CELL PHONE: Inexpensive rain gear

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Inexpensive rain gear

Forget Gore-Tex. If you need a solid, affordable rain jacket, you should buy the Marmot PreCip.

Available for between $55 and $120, depending upon your size, it offers a combination of price, features and water resistance that makes it very nearly the perfect rain jacket.

It used to be that if you wanted to stay dry while wandering around in a downpour, there were few attractive options. A rubber rain slicker was 100 percent waterproof, save the wet that got past the buttons and zippers, or trickled down the back of your neck. Unfortunately, the slicker’s waterproofing came at the cost of breathability: The same impermeable layer of rubber that kept you from getting soaked also kept any sweat you worked up from wicking away from your body and evaporating into the atmosphere. In humid weather, even a modest amount of exertion while wearing a slicker would leave you bathed in your own sweat. The same goes for vinyl. Waxed cotton coats and oilskin jackets? They offer more breathability than a rubber slicker, but the waterproofing isn't as good. Sooner or later, rain gets past the coat’s wax or oil-coated cotton fabric. And as s you get wetter, the jacket gets heavier from all of the water taken on