I'm re-evaluating how to stay dry!

[regedmunds]

When I started long distance hiking I followed the trend and bought myself an expensive waterproof jacket, waterproof trousers and waterproof gaiters. Wish I hadn't! The gaiters are fine and are still necessary to how I keep dry.

I fell out of love with the trousers first, a faff to put on and to take off and made me hot in all of the wrong places. I decided to buy a rain skirt, so much more comfotable and I could put the skirt on and off within 5 seconds! I then made my own, even better. I was dry and no longer hot and uncomfortable.

Then I fell out of love with the idea of a waterproof jacket, I decided to develop keeping dry as a 'stand alone subject.' I would buy for weather that makes me wet and buy for all other weathers separately. I then bought a good poncho, in many ways OK but the weakness for me was having to put it on over my head and the rucksack. So I moved on again.

I know use a cheap (£15) long, zip down the front, waterproof coat. Its made by Champion and I bought it from Amazon. Seems to work a treat! To work well in wet weather, I need my waterproof boots, my waterproof gaiters, my waterproof long coat and my waterproof hat. My coat also has a hood and its a good one as well. So rain trickles off my coat, onto my gaiters and onto the floor, just like tiles on a roof.

The knack is to find a coat the reaches just above the ankles, mine didn't so I sowed on a 3" extension to the hem and weighted it with a strip of leaded weights, the type women wear to stop their skirts flying up in wind.

If the inner surface of the coat gets damp because of exertion, I just unzip my coat when there is a lull in the rain, I dry out within a few minutes, even quicker if its a bit windy.

I am constantly looking for a 'better' coat but they do not seem to be made, except by Rohan but they want £250 which I am not prepared to pay!

[Caberfeidh]

Indeed, a tarred sail-cloth cape and Sou'Wester do me just fine. A tad heavy with the deep-sea divers' lead weights sewn in, but they do stop it blowing up over my head, except during that last Typhoon. If the waters of the puddles on the WHW get too rough, try emptying a barrel of whale oil in your wake to calm the waves.

The Good Ship Caberfeidh

[Bloostar]

Can’t you just go commando? Dry in under 3 minutes.. assuming it’s not 5 below

[regedmunds]

You may scoff but if I was starting from scratch as a long distance hiker, I know now that I could save myself a few hundred quid perhaps by consoidering the way I keep dry.

[rgf101]

I would buy for weather that makes me wet and buy for all other weathers separately.

Are you carrying both sets, or have you learned to predict the weather?

[regedmunds]

I hike with a 48L Osprey Exos rucksack and carry all of the usual stuff, but all of my clothes purchases these days are bought for dry weather only, hot, cold, windy, etc.

I know from experience that rain is always likely, from drizzle to heavy, for short or for long periods and often breezy to very windy at the same time. To keep me dry I just carry my waterproof long coat, a pair of Rab Hispar gaiters and a couple of home made goretex tubes (cut off sleeves from an old jacket) which I secure around my wrist so that I can avoid prolonged wet hands when hiking in wet weather. The tubes are about 1" longer than my middle fingers so I can still use thin ordinary non-waterproof fabric gloves. If it gets really cold I just slip on my Montane mittens over them to get my hands really warm. Total weight of my wet weather clothing is below 1.75lbs.

My waterproof Paramo Alta 2 jacket and my Deluge trousers are now completely obsolete!

I keep my wet weather items on the back of my rucksack so they are easily to hand when I need them.

In April I'm walking and camping from Keswick to Carlisle, east along Hadrians Wall and north when I meet the Pennine Way. Once at Kirk Yetholm I will then walk to Edinburgh via Peebles.

When I'm at home I run off road. I just wear my waterproof coat over my running clothes and jog on when its raining. It works very well.

[mrssanta]

It all sounds very interesting and I'm impressed at the lightness of your gear ... But don't you trip over your long coat? I'd be on my nose in minutes!

[regedmunds]

No, I don't trip at all, the coat hem area allows enough space to walk normally under mild rain conditions, a bit less if its raining hard. The only time I have to hitch up the hem area up to my waist for a few seconds at a time, is when crossing some stiles or perhaps boulders that need clambering over.

One matter has always struck me, rain is often intermittent, rarely in my experience when it will rain hard for hours on end, which is why I want a method where I can adapt quickly to each change. For example, the other day I hiked about three miles along the sea front where I live. It rained heavily twice, most of the time is was drizzel and there was a short period when it stopped. When it rained heavily I hunkered down in an instant, when it drizzled I adapted to a less closed in style and when it stopped I undid my coat to enjoy the wind. When I used to wear my Deluge waterproofs, I just couldn't do that. I always had to may the decision to keep them on, just in case it rained again, or took them off and then regretted it because soon found out I made the wrong decision and had to put them on again.

One trick I did learn however, was to always carry a couple of 'Tesco' plastic bags with me. When I needed to put on my Deluge pants, or take them off, I slipped the plastic bags over my boots and then did what was necessary. No mud inside my leggings for me!

[tensacks]

ok until it gets really[u][/u] windy ?

[regedmunds]

Wind can be a problem, but because I now wear a long coat, unlike a poncho, I am protected from it somewhat, just the same as wearing a 'normal' bottom length waterproof jacket. I used to wear a Vaude poncho (I never used it over my rucksack) and when it was windy I just snapped the front and rear hems together between my legs (this option is part of its design) and quickly put on an elasticated belt. During the last ten years I can only remember one particular day, from Kirk Yetholm to Byrness, when it was really heavy rain for about 20 miles and high winds into my face at the same time. I did get wet, but in the end, I was wearing my Paramo Alta 2 at the time, the hood was pulled really tight to my face but the rain eventually got in at my hood end and I became aware of it when I became cold and wet between my legs. Yuk! If I had been walking north I would have stayed dry.

Rain, I believe is overrated as a problem, but of course the manufacturers push it because they are selling a product which they can sell to us all at an enourmous cost. I paid £250 for my Paramo Alta 2 and £15 for my present long coat and both do the same job! Personally, these days I worry more about being windproof, warm and cosy.

[davekeiller]

But what about strong gusts? Doesn't the long coat act a bit like a sail and make it easier to get blown over?
This sort of arrangement sounds fine for reasonable paths, but not particularly practical for steeper terrain. Also sounds like it would easily snag on stuff.

[regedmunds]

Since using my long coat I haven't noticed any greater problem than when I used to wear my Paramo Alta2. Gusts can be a problem if wearing a poncho, or if using a poncho coat, that covers the rucksack as well, but I never do this, I just use an ordinary elasticated rucksack cover to keep my gear dry.

I know from experience that nothing is perfect and at the moment my coat isn't perfect either. Its weak point in rain is the opening area below the zip to the hem. Because I could only buy an 'off the shelf' coat the actual hem length was also about 2" too short to be totally effective. The coat length, as purchased, works fine in 'ordinary' rain, when there is no wind, but to be effective in heavy rain and high winds it needed a modification. Stitching a 2" wide waterproof and weighted additional hem to the existing hem seems to have solved this particular problem.

As an additional idea to keep dry, at the point where my coat overlaps my gaiters, I've made a 12" x 24" lightweight waterproof elasticated pinafore, (weighs about a gram) which I can secure around my waist to hang across my front, like a Freemasons pinny, with my long coat over the top if the weather conditions demand it.

Unfortunately, I need to experience more types of wet weather before I can be certain that my idea is a good one. My primary aim is to ensure that I never have to wear waterproof trousers again!

I'm hoping that when I hike from Borrowdale to Carlisle, along Hadrians Wall, then to Kirk Yetholme and then onto Edinburgh in April, my coat will get fully tested. All I need is some varied types of rain, with and without wind!

[davekeiller]

This sounds very interesting, but I can't help feeling that there's a reason these types of jackets went out of fashion for hillwalking (Barbour, drizabone etc. still make them, so they do have their uses).
A shorter jacket will give much better freedom of movement, and I don't see an ankle length coat working very well on steep ground.

[munro9]

Im not sure if this is a wind up or not! Complete bampottery

[regedmunds]

I've wanted to deal with rain in a different way for sometime. If I need to, I can always go to plan B, short cheap rain jacket, rain skirt and my usual gaiters. What I want to avoid most is waterproof trousers, horrible things!

The knack is to have something that keeps the legs dry which can be put on or taken off in a few seconds.