Waterproofs.... how do you choose?!

 This is a question for the ages.... how on earth do you choose which waterproof to buy? There are so many out there on the market these days. They range from something you could barely tell the difference between and a polythene sheet (technically waterproof... but... um), and all singing, all dancing jackets that cost upwards of £600. Yes, the range is quite insane, but what should make you part from your hard earned cash? 

Harking back to when I actually worked in the outdoor retail industry- which I fully appreciate is more than a decade ago- there was a single brand that reigned supreme in everyones head. Whether that was because of the price point, or because they were actually better- was Arc'teryx. They boasted better fabric, better cut, smaller seams (and therefore better breathability), better hoods, better zips... and a price point to match. The Alpha SV was £400. A clear £70 more than anything else around at that time. 

One of their favourite things to do was get out a USB microscope to show you just how good the facefabric was- all geometrical grid patterns and no stray threads anywhere. In comparison, other jackets might have had a few stray threads- which would "disrupt the beading process, and make the jacket wet out faster". 

What are you going to use the jacket for?

Anyhow- what makes one jacket better than another? 

Goretex- or the membrane that makes things waterproof and breathable. There are now so many different types of goretex I've kind of lost count. You also have eVent which is made by another company, and does much the same thing. Each big clothing company has their own proprietry version of this membrane. Some work better than others due to various variabilities. 

None of them will work if they are dirty and covered in crap. Note- this is the membrane. You can't normally see it as it is sandwiched between layers of other fabric. In the case of the soon to be retired Shakedry- the membrane was on the outside... brilliant for breathability- but somewhat fragile. 

The fabric on the outside of the jacket is the facefabric. It comes in many many different versions. Some are tougher than others- better for dragging up rockfaces in the Scottish winter. Others are lighter-weight but less robust- etc. etc, you get the idea. Again, these fabrics are fairly essential to the waterproofing and breathability of the jacket. If they get dirty, the crap clogs the pores, and enables water to bead less well on the jacket, wetting it out sooner - meaning it becomes less breathable, and you get wet inside the jacket.

All well and good- but I still haven't said which jackets are better etc.

So here is the point. 

A guy walks into the shop and asks for the most expensive jacket we have- considering that the more expensive the jacket, the more waterproof it should be. Ok- standard assumption. But the expense doesn't just go into making it waterproof. It's the cut, the hood (the most expensive bit of the jacket), the pockets, the closures etc. At £400, the Alpha SV was the most expensive, and, by his standards, the most waterproof jacket we had. 

Problem:

I was invited to a "test" weekend by one of the highest profile brands. It turned into a classic wet weekend in Wales, so pretty much the best conditions you could want. There was a minor issue in that the only jackets available were in XL. I am very much not an XL. Nor were quite a few of the other guys, so what happened was actually quite good. I wore my Mountain Equipment Changabang, someone else had a Rab Latok, there was an Arc'teryx Beta AL... basically from personal kit as well as the test kit we had pretty much a permutation from every major brand at the time. 

The day was set to be an easy scramble up something pretty easy in Ogwen valley. Luckily, it rained the entire day so we could have a decent idea of just how good each others waterproofs were. 

Yup- this was that day

At the end of the day, it turned out, there was only one person who was dry. They were the person who was ferrying everyone around and had stayed in a car or a cafe the entire time. Everyone else, no matter what brand of waterproof was fairly damp through. Whether this was from water ingress- which happens eventually, or sweat- which certainly happens sooner rather than later- it wasn't clear, but there was not a dry person among us. 

So what does this tell us? That it doesn't matter how much or how little you spend on a waterproof, you'll still get wet? 

Well- kind of. I have no doubt that if I was wearing a £30 poncho on that trip I'd have been wet, cold AND miserable, rather than damp/wet and able to move and work in the mountains. 

If you're buying a jacket, perhaps the main things to think about are: 

What am I going to use it for? How good a hood do I want? Are the pockets useful? What is the fit like?

I, for one, don't get on with Arc'teryx. The mens Small has shoulders that are simply too big for me. There is a load of wasted space. Other people might get on well with that shape. Also, I don't really tend to drag myself up slabs of granite in the rain any more, so the face fabric doesn't need to be so bombproof for me- I'd go for something a little less thick and heavy. Equally, the hood needs to cinch down well, and move with my head. The Mountain Hardwear hoods just don't do it for me- yet the Mountain Equipment hoods and the OMM hoods seem to be much better- (I have a small head, and some hoods, it seems just don't work). 

That being said, other people have different needs. 

Last word, I suppose- is if you're in the market for a jacket- don't just look at the label and assume that more expensive is better. Try the jacket on. Does it fit? Put the hood up, does it work for your head? Are the pockets in the right place? Can you fit an OS map in a pocket if you need to? Can you fit a warm layer underneath if you have to? 

And remember- the most reliable way to stay dry in the mountains is to stay in the pub. 

Best way to stay dry?