Rain gear ?.

[Hopper-dropper]

ColeyG,
Thanks for the clarifications. I was assuming that "wetting out" was being used to describe leaking vs the face fabric absorbing water.

 

[Danilla_Ice]

I always look at the "mm" metric to compare apples to apples when jacket shopping. I actually have the Chugach myself and have found it to be solid, and it's a 20,000mm fabric, which is honestly not that extraordinary, many jackets are 30,000 (the FL Stormtight is 35k)

Unfortunately not all manufacturers provide that metric (European companies seem to provide it more frequently). For example, I don't think Sitka does...but First Lite and Kuiu do.

 

[Blockcaver]

I use KUIU Chugach and Helly Hansen depending on the use. Just took both on a N BC caribou and moose hunt. Wore the HH on the long wet and super muddy quad ride and the KUIU when needed hunting for rain or wind. Both are actually around the same weight. The HH will sweat you up stays wet inside from sweat until you turn it inside out to dry. KUIU is way more comfortable, has side zips on pants and pit zips on the jacket. This is my second set (2–1/2 yrs old) and it seems superior to my 2011 gen 1 version made in the Arcterex factory in Vancouver for KUIU . It even kept me dry (got wet down my neck from rain on the face only) on some very long quad rides earlier this year when I didn’t have HH along.

For sheep hunting I only use the KUIU and find it excellent. Lives in the pack on all my hunts.

 

[SLDMTN]

My brother-in-law wears HH Impertech and I wear Sitka Cloudburst or Patagonia Gore-tex Mil-Spec. We hunt every year together side by side 90% of the time so take my experience for what it's worth.

I 100% disagree with the comment that membranes dry slowly. Gore-tex and other similar membrane type gear dries extremely fast because they're breathable. You can put a wet membrane layer on and wear it dry even in cold temps, that's one of the reasons why it's used in every facet of outdoor pursuits.

Impertech will leak as well. They have some stretch to them which will allow water through at pressure points and stretch zones.

Getting wet will happen eventually if you're beating brush no matter what you're wearing, it's the primary reason I only pack synthetic insulation.

Both systems work well and each has its own limitations. Run your Chugach gear as long as it's fresh and not all punched out from devil's club and alders.

 

[ColeyG]

Speaking of Devil's Club...

Finding pin holes in your rain gear or waders can be tricky. Rubbing alcohol is awesome for this and makes finding small holes to patch/seal much easier than other methods.

Rub a little in the area that you think is leaking and the fabric on the opposite side will darken, showing you where the hole is at so you can seam seal it. I wish someone would make a pair of waders made entirely out of seam seal. Most of mine are 3/4 seam seal by now as it is.

 

[SLDMTN]

Finding pin holes in your rain gear or waders can be tricky. Rubbing alcohol is awesome for this and makes finding small holes to patch/seal much easier than other methods.

I'm gonna have to try this, my gear needs some love.

 

[oenanthe]

I'm gonna have to try this, my gear needs some love.

If you go to the Simms website they have a good video on wader repair. That's where I first learned of the isopropyl alcohol trick. They spray waders pretty freely with alcohol to find all the holes.

 

[carsonkeys]

I spent 10 days in BC this September with the FL SEAK rain jacket and the Kuiu chugach rain pants. In typical moose fashion, we killed him in the rain, butchered him in the rain, and packed him in the rain. During the butchering process I got dangerously wet and cold due to my rain jacket leaking. I stripped down and crawled into my sleeping bag shivering uncontrollably. After I was warmed up we started packing the 5ish miles. My FL jacket was absolutely soaked through (and useless) while my chugach pants withstood crawling around on my knees during the killing and butchering process, and the brush beating it took on the way back, YMMV. I won't wear any other breathable rain gear besides the chugach (or yukon) from now on.

I'm heading back to BC in 2020 and you won't find a thread of FL on me.

 

[snowcamoman]

I don't put much faith in DWR either. It's nice to look at water beading up at first, but it will vanish in due time. If you layer properly and use the vents on breathables, you'll find that you can get away with quite a bit of heavy activity without sweating up the inside. I just got back from epic rains in Sitka a few weeks ago and my older Kuiu Chugach jacket worked superbly. The only area on me that got wet was by the cuff's where water tends to wick up onto the sleeves of under-layers. I can live with that.

 

[Murtfree]

Do most of you run your rain gear as your outer layer throughout your hunt or do you wear a soft shell and pack your rain gear as an extra layer in your pack

 

[wind gypsy]

Do most of you run your rain gear as your outer layer throughout your hunt or do you wear a soft shell and pack your rain gear as an extra layer in your pack

Soft shells are pretty dang heavy for the warmth and I sweat too much in a rain jacket if hoofin it. I used a patagonia houdini windshirt (3.6 ounces) on my sole Dall hunt as a wind layer when it wasn't raining and some when it was very lightly raining.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I have the kuiu yukon set. So far it seem spretty good. Got me through a rainy moose season.

 

[NomadHunter603]

Check out Tundra Talk podcast. He had an episode about rain gear for sheep hunting. Sitka failed miserably and recommends Helly Hansen impertech.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tdot]

The kuiu yukon pants are good enough that I regularly wear them as my only outer layer, insulation beneath to suit temps. I've used them for up to 3 days as my only pant that I carried, w/ no sun in the forecast. I would quite happily carry those and something for sunny or high output approach hikes.

I hunt with a few guys with Sitka, everyone of them ends up alot wetter then me. None of it's their more recent gear, so I dont know if something has improved.

I've also considered a rain poncho instead of a typical rain jacket. If I was always going to be wearing my big pack, and I knew it was going to be consistently wet, I think I might go try something like that. Typical rain jackets just can't breathe well enough, especially with a big pack on, during high output activity.

 

[MNhunter]

Do most of you run your rain gear as your outer layer throughout your hunt or do you wear a soft shell and pack your rain gear as an extra layer in your pack

I've been running my rain jacket as my outer windproof layer.

 

[Silvereagle50]

Placed an order for the Chugach set with the kuiu booth at the DSC convention yesterday. Got 15% off

 

[Jac]

We hit some very bad weather last year hunting for sheep. I use the outdoor research foray pant and jacket and they worked great!!! Not the lightest but well built and can handle all the buck brush and willows

 

[Toothshucker]

Used the new Kutana rain gear from Kuiu last year, worked great. I have the Yukon as well. Its also great but a little heavier (also a little more robust).

I was my gear with Grangers or Nikwax to add a DWR coating, then I also spray it w/ DWR spray. Probably overkill but seems to help.

 

[PA 5-0]

I have the Kuiu Chugach NX. 2 AK sheep hunts, 24 days, crazy snow, rain, sleet, high winds, etc, I've never been wet. Throw in a bunch of hunts out West and here in the NE. I'm always the dry guy. Well worth the $$.

 

[TWHrunner]

Sounds like I can’t get away with my Frog Toggs (colored Tyvek) rain suit....although I did last fall. I didn’t move around in it I confess though. We got caught in a rain squall everyday but it was always while glassing. Worked fine. I imagine it would tear apart like toilet paper if I was working in it though.