Rain And Fleece..

[Kongloud]

hello everyone. I've been planning on taking a couple of short treks during the rainy season. My question is about rain and cold gear. I've been window shopping for a while now and noticed there's a vast selection on these types of products. I like the Marmot PreCip rain jacket and the North Face Denali jacket. is there anyone that have gear they recommend for this situation?..

[natchez]

Hi Kongloud, welcome to the forum, I'm happy you are here

You can find some info regarding this subject here (please click) and I'm sure you'll be getting more feed back about it shortly

[bdavison]

Instead of getting one jacket...
Id suggest instead layering. Its a much more efficient way of clothing yourself.

I use the three layer system. Ive found that this is by far the best way to dress for outdoor activity.

The three layer system is simple.
1st layer is the Base Layer.
It consists of the clothing that will actually be contacting the skin. It should consist of some material that wicks moisture away from the skin, and dries quickly. Preferably a polyester blend like underarmor, or something similar. NO COTTON!!! There is a common saying...Cotton kills. And its true. Cotton doesnt wick away moisture...it holds it. And since it holds moisture, it constantly cools the body which can result in hypothermia even in warm tempertures.

2nd layer is the insulation layer. This layer should be something that maintains the temperture. Fleece is a good 2nd layer. Any fabric that is designed to hold air. The air trapped inside the fabric acts as insulation to maintain warmth.

3rd layer is the Outer shell
This layer is what protects you from the elements. Wind, Rain, Snow, etc. It needs to be waterproof, but breathable. Gore-tex or just a simple rainjacket/pants. Look for ones with well sealed seams, and good waterproof zippers, and a hood. This is the layer that will keep you dry, and protected from the elements. I prefer the columbia stuff. Gore-tex tends to be rather clammy and stiff. Columbia makes some jackets that are nice and flexible and breathe well.

Columbia has the "CORE" system where they make a outer shell combined with a zip out fleece liner. I have two of these, and they are my favorite outdoor clothing option.

I dont recommend the new "windproof fleece" versions. Normally they put a windproof layer on the inside of the fleece. While it will hold out the wind, it also renders the fleece pretty much useless, and doesnt allow the fabric to breath. Trapping moisture inside.

The best thing about the three layer system is that you can add or remove layers to maintain your comfort level.

One important thing to remember is fleece is NOT waterproof or windproof. So you will have to have a outer shell to protect it. If it gets wet, its very difficult to dry out, and it soaks up water like a sponge.<br><br>Post edited by: bdavison, at: 2007/10/08 16:16

[natchez]

NO COTTON!!! There is a common saying...Cotton kills. And its true. Cotton doesnt wick away moisture...it holds it. And since it holds moisture, it constantly cools the body which can result in hypothermia even in warm tempertures.

I find this a bit hard to swallow :blush: Cotton breathes - natural materials breath. That's the difference between them and synthetics.

[bdavison]

I submit...for your review.
http://www.losalamos.org/lasar/lafb/cotton_kills.htm
This experiment was conducted by the Los Alamos Search and Rescue...good enough for me.

You're right, cotton does breathe very well. The problem isnt with how it breathes. The problem is with its properties once wet. Once cotton becomes wet with either rain or sweat, it holds that moisture, loses all of its insulation properties, and begins to cool your skin rapidly through evaporation.

Lets take a scenario.
Its a nice 70 degree day and your hiking along. A thundershower pops up, and soaks your cotton clothes. Thunderstorms can cool tempertures up to 20deg. So now your temperture is a nice cool 50 deg. The rain shower stops, and now your sopping wet. Lets say you get lucky and the outside temps go back up to about 65 or so after the shower, now evaporation starts to occur within the cotton clothing. Cotton can lower temps around 30 deg through evaporation.
Now your at 35 deg for around 4 hours while evaporation takes place and the cotton dries.

Now here is the really big kicker.
A drop in core temperture of only 12 degrees can and likely will kill you.
The human body normally operates at 98.6 degrees. If the core temp drops to 86 degrees...your gonna be having serious medical issues. Chilling yourself in a cotton cooler at 35 degrees for hours while the cotton dries out is certainly capable of bringing your core temps dangerously low.

[natchez]

No, I am having no problems with synthetic isolating materials. Just not on my body as a first layer. It's an instinctive thing: like a fobia. Only natural materials or I go crazy. OVER that first layer of natural material anything can be worn: every synthetic existing, I don't mind. That waterproof layer will keep me from becoming soaking wet. No?

[Elessar78]

Sorry to revive this thread but is there a substantial difference between polar fleece between one manufacturer and another from a performance standpoint? Will one keep you warmer than another, assuming they're both the same "weight"?

What about wicking base layers? Is there a difference between under armour/nike dri-fit/adidas cool max/ice breaker vs the C9 Target brand (Champion)?

[vsbladz]

WOW!! Respect Bro!! Can you do a write-up on this Cloud Reading? It would be nice. Thanks!