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Foul Weather Gear - Spring, Summer and Fall |
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There are few times when I don't welcome rain on the trail. When backpacking in moderate temperatures, even while wearing very little, I am always warm enough to perspire, and I much prefer the feel of rain to the feel of sweat. I also relish rain's cooling effect, at least up to a point, so I'll only don rainwear when I'm beginning to feel chilled. |
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When the rain is light, I'll use the water-resistant Patagonia Dragonfly pullover. The Dragonfly breathes so well that sweat vapor doesn't accumulate under it, and until the rain gets heavy enough to saturate the micro-encapsulated fabric my body heat evaporates the moisture from it's surface. However, a hard, wind-blown rain when temperatures are below sixty chills me quicker than any other condition I encounter, and I need more protection than the Dragonfly affords. |
| For a hard rain I'll throw my Lorien Rain CLoak over my head. I designed the Lorien Cloak to serve as both raingear and a shelter, and when I get time I'll offer it for sale. Right now you'll have to be satisfied with a description and a few pictures. |
| I hate to admit how much money I wasted trying to find a commercial garment that protected me in a rain storm yet didn't become a movable sauna twenty minutes after donning my pack. Good consumer acolyte that I was, I steadfastly believed the "waterproof-breathable" marketing hype, and on three occasions I purchased rainwear constructed of the latest "technologically advanced fabric." After fairly short field trials I ended up giving all the garments to an acquaintance who likes to hang out in coffee shops dressed in trail gear, as none was breathable enough to handle the sweat vapor generated by even a slow stroll with a pack, temperature notwithstanding. Moreover, two of the garments were beautiful (sigh), expensive (sigh), multi-layer affairs that were also quite heavy, especially when the outer fabric was saturated, and they took up a lot of room in my pack. |
| When my frustration finally drove me to do a bit of research, I discovered that even the most breathable of the "waterproof-breathable" fabrics is only about 5% porous, and that's only porous enough to effectively transport a resting (e.g. standing still or sitting) amount of moisture vapor when it's cold and dry outside. In other words, garments constructed of these fabrics are fine if you wear them to hang out in coffee shops, but for backpacking you might as well wear a shower curtain. Which is what I do now. Sort of. |
| To stay dry from the outside, I constructed the Lorien Cloak using a non-breathable, waterproof fabric. The best fabric I found for this purpose is also my choice for tarps and rain flys, e.g., silicone coated ripstop nylon, or "silnylon" to its friends. Not only is it waterproof, silnylon is remarkably strong for its weight (1.3 ounces per square yard), so it works well as either lightweight rainwear or shelter ware. To stay dry from the inside I made sure that the Cloak allows enough air to circulate between it and my skin to rapidly exhaust whatever sweat vapor I'm generating, and I generate a lot. |
| By now you've probably caught on to the fact that the Cloak is really a rain poncho. However, it's a poncho with a difference, as it uses zippers rather than snaps or ties to hold the sides together (or not), has an attached belt to keep it from flapping in a wind, and thumb loops to keep my arms covered when using poles. It's hood is fitted, and the hood opening can be cinched closed so that the Cloak can be rigged as a tarp using the tie outs at the corners. It's also large enough to completely cover me and my pack, but still weighs only about eight ounces. In conjunction with my Oware Epic bivy, it doubles as an extremely light and efficient three-season shelter for those times when I can't use my hammock. |
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