Rain gear

[CA Karen]

Looking to upgrade my rain gear.... its starting to leak. Am looking for QUIET and light weight! is there such a thing?

 

[CabinFever]

I like my Russell apxG2 rain gear, very quiet and packs down pretty well.

 

[d-bone20917]

This is a very timely thread as I'm planning to buy some this year as well. I have the Helly Hansen Impertech 2, but it isn't very packable. The Kuiu Chugach stuff looks great and is getting solid reviews, but it's pretty pricey. I don't want to hijack your thread, but has anyone used the Marmot Precip rain gear?

 

[drthornton]

I used Marmot Precip last year on an Elk hunt in WY. I only had to use the jacket for about 2 hours so I can't say I put it thru it's paces but it did fine and packs small. Long leg zips and pit zips are good features. I am headed back to WY again this year and have not even considered upgrading.

I will say that the quality/performance of your base clothes will effect things in short thunderstorms almost as much as rain gear. I wore Sitka Ascent pants and Core shirt and they dry very quickly. I also used knee high gaiters which can go a long way before having to slip rain pants on.

 

[sagebrush]

Cabela's Rainsuede is quiet, but its not very light. I usually strap it to the outside of my pack to leave room for all the other stuff I carry.

 

[SDHNTR]

Quiet rain gear has a brushed soft face that gets saturated, cold to the touch, and heavy. Unless you have a place to dry it out each night, that stuff is near worthless. Hard shell rain gear has none of those problems but can be a bit more noisy. Given the fact that if you are hunting in the rain, the rainfall itself will muffle a lot of sound anyway, I'd much rather take a bit more noise and have effective raingear.

 

[CA Karen]

Was going to check out the KUIU stuff this weekend if they are open. I have the pack-able rain suede right now but it leaked like a sieve during a 4 hour storm when I was out turkey hunting this spring.

 

[d-bone20917]

Karen, let me know what you think of the Kuiu stuff if you get a chance to check it out. Thanks.

 

[Bambistew]

Quiet rain gear has a brushed soft face that gets saturated, cold to the touch, and heavy. Unless you have a place to dry it out each night, that stuff is near worthless. Hard shell rain gear has none of those problems but can be a bit more noisy. Given the fact that if you are hunting in the rain, the rainfall itself will muffle a lot of sound anyway, I'd much rather take a bit more noise and have effective raingear.

You got it exactly right... Same goes for 'breathable' junk.