Proposed Light Weight Rain Gear Test..

[Matt W.]

I'll see if I can find one to add to the test. Jackets so far:
KUIU Chugach
First Lite Stormtight
Cabela's Guide Gear Jacket
Sitka Rain Jacket (it's my buddy's but think it is the Stormfront one)

I am researching the outdoor gear labs findings and will pull their value choice in to contrast the hunting bunch. This will take some time to do, but should be interesting.

 

[Snyd]

I've had Outdoor Research Revel jacket and pants for over a year now which included 2 walkin sheep hunts. I've spent several days packing heavy loads covering a lot of miles in it in rocks, shale, brush, etc. So far so good. It's kind of a stretchy "soft" fabric, not much krinkle to it. OR says it makes it tougher and less prone to punctures. It seems pretty darn abrasive resistant and keeps me dry. Like any other raingear, under extreme exertion you get wet from the inside out. I usually just wear a base layer under it for that kind of thing. I've spent several hours sitting in the rain/mist and did't get wet from the outside. They make it in gray, mine is a couple years old and is an olive green. It has full zips from the hem up to the armpit and also from pit down. You can unzip it from the hem up a way and allow it to drape over your packbelt to help keep it dry. Work great I'm doing that in this pic, I also have my scoped pistol under there in a leather holster and it stayed dry.

I've weighed it.
XL Jacket - 14.8 ozs
M Full Zip Pants - 11.2

We were in driving rain for over an hour leading up to shooting this ram, it let up to a normal rain or drizzle while we were taking care of him. You can see where it is drying out from my body heat pushing out the moisture. Kneeling and crawling around in rocks hasn't worn the knees out yet. Gaitors help protect from sliding around in rocks and shale. I did'nt wear them last year but the pants didn't rip any and I put them thruogh the paces for about 30 miles of shale, brush and rain.

 

[colonel00]

If anyone has a C4E torrent jacket, can you tell me if they still sew their emblems on the front and back through the waterproof material? I mentioned this in another thread I think but I got a set when they first offered it and the jacket would soak through on the front and back where they embroidered their logos and didn't tape or do anything on the back side.

 

[n2horns]

C4E is sewn thru but taped.

 

[JasonGNV]

I'm very interested in this thread, I just spent 7 days bow hunting and endured 4 days of thunder and lightning storms with severe flash flooding. I have cabelas gear and I'm unhappy with how wet I ended up. It blew 3 opportunities at good bucks not being quiet enough to sneak in. Granted its not the high end gear but I'm looking for rain gear that can be worn and hunted out of in bow style conditions for days on end. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to research and check them out.

 

[Snyd]

I'm very interested in this thread, I just spent 7 days bow hunting and endured 4 days of thunder and lightning storms with severe flash flooding. I have cabelas gear and I'm unhappy with how wet I ended up. It blew 3 opportunities at good bucks not being quiet enough to sneak in. Granted its not the high end gear but I'm looking for rain gear that can be worn and hunted out of in bow style conditions for days on end. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to research and check them out.

Get your hands on that OR Revel jacket and check out the material. It doesn't feel or sound like raingear.

 

[JasonGNV]

I will check that out.

 

[Matt W.]

Get your hands on that OR Revel jacket and check out the material. It doesn't feel or sound like raingear.

The goal of this test is to put high end highly hyped jackets against Jackets in the $99-$150 range and see how they compare.
So far I have a few of the higher end jackets and one or two lower end. If I could find that OR jacket at a good price I'd add it to the test. I am going to try to mimic the test from the Outdoorgearlabs as much as possible, with a few modifications. I have my buddy lined up to help me so it will at least be something to mix up this fall.

KUIU Chugach
First Lite Stormtight
Cabela's Guide Gear Jacket
Sitka Rain Jacket (it's my buddy's but think it is the Stormfront one)
Patagonia Rain Shadow (I think this jacket is discontinued, but its what I have)

I'd like to keep the list at about 5-7 or this will get really complicated. I'll try to get around 10 lined up and then narrow it down from there. The KUIU Chugach and the First Lite Stormtight are the two must test, the rest I will work out to make this test what it is. I'd like 3-4 jackets that make similar claims with 2-3 proven cheaper jackets to compare against. I'll work up some sort of checklist / process with defined boundaries and processes. Then maybe others can mimic it with their jackets and we can sort of keep the process alive for us Roksliders. Nothing beats real world use, but it might be a nice compliment to those reviews for fellow research freaks.

 

[Snyd]

The goal of this test is to put high end highly hyped jackets against Jackets in the $99-$150 range and see how they compare.
So far I have a few of the higher end jackets and one or two lower end. If I could find that OR jacket at a good price I'd add it to the test. I am going to try to mimic the test from the Outdoorgearlabs as much as possible, with a few modifications. I have my buddy lined up to help me so it will at least be something to mix up this fall.

KUIU Chugach
First Lite Stormtight
Cabela's Guide Gear Jacket
Sitka Rain Jacket (it's my buddy's but think it is the Stormfront one)
Patagonia Rain Shadow (I think this jacket is discontinued, but its what I have)

I'd like to keep the list at about 5-7 or this will get really complicated. I'll try to get around 10 lined up and then narrow it down from there. The KUIU Chugach and the First Lite Stormtight are the two must test, the rest I will work out to make this test what it is. I'd like 3-4 jackets that make similar claims with 2-3 proven cheaper jackets to compare against. I'll work up some sort of checklist / process with defined boundaries and processes. Then maybe others can mimic it with their jackets and we can sort of keep the process alive for us Roksliders. Nothing beats real world use, but it might be a nice compliment to those reviews for fellow research freaks.

If you work up that checklist/process let me know and I'll give it a go with the OR. As long as it doesn't include destroying it


Here's an "Artichoke Green" mens xl for 80 bucks. I don't think they make the Olive Green anymore. I usually wear a large in a shirt,jacket or coat but bought this in an XL and am glad I did. But I wanted to be able to wear it over my puffy coat, etc.

http://www.mountaingear.com/webstor...or-Research/Revel-Jacket-Men-s/_/R-209186.htm

SunnySports has em cheap too.

http://www.sunnysports.com/p-orsrjmn/outdoor-research-revel-jacket-for-men

 

[Biggs300]

I've had an inexpensive, LLBean rip stop nylon, seam-sealed jacket for over 10 years now and it has kept me dry in light showers to extended periods of heavy rain. Even though it is a single layer material and doesn't breathe real well, it works well if I keep it vented. It packs in its own pocket and stays in my backpack. They still carry a similar jacket.

 

[n2horns]

I'm in Arizona and hunting the desert with things that will rip, poke and snag you. I too am looking at good quality and low price. I seem to replace rain gear every two years with having holes in them. I got C4E this year and waiting on my pants to arrive. I have the jacket that was shipped in a separate order.

Camo rain gear is a plus, but i try to use some stuff as double duty. Thanks for doing the testing.

 

[Vandal 44]

I will be paying attention to this test, I just got back from a four day hunt and it rained everyday. My Sitka Storm Front Lite pants soaked at the seem, I was not happy. I am looking for something that is lite, waterproof and breathable because I sweat like a fat kid eating apple pie on the 4th of July.

 

[rhendrix]

Haven't seen the Marmot Precip tossed around, my worked flawlessly and the pit zips helped keep me from building up condensation.

 

[Matt W.]

Appreciate all the comments. As I finalize the short list of jackets I have started working the "weighted methodology" for scoring these jackets. Below is my first attempt. I will then score the jacket on a scale of either 1-5 or 1-10 (debating this) against these categories.

I need some input. Are my weights about right? Am I missing any key criteria points?

25 Water Resistance
25 Breathability
10 Weight
15 Comfort / Mobility
5 Packed Size
10 Noise Factor
10 Perceived Durability / Quality*

*Perceived Durability/ Quality: This is the hardest test to measure without a lot of time. I will use my perceptions and a few tests I am working on along with a thorough overview of the jacket's construction. This is a hard test to do if you purposely do not want to attempt to destroy the jacket....

 

[Eagle]

I think where you hunt would dictate the weights of each category. Someone in the PNW would likely place different weights than someone hunting in Montana, and style of hunting would change things as well.

For myself and where/what I currently hunt, my weights would be:

20 Water Resistance
10 Breathability
15 Weight
15 Packed Size
15 Comfort Mobility
10 Noise Factor
15 Quality

 

[jm1607]

I'd like to see how the C4E Torrent gear hold up. To me it seems to have a solid design and the price seems to be right for what you get.

Agreed. Either the new or old C4E rain stuff would be great to compare too since it is a fairly inexpensive alternative

 

[Matt W.]

I think where you hunt would dictate the weights of each category. Someone in the PNW would likely place different weights than someone hunting in Montana, and style of hunting would change things as well.

For myself and where/what I currently hunt, my weights would be:

20 Water Resistance
10 Breathability
15 Weight
15 Packed Size
15 Comfort Mobility
10 Noise Factor
15 Quality

Good point. I will develop my ranking system and provide an XLS that allows others to modify the rankings to see how that changes things. I'll try to provide as much info as I can around the reasons for each ranking so others can compare that against other views. Thanks for the info. I need to make a weight a bigger factor, but was debating what other factor to reduce.. I don't think I will be testing a jacket over 20ozs so figured that alone would make that weight factor not as critical. ????

Agreed. Either the new or old C4E rain stuff would be great to compare too since it is a fairly inexpensive alternative

Any links to where I can find this stuff cheap? I saw that was really cheap on Camofire at one point. Trying to do this review without spending an arm and a leg and yet still have a decent amount of jackets to run through the wringer.... Also, which C4 jacket is the old vs. new? Torrent or Element? Thanks!

 

[Justin Crossley]

I would definitely try and test the Marmot Precip raingear. The stuff is lightweight and works really well. It is also in that $100-$150 range and cheaper if you find it on sale. My brother and I have years of good experience with it.

I have also used the Mountain Hardwear Conduit Silk jacket for about six years without a single complaint or problem.

Both of these lines are also in the 10-15 oz. range.

 

[Matt W.]

I would definitely try and test the Marmot Precip raingear. The stuff is lightweight and works really well. It is also in that $100-$150 range and cheaper if you find it on sale. My brother and I have years of good experience with it.

I have also used the Mountain Hardwear Conduit Silk jacket for about six years without a single complaint or problem.

Both of these lines are also in the 10-15 oz. range.

I think the Precip is a good measure to test the high end jackets against. My goal is to evaluate the value of a high end jacket vs. some of the budget jackets. I'm still working to nail down the final list of jackets to test. I want to test a fair cross section, yet don't want to get to heavily invested in this endeavor!

As it is I'll be taking at least 2 rain jackets with me on my next hunt. At least its not a sheep hunt...

I want to bring up one point, or perhaps bias, that will be evident in my analysis. As hunters we should support companies that support hunting. Lot of internet rumors about company X or company Y being ANTI hunting, you won't hear that malarkey about KUIU, First Lite, Kryptek, Sitka, Core4, Cabela's, Bass Pro, ect. As a hunter we need to keep this in mind as we buy gear. I'll add a comment to each jacket I review that says, "Confirmed Pro Hunting Company" or unconfirmed, I won't review a jacket from a company if I find clear evidence (i.e. on the actual company's website) that they are anti hunting. Ok by you all? I used to be the guy that enjoyed sending "success photos" to the anti companies, but pretty sure that kind of approach gets us no where...

 

[Justin Crossley]

Sounds good! This will be good info for everyone.

I definitely agree with buying from companies who support hunting if possible!