Vapor stormlight vs chugach

[trdhunter]

Im in the market for new rain shell. The two im considering are the Kuiu Chugach and First Lite Vapor Stormlight at the moment. Can anyone shed any light or share thoughts on which way to go. Wish the Vapor had pit zips but might not be huge deal. I know the vapor is new so not many have used it yet.

Is there any other shell I should consider before purchasing one of these two?

Thanks

 

[CA Karen]

I have the original Chugach rain gear it has served me well and I really like..... stick with something that has pit zips they are worth it.

 

[charvey9]

As of this weekend, I've now used both. I was also a bit concerned about the lack of pit zips in the Vapor Stormlight jacket, but they jacket overall is lighter and breathes better than the Chugach. I hiked for about 10 hours on Sunday in the rain, snow, hail wearing the Vapor Stormlight and could not be happier with the waterproofness and breathability. I stayed dry from head to toe. The finish on the Vapor is also a bit quieter than the Chugach and the jacket "moves" with you better. The Chugach is thicker, and therefor probably has the edge on durability in the long run or for all day every day use or busting lots of brush.

I have not used the KUIU Ultra NX rain jacket, but feel that is probaby a more fair comparison to the Vapor Stormlight. These are ultralight, packable jackets to bring out when the weather turns south. I have not got my hands on it yet, but the new SEAK jacket from FL is probably closer to the Chugach.

So the real question is what conditions will you be using rain jacket for?

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Sitka Dewpoint is much lighter and more packable.

 

[trdhunter]

From what I gathered, I thought the seak would be comparable to the kuiu yukon jacket. I will check out the sitka dewpoint. The conditions i will be using the jacket for will be in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado so mostly quick storms which pass but the last couple years have had some storms that hung around all day to couple days. Decided my older jacket which was just used for quick storms, did not cut it to stay out all day or multiple days in the rain.

 

[charvey9]

Sitka Dewpoint is much lighter and more packable.

The Dewpoint is also another good option, but the new FL Vapor Stormlight jacket is actually lighter and just as packable. Comparing those two is pretty fair.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Yeah except they don't offer a Vapor pant. The jacket is 12oz. The Dewpoint pant and jacket is 24.4oz with lots of venting options.

 

[tipsntails7]

I've not used the vapor storm light and I don't plan to. But I have used the chugach, along with a stupid amount of other rain jackets. I believe the chugach is the best combo between durability and light weight in camo that there is.
I don't see the appeal of super ultra light weight rain jackets, I've never been happy with any of them. If you don't use it ever buy some cabelas space rain and the one day it rains either sit it out or wear the space rain.

If you plan on actually hunting in it and using it on a regular basis, I would recommend either the Yukon from Kuiu or an Arc'teryx variant even though I don't feel Gore makes the best membrane anymore.


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[Tyler455]

I'm trying to pick rain gear.

Debating on KUIU Chugach NX or Firstlite. Seak or Vapor.

Charvey , you own the new NX or older Chugach?

Anyone have the SEAK yet? I would live to hear how it compares to the Chugach NX