Rain gear, for me, is one of those things that you tend to carry a lot, but not use a lot. However when you do need it, you need it. I have an old Rab three-layer ultralight rain jacket that has been my go-to backpacking (outside of hunting) lightweight rain jacket. It’s been long discontinued and I have been searching for a replacement. Recently Sitka released the Dewpoint UL (ultra-light) rain jacket and it looked exactly what I was looking for. They were kind enough to send me one to try out.
Sitka Dewpoint UL Jacket
The Dewpoint name has have been in Sitka’s rain gear lineup for awhile now; they still have the original Dewpoint that I reviewed a couple of years ago, but have added a Pro—a heavier duty version and the UL—a lighter, but less heavier duty.
Here’s what they have to say about the Dewpoint UL: “Built for anglers and hunters who measure every ounce, the Dew Point UL Jacket delivers trusted GORE-TEX® protection at the lightest weight SITKA has ever achieved.”
They can be found here. The jacket retails for $275. Currently, there is not a pants option.
The jacket is available in Coyote, Blue Spruce, and Basalt Grey (the one I’m reviewing).
Dewpoint UL Jacket Fabric
The Dewpoint UL is a true 3-layer jacket. A little nomenclature:
- a 2-layer jacket has a waterproof membrane that is bonded to a face fabric and utilizes a separate lining—usually mesh. A 2.5 also has a waterproof membrane bonded to a face fabric, but instead of a separate lining, has a printed or sprayed on inner fabric in lieu of a separate lining.
- A 3-layer jacket again has a waterproof membrane bonded to a face fabric, but instead of a printed or spray on liner it utilizes another inner fabric that is affixed directly to the membrane (sandwiched).
In my experience, a true 3-layer jacket is the most durable, most comfortable, and best performing jacket. The UL utilizes a 20d face fabric, which is decently durable as proven by my use of the regular Dewpoint, which also utilizes a 20d fabric.
Dewpoint UL Jacket Fit
Sizing is on the jacket is what I would consider regular—not athletic, not overly roomy. I’m 5’11” 185 and the Large jacket fits w/ just a base layer or layered over a light insulating layer. The back is 30.5” long which gives good coverage.
Jacket Features
This jacket weighs only a fraction over 7 oz (Sitka says 7.3 oz in size Large, mine weighs 7.2 oz), so it is not an overly feature rich jacket. It does have an adjustable hem at the waist and two zippered slash pockets. What it misses are adjustable closures at the wrist, an adjustable hood, and pit zips—all features which the regular Dewpoint has at 12.5 oz.
The wrist utilizes a pretty neat elastic setup that does a good job of securing the wrist—it’s a little tight getting it on/off, but works really well. I really wish the hood had an adjustment; it’s better when wearing a ball cap, but if your just wearing a beanie—I found the hood to slide down a bit and obscure my vision. I think the addition of an adjustable hood would only weigh a fraction of an ounce. I like pitzips on a rain jacket, but at this weight, I wouldn’t expect them.
My Use
I got to use this jacket quite a bit on my daily hikes and backpacking, from light rain/snow to heavy rain/snow. I’ve also got to use it a couple of times in pretty sustained rain—medium to heavy, but nothing with all-day rain. It’s pretty rare that we see all-day rain, let alone multiple days of sustained rain.
Discussion
The newer rain gear from most manufacturers have gone to different Durable Water Repellent (DWR) finishes–replacing the highly fluorinated compounds with more environmentally friendly ones. In my reading, it looks like these newer DWRs will have to be reapplied more often and won’t resist oils as well as the old ones. At this juncture though, the DWR finish—GORE® ePE, is working quite well. I haven’t experienced any wetting out at all.
I do find the regular Dewpoint face fabric a little quieter than the UL; it’s possible this could be from more use w/ the regular and it softens with time, but it’s also possible a different face fabric is being used.
If you hunt and recreate in a drier environment where precipitation tends to be sporadic and not usually lasting for days (very typical for the Mountain West and Southwest US), the UL just might be the rain jacket you’re looking for. One could also make the case that regular Dewpoint doesn’t weigh a heck of a lot more and offers pitzips and an adjustable hood (along w/ matching full zip pants) and might be a better option.
Either way, it’s nice to have choices and while I won’t be ditching my regular Dewpoint pieces, the UL jacket will be spending a lot of time in my pack!
Comment or ask Mike questions here.
