zip T, next layer, Kuiu Axis Thermal Hybrid Vest, Kuiu Kenia Jacket then the Yukon Jacket. With the Jacket raining or not it seemed to keep the cold in. If I were my Kuiu Axis Hybrid Hooded jacket in place of the rain gear even if it was colder and greater wind, i was fine.

This was 99 percent a static hunt. I walked maybe 20 yards from my tent or the cook tent and glassed all the time with the exception of the three times we went after a bear.

For cold conditions, the layers you described are somewhat minimal for a static situation…If you had any sweat or moisture build-up in your layering system, The Axis is going to move moisture from the inside - out a whole lot faster than the Yukon will. ESPECIALLY if you’ve got wet face fabric on the rain gear. Once that surface is holding moisture and has moved past the DWR, if you’re not putting out some significant heat from the inside, it can get clammy pretty quickly. Moisture management is a huge part of these systems working the way they should.

In this case, i wonder if you just needed a little more oomph in your under layers. A synthetic puffy type jacket or similar instead of the Peleton might have made the difference.

FWIW, I had some Kuiu Chugwch rain gear years ago. I wast super impressed with it compared to some others I’ve used. I’m currently using Sitka Dewpoint for my UL stuff, and Arcteryx Beta AR or SV for the bomb proof situations.


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[Maverick1]

Fair question. I had multiple combinations of the following: KUIU Merino 145 Zip T as first layer, Kuiu Merino 200 next layer, Peloton 200 Zip T, next layer, Kuiu Axis Thermal Hybrid Vest, Kuiu Kenia Jacket then the Yukon Jacket. With the Jacket raining or not it seemed to keep the cold in. If I were my Kuiu Axis Hybrid Hooded jacket in place of the rain gear even if it was colder and greater wind, i was fine.

This was 99 percent a static hunt. I walked maybe 20 yards from my tent or the cook tent and glassed all the time with the exception of the three times we went after a bear.

I needed to look to even see what these are. (Not bashing Kuiu as I own several of their items, just not familiar with these pieces.) My decoder ring says the following in red text:

• KUIU Merino 145 Zip T: light merino wool base layer
• Peloton 200 Zip T: light fleece
• Kuiu Axis Thermal Hybrid Vest: polyester vest, light insulation
• Kuiu Kenia Jacket: polyester jacket, light insulation
• Yukon jacket: a waterproof shell

OK, now that I have that all figured out, it is clear: you do not have an insulating layer in this collection of clothes. You need to research and learn about CLO values. Don't focus so much on the name or brand, learn about the function each layer provides, or should provide. Especially if you are completely static, with minimal movement. Merino is not a good insulator, very poor CLO value. Fleece is not a very good insulator, very low CLO value. The Kenai jacket - I own one - and I'd say from experience that it's CLO value is lower than other offerings on the market.

Dress for the wind chill.

• Excellent base layer. (check)
• Insulating midlayer with a high CLO value (missing/absent/big gap here)
• Excellent outer layer (check)

Here is a link to a post I put here before about static insulation garments and CLO values. (Yes, you are not hunting from a treestand, but the links within the post could be helpful in learning about different garment materials.)

Below is a CLO chart for reference.