Pockets: The only good pockets on a rain jacket are waterproof pockets. This can be easily achieved by sticking them inside or more expensively executed by giving outside pockets waterproof zippers. Consider the relative location of pockets and any harnesses or packs you may wear.
These may limit access, obscure volume or even prevent the use of pockets altogether. More money typically nets you less size and weight.
Sorry, we warned you. What that jacket nets me is unprecedented breathability paired with complete waterproofness, quality construction, a maxed-out feature set, strong color choices and a fit that flatters my athletic body. You can make this all much simpler and cheaper by simply visiting the outfitter of your choice and asking the questions raised in this article.
How waterproof is it? How breathable is it? How do those numbers compare to jackets up or down the price scale? How durable is the DWR and how easy is it to revive? Does it fit me? Can I use the pockets? Is it light enough for my needs? Top Photo: just another Chris Brinlee Jr selfie. IndefinitelyWild is a new publication about adventure travel in the outdoors, the vehicles and gear that get us there and the people we meet along the way. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram.
The think that kills me is the amount of this technical outdoor gear that peoplenbuy that will never, ever leave the city. And the big brands will market the shit out of that. Most of these companies are now more a part of the goop lifestyle culture than they are true outdoor pursuit equipment suppliers.
The A. Most rain jackets have a hood. Casual rain jackets typically have simple hood adjustments, while hiking rain jackets have often more adjustable hoods with a stiffened brim. Jackets designed for skiing or mountaineering have large hoods that accommodate a helmet heads up: these hoods can be pretty baggy if you never plan to wear the jacket with a helmet.
And cycling rain jackets rarely have a hood since they can block your vision when you turn your head. These zippers are usually located in the armpits, chest or back the usual suspects for sweaty warmth.
You can often tell what a rain jacket is designed for just by looking at the pockets. Casual rain jackets often have lots of inner and outer pockets for daily essentials like keys or bus passes. Ski jackets can have a specialized pocket for your ski pass, a soft lined pocket to protect your goggles, or a big pocket to hold climbing skins or bulky gloves. Cycling jackets and jackets designed for fast and light hiking or mountaineering often have very few pockets or even no pockets to reduce weight and bulk.
Date October 19, Date September 22, Date September 14, Skip to content Skip to navigation. Skip to main content Skip to content navigation Close navigation. Most modern day raincoats are inspired in one way or another by Macintosh's brainchild. Today there are many kinds of raincoats made of all types of fabric.
An all-weather raincoat has a removable lining so it can be worn in any weather. Fold ups are foldable and usually made of vinyl. Vinyl raincoats are made of vinyl or of fabric that has a vinyl finish. What is important to raincoat manufacture is efficient waterproofing. There are two important qualities: absorption how much water can be soaked by the fabric and penetration the amount of water that can sink into the fabric.
Raincoat fabrics are either absorbent or repellent. The best raincoats are made of tightly woven fabric. People have been trying to make items of clothing waterproof for hundreds of years. As early as the thirteenth century, Amazonian Indians used a milky substance rubber extracted from rubber trees for this purpose.
When European explorers came to the Americas in the sixteenth century, they observed the indigenous people using a crude procedure and rubber to waterproof items like footwear and capes. By the eighteenth century, Europeans were experimenting with waterproofing fabric for clothing. Scotland's John Syme made further waterproofing advances in In , the first raincoat was manufactured. Made by G. Fox of London, it was called the Fox's Aquatic. The raincoat was made of Gambroon, a twill-type fabric with mohair.
While these early attempts at waterproofing fabrics sometimes involved rubber, they were not particularly successful. When rubber was used in clothing, the articles involved were not easy to wear. If the weather was hot, the clothing became supple and tacky; if cold, the clothing was hard and inflexible. This problem was solved in the early nineteenth century by Macintosh. The native of Scotland was a chemist and chemical manufacturer. Through experiments, Macintosh discovered a better way to use rubber in clothing.
At the time, the gas industry was new. Coal-tar naphtha was one byproduct of the fractional distillation of petroleum, which was used in gasworks. This volatile oily liquid was a hydrocarbon mixture. Macintosh dissolved rubber in naphtha, making a liquid. This liquid was brushed on fabric making it waterproof. In , Macintosh patented his process for making waterproof fabric. This process involved sandwiching a layer of molded rubber between two layers of fabric treated with the rubber-naphtha liquid.
It took some time to develop the industrial process for spreading the rubber-naphtha mixture on the cloth. The patented waterproof fabric was produced in factories beginning in In recent years, waterproof-fabric makers have been working to make garments with greater air permeability, says Martin Hatfield, chief engineer with eVent fabrics. The company makes waterproof material for products sold by dozens of companies, including Eddie Bauer and REI.
The coating blocks airflow, so by removing it, air can push sweat through the PTFE more easily, preventing wearers from feeling stifled. This, Hatfield says, makes the raincoat more comfortable to wear when alternating between periods of activity and rest—for instance, when a skier works up a sweat on the slopes but then relaxes while riding the lift back up the mountain. The downside of removing the polyurethane, he says, is that the raincoat is less rugged and less resistant to solvents, so customers in the military and other specialized fields still prefer the polyurethane coating.
Mike Winterling, a product specialist with W. One problem with the outer layer is that over time, its durable water-repellent coating can lose its ability to make water bead up, so garments start to get wet and heavy. Related: The madman who made rubber useful. Recent patents indicate that Gore increases durability by coating the PTFE with an oil-resistant polymer and that the company colors the material using ink-jet printing. To test products that carry the Gore-Tex label, the company places prototypes of all garments made with the waterproof fabric into a living-room-size storm chamber.
Here, enthusiastic Gore employee volunteers and paid participants often college students from the nearby University of Delaware get sprayed in a manner that mimics all types of wet weather. Finally, products are subject to field testing. Waterproof-fabric companies are also trying to improve their environmental footprint. Last year, Gore Fabrics, a subunit of W. Winterling acknowledges that the move away from perfluorinated chemicals presents a challenge.
They are, in fact, on the side of the PTFE membrane that touches the backer. Contact the reporter. Submit a Letter to the Editor for publication. Engage with us on Twitter. The power is now in your nitrile gloved hands Sign up for a free account to increase your articles.
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