Rain Jacket Advice

[Benjblt]

I am not familiar with Columbia Outdry via personal use, but have read mixed reviews on it. It warrants more research on my end, before I can formulate an opinion on it. I started out my journey with rain gear with a bias toward cheap gear. As I moved through the process I quickly realized you get what you pay for in terms of both fabric and how it is put together.

Through my testing I found that for me, Sitka's rain gear just worked the best. Gore-Tex is an industry leader in waterproof breathable fabrics, and Sitka harnesses the full potential of that. For me, the Sitka Dewpoint is pretty hard to beat for light weight rain gear. For extended pursuits in extensive wet environments, I like the Sitka Stormfront. For colder, wet pursuits, I like the Coldfront. Sitka does a good job of designing gear to work for a hunter. Its really hard to articulate that until one spends a lot of time in the gear. Gore-Tex's R&D is amazing. They do have some legit competitors, but once I found out how well Sitka's line worked for me, I quit messing with the other stuff.

Cheaper rain gear has its place, as does the rubber stuff, but for hunting and general outdoor use those 3 lines work exceptionally well for me.
They are great blend of design, fabrication, fabric, and performance.

I'm not trying to steal the thread but. . . how do you think the First Lite SEAK jacket stacks up to the Gore-Tex jackets like Sitka?

 

[Matt W.]

I think the SEAK performs very well in terms of keeping you dry and moving moisture out. I'm curious to see how 37.5 fabrics hold up long term to the abuse we hunters put on gear in the field. I ran one for a season and it did ok. I just preferred the fit and design of the Stormfront vs. SEAK. Seems like the SEAK is a quality piece and I have not read a bad review on it yet.

Here is some data to chew through....
First Lite SEAK Rain Jacket Review - Rokslide
2016 First Lite Raingear Review - Rokslide

Let it Rain! Light-Weight Rain Jacket Shootout - Rokslide
Hard Core Rain Gear - Rokslide