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what are some good choices for rain gear, coat and pants,
what do you other trippers wear canoeing in da rain? i have a mec gift card ready to solve this problem. open to all suggestions . thanks
come on ice out!!
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For the last two years I've used the Marmot Precip jacket & pants and it works just fine. I have a Marmot Zion jacket which is their version of gore tex but I don't like it as much. The precip is good.
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Never had rain gear until a couple years ago. Always swore by the old poncho. MRX requires full gear so I picked up the MEC Aquanator jacket and pants. They have served me well ever since and was relatively reasonable price wise. Allot more affordable than gortex.
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North Face Talvo Gore-Tex jacket and an older pair of redhead Gore-Tex pants, although most of the time I don't bother with the rain pants unless its a cold day. I know MEC offers some reasonably priced, non gore-tex gear that I've heard good things about, but I'm partial to the gore-tex - I just trust it will actually keep me dry.
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For me, rain gear is a critical piece of gear.
I have MEC hydrofoil pants. I bought the mens version because it was all they had and I was heading out on a trip with lots of expected rain. I love that they zip entirely along the leg. It means you can get them on and off without removing your boots. They have withstood a lot of heavy rain on at least 2 years of tripping. Even after sustained rain over many days, they still keep me dry.
For a jacket, I have an Outdoor Research Aspire jacket. I had a hard time finding a jacket that didn't fit too tight on my hips without being huge everywhere else. The dual zipper on the aspire and the full pit-waist zippers mean I can adjust the fit at my hips perfectly. The pit zippers are also great for breathability. The jacket has seen some heavy use and has never failed.
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CanoeClaire wrote:
... I love that they zip entirely along the leg. It means you can get them on and off without removing your boots. They have withstood a lot of heavy rain on at least 2 years of tripping. Even after sustained rain over many days, they still keep me dry.
...
Any issues with water seeping in along the zippers? How about when kneeling in the canoe with rainwater building up in a puddle around your knees?
I have always avoided rain pants with a full length zipper on the legs because I don't trust them not to leak when submerged for an hour or more while paddling in the rain.
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My current rain pants are North Face. Not nearly as heavy weight a material as my previous Gortex pants. That makes them lighter, but it also meant that they ripped a lot easier. I have had the North Face pants several years now and they are still keeping me dry, but also have a few rips that have been repaired with patch tape.
It looks like most rain (as opposed to snow) pants are very similar to the North Face pair that I have, so I would probably end up with them again, although a heavier material would still be preferred.
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re: RobW
The zippers on the MEC hydrofoil have a good sized flap over the actual zipper (there is a word for this; I can't think of it). So unless you purposely flip that back to expose the zipper, you won't have problems.
The side zippers on my raincoat don't have the flap but they are treated water tight and I've never had a problem.
As for sustained submergence in the bottom of the canoe, I've never had problems but I can't confidently say I've replicated that situation. Often I'm wearing shorts under them so I wouldn't necessarily notice if there was seepage at the knees. I also don't usually kneel unless it's windy.
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I've been using a Marmot Minimalist jacket the last few years and it's been "okay". Not terribly breathable and the water repellancy didn't last long (for some time I've had to re-treat it before every camping trip). Just a couple of months ago I picked up an Arc'teryx Zeta LT jacket to replace it. I love it from a look / feel perspective but it hasn't been on a camping trip yet or dealt with any significant rainfall, so I'll withhold rating it until I have some evidence to back it up.
When I bought the Minimalist, I thought gore tex was gore tex was gore tex - it turns out that's not actually the case. There are a few different variants and the quality / breathability differences between the different types can be substantial.
I don't take rain pants. My kayak sprayskirt comes with me on all camping trips and it can double as rain protection when I'm paddling.
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re: RobW
The zippers on the MEC hydrofoil have a good sized flap over the actual zipper (there is a word for this; I can't think of it). So unless you purposely flip that back to expose the zipper, you won't have problems.
The side zippers on my raincoat don't have the flap but they are treated water tight and I've never had a problem.
As for sustained submergence in the bottom of the canoe, I've never had problems but I can't confidently say I've replicated that situation. Often I'm wearing shorts under them so I wouldn't necessarily notice if there was seepage at the knees. I also don't usually kneel unless it's windy.
The note on wearing shorts suggests we're tripping at different times of the year. In the summer, I'm likely either wearing shorts or quick dry pants. Those cover the days when it's warm and I'm not worried about getting wet. However in the spring, I'll be wearing jeans under the rain pants for warmth and specifically want to stay dry. I'm sure the zip pants will shed water just fine when walking around and mostly upright, but I'm still leery of them on a cold soaking wet day in spring when there's an inch or more of water in the bottom of the canoe and I need to stay dry.
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Jeans in the back country? Now I understand the 'Loon' part of your signature ;)
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Plain old (lightweight) bright yellow rain pants from can tire. You can sit in a puddle of water all day and you're still dry. Fold away really small. Cheap. Not pretty or form fitting but very effective.
But I do have a gore text coat for breath ability and goretex hiking boots. The yellow coats from ct are too hot for me.
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Jeans in the back country? Now I understand the 'Loon' part of your signature ;)
I have yet to find a pair of 'technical' pants that are a similar weight, warmth and durability as jeans.
Nylon quick dry pants are fine in the summer, but they soak through just as fast as they dry and provide very little warmth when wet.
On dry days in spring/fall the jeans are just as versatile in the 'back country' as they are anywhere else. On wet days, they stay dry under the rain pants.
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Jeans in the back country? Now I understand the 'Loon' part of your signature ;)
Have to agree with that comment, jeans are the last pants I want with me on any back country trip, and some of my camping friends never got that memo and wore them and regretted it afterwards, take forever to dry once they get wet, get very heavy when wet and stick to your skin when wet.
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I was just yanking your chain, although I never take jeans camping myself. They're heavy, don't keep you terribly warm (especially if you want to think about a warmth to weight ratio) and once they get wet they're useless and will take forever to dry. I've seen more than one pair of soaking wet blue jeans abandoned at a portage. Of course that requires you to get them wet in the first place, and you're clearly very careful about avoiding that!
Since I can always pull on my spray skirt for warmth as well as dryness when paddling, hiking pants suit me just fine even on the shoulder seasons, but I'd think a thin pair of long underwear underneath hiking pants would be better in just about every way than a pair of jeans, no? The combination would be warmer, lighter and more compressible than a pair of jeans and if you ever did get them wet, they'd dry a whole lot faster.
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Just like Peek, I'm still rocking the same Marmot Precip Jacket and pants.
Definitely worth it, and they aren't over priced.
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@Uppa - Never really had trouble drying things out - just hang them up under the tarp if it's pouring rain. There's good reasons why jeans are common work pants almost anywhere including living and working around Algonquin.
I'd say it's much more a case of folks learning the difference between living outdoors and living in the city.
Anyway, this thread was about rain gear, so I'll stop hijacking it.
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