You don’t want to purchase an costly rain jacket for climbing and backpacking as a result of a reasonable one will work simply in addition to one costing an arm and a leg. Actually, most backpackers use rain jackets that price $100 or much less for simply this purpose. Whereas out of doors clothes producers and the media rave in regards to the breathability of Gore-tex, eVent, Futurelight (and dozens of different waterproof/breathable membranes), the actual fact is that they work poorly for hikers as a result of they will’t sustain with the perspiration and condensation inside a rain jacket if you’re carrying a backpack within the rain all day.
Listed below are the highest 10 rain jackets that price lower than $100.
1. REI Rainier Rain Jacket
The REI Rainier Rain Jacket has all of the options desired by hikers and backpackers, together with pit zips, a three-way adjustable hood, hook-and-loop wrist cuffs, and zippered facet pockets. The Rainier additionally has two huge zippered pockets, each lined with mesh, that may maintain gloves, hats, or snacks. They will also be used as a stuff pocket to retailer the jacket when not in use. Learn the SectionHiker overview.
2. REI Trailmade Rain Jacket
3. LL Bean Path Mannequin Rain Jacket
4. Frogg Toggs UL2 Rain Jacket
5. Frogg Toggs Xtreme Lite
6. Compass 360 Ultrapak Extremely-Lite Rain Jacket
7. Columbia EvaPOURation II Jacket
8. Warbonnet Stash Jacket
9. Sea-to-Summit Extremely-Sil Nano Tarp Poncho
10. Columbia Watertight II Rain Jacket
HOW TO BUY A BACKPACKING RAIN JACKET
What are crucial options to search for on a climbing and backpacking rain jacket?
Adjustable Hoods
When selecting a rain jacket make certain the hood is NOT helmet-compatible, until you’ve an enormous Godzilla-sized head. Sadly, many rain jackets are meant for skiers and climbers who put on protecting helmets. What you need to search for is a completely adjustable hood with a rear quantity adjustment so you possibly can shrink the hood dimension to suit your head, facet pulls so you possibly can regulate the scale of the face opening, a wire or shapeable brim to protect your eyes from wind and snow, and a excessive collar that covers your neck and mouth. All of those options will assist defend your face from the chilly and wind and assist you to keep hotter.
Zippered Pockets
You’ll be able to’t have too many rain jacket pockets. They’re nice for carrying spare gloves, hats, and maintaining navigation instruments in simple attain. They’re additionally good for maintaining snacks shut at hand so you possibly can eat whilst you hike. I view rain jacket pockets as an extension of my backpack as a result of the additional storage cuts down on the variety of instances I’ve to cease to get garments or meals out of my pack.
Venting Capabilities
When you need to hike in cool moist climate, you need to restrict the quantity you perspire by actively managing your heat stage. The important thing to doing this entails venting extra heat by eradicating or venting layers. An excellent rain jacket ought to present a number of methods so that you can dump extra warmth with out having to take it off utterly. Listed below are a few of the most vital options to search for when evaluating totally different jackets.
- Adjustable Hook and Loop (Velcro) Wrist Closures: These assist regulate the physique warmth at your wrists the place the blood flows near the floor of your pores and skin. They are often worn underneath gloves or over them relying in your desire and the glove kind.
- Two way-front zipper: When you pull the underside half up, you possibly can dump numerous extra torso warmth, poncho-style.
- Hem drawcord: Cinch it closed to maintain the wind from blowing up between your legs and robbing your torso warmth.
Breathability Scores
What must you search for when it comes to breathability scores when taking a look at climbing rain jackets? For cheap rain jackets, one of the best you possibly can hope for is 10,000 (g/m^2/d) MVTR (movable water vapor transmission price), which is fairly lackluster. A lot of the producers listed above don’t publish the MVTRs for his or her jackets, as a result of they’re not that aggressive with costlier clothes,
However to be trustworthy, I don’t belief the breathability scores printed by producers as a result of they’re measured in very best laboratory situations which have little to do with precise use. Pit zips and energetic venting trump breathability claims any day. When you get too scorching, venting your rain jacket goes to chill and dry you off much more rapidly than ready for water vapor to maneuver throughout a breathable membrane whereas your zipper is closed.
Waterproof/Breathable or Not?
If staying perspiration-free within the rain is vital to you whilst you’re climbing down a path carrying a loaded backpack…possibly you need to choose one other sport. Perspiring is inevitable. So is condensation, when the inside of your rain jacket is hotter than the outside floor. Consider a rain jacket as a part of your bigger layering system as an alternative. The principle objective of a rain jacket is to maintain you heat when it’s raining or the wind is blowing laborious when utilized in mixture with a mid or base layer. Your objective needs to be to remain heat and keep away from hypothermia.
The final word query is whether or not you need to trouble shopping for a water-proof/breathable jacket with crummy breathability specs or one which’s waterproof however not breathable because you’re going to get moist inside anyway. Whereas heavier, many waterproof/breathable jackets are higher high quality than non-breathable ones with extra options, together with taped seams. They’re usually hotter too. No matter you determine, pay shut consideration to the options of the jackets you’re evaluating. We predict crucial rain jacket options are three-way adjustable hoods, pit zips, zippered pockets, and taped seams, adopted by velcro wrist cuffs and hem adjusters.
DWR Coatings
When you do purchase a water-proof/breathable jacket that’s coated with a chemical DWR layer (sturdy water repellent) that makes water bead when it hits the material and rolls off. The draw back of this design is that the DWR coating rubs off with use. When this occurs your jacket will stay waterproof, however it should stop to be breathable in any respect. When that occurs, most backpackers purchase a brand new jacket, on common each 2-3 years, as an alternative of making an attempt to revive the DWR coating with a product like Nikwax TX Direct. Alternatively, many hikers and backpacks purchase rain jackets which can be made with non-breathable materials. Lots of these rain jackets have pit-zips and different venting options to assist scale back inside sweat build-up when it rains as an alternative of breathability.
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