Thread: Waterproof Jacket Recommendation

Some reading on the subject of Gore-tex and the like.
Well worth 10 minutes of your time.
Rainwear
Dave.

We have the Mont brand Tempest japaras/outer shell. Also their sleeping bags. Very high quality stuff.

www.mont.com.au

The parka style jackets are best because they come down over your bum.
Still need a pair of over trousers for the legs though.
They are made from a fabric called Hydronaute
You can buy them at the Wilderness shops.
About the same price as Gore Tex ones.

AFAIK ther stuff is still made in Australia ( must check the label )

Originally Posted by DiscoDavo

Steve, You are right, there are many 'Gore-Tex'-like fabricks on the market. Some are much better than others. Using common sense, price is a good indicator.ygwypf
For what you are after, life-span wise you need to be budgeting ~$450-$550 retail. This should get you a reasonably good balance between toughness, weight and breathability.
I'd recommend a jacket in the 500- 600 gm range, with pit zips, peaked hood, taped and sealed seams and storm zipper.
Braethability is measured in 000gm/m2/24hrs. Gore-tex should be around 6000.
Alternatively there are some reasonably tough basic ultralights around for very little. More of a tough, breathable spray jacket aimed at adventure racers etc.
Montane do a 115g basic and a Jacket type 129gm, for ~$150. These equal goretex at 6000.
Keep an eye on the sales for 'unfashionable' last seasons wear. I was looking at a nice Gore Mountain Designs jacket the other day down from $650 to $420. Coming up to winter, reduced prices will be every where.
Hope this helps.
Dave.

Thanks Dave - excellent info. I've got a trip to NZ in March so hopefully I can get something at a decent price before then.
Its a pity its so hard to distinguish between real gore-tex fabrics and imitations as I'm likely to be in China later this month for work so could probably pick something up cheap there. If it was just a fashion item there are some good knock-offs, but in this case I don't really care what it looks like but it HAS to do its job.
Steve

Hi Dave,

I have a 'North Face' jacket - you only need 1 for a lifetime, as long as you don't grow out of it - not cheap but good gear. Wait for a sale if you can.

Erich

I have a "One Planet" Gore-Tex jacket.
That said, any top quality Gore-Tex jacket would do.
Basically you can get a lightweight Gore-Tex or heavy weight. Heavy weight if you are bashing through scrub for example. Most bushwalkers would get a heavy weight jacket.
Also... make sure the length is OK for your needs. Mine comes down almost to my knees.

And I agree with not getting a jacket with built in "to keep you warm" lining, better to use the multy layer principle.

Mike

Originally Posted by Bundalene

Hi Dave,

I have a 'North Face' jacket - you only need 1 for a lifetime, as long as you don't grow out of it - not cheap but good gear. Wait for a sale if you can.

Erich

Yes, Genuine North Face is great gear but there are a lot of non-genuine copies around which aren't actually Gore-tex (and difficult to tell just by looking). They even come with very nice "Genuine Gore-tex" labels.
I happen to have a couple of lined North Face storm jackets that are imitations - but they only cost me $40 each. Nice and warm but about as waterproof as a woolen sock once the silicon coating ages a bit. I got mine in China, but there are usually plenty of them on eBay locally.

I'll definitely be buying from a reputable store - hopefully on sale!!

Steve

Originally Posted by spudboy

Wait until Kathmandu have a sale. We got a $500 gore-tex jacket for under 1/2 price. Big improvement over a non-breathable 'plastic' type jacket.

I did this, got a $600 jacket for $300, i use this snow boarding and its brilliant, poops all over my burton snowbaording jacket
Also look at paddy pallin, they stock great gear.
Theres aother brands like MacPac (NZ), North face, Paddy Pallin, Kathamndu, Helly Hanson etc...

I'll also put a word in for North Face with Gore-tex. We have two shell jackets we bought in Vancouver for about 25% of the price of one of them here. Absolutely great, even good for the wet season up here if you want to try and keep dry.

The other thing to do is make sure the shell jacket you get is vented under the arm pits or near by with weather sealed zips. This can make a big difference when it comes to cooling down without having to discard too many layers.


Also have a look here: www.mec.ca