What is the best raingear?

[PropsterII]

"If it isn't fully "taped" they can't use the name Gore-Tex. It is a trade marked name. They are kind of sticklers on that point. Other wise it is breathable rain gear."

This is not accurate. Many other brands tape their seams. And Gore Tex as a brand offers membrane fabrics that aren't taped, such as Windstopper, but of course are not then 100% waterproof. There are a few different myths and misconceptions floating around here. Gore-Tex is PTFE, poly tetra flour... blah blah blah - basically a teflon membrane. It is licensed to several companies who then make rainwear from it. A very close competetive membrane would the Sympatex material, which is actually more popular in Europe than Gore-Tex, and is what Cabelas uses in most of their high end Guide wear. And any rainwear that is so-called breathable, means that the membrane has holes in it that are smaller than a water droplet yet larger than a moisture vapor molecule - hence the breathable part. The problem is that it cannot withstand pressure, i.e. if you get rained on it will generally keep you dry. However if you sit on water, such as your boat seat, you can force the water through the membrane. Or if you have boots with a Gore-Tex liner or bootie, walking through water will generally not allow water in, but stand in it for any length of time and it will likely seep in. Most of the Helly Hansen stuff is PVC, not a membrane, but also not breathable. Great when you absolutely need to keep the water off you, but you'll sweat. So you have membrane stuff which can be very good at keeping you dry, and is somewhat breathable, vs a pvc type that is not breathable but will be almost guaranteed to keep you dry unless you get tears in it. Much like a Gore-Tex boot vs an all rubber boot.

[CITY LIMITS]

I just bought some bass pro shops rain gear Ive yet to use them but they seem legit.

[delcecchi]

Sympatex is a completely different material than goretex and has no holes, according to wikipedia.

[Sonicrunch]

Frogg Toggs

[Sonicrunch]

Frogg Toggs

[Down Deep]

To answer your question about a rain suit that will hold up and keep you dry for years to come. My GuideWare is in its 16th year. That's 16 years of enduring dozens of cold wet downpours in Northern MN, BWCA, Canada, and Alaska. It has also been to football games, ice fishing trips, rain soaked ocean fishing trips, and on many vacations around the US. It has served as a wind suit and most recently kept me dry as a bone for 3 hours while helping a neighbor dig trenches to keep his house from flooding during Duluth's 10 inches of rain back in June.

I paid about $350 new, and the way I figure that's about $25 a year. Now that is a value in my book.

[cluelessfisherman]

Guidewear - I've spent too much over the years on cheap stuff that wore out or didn't work that I could have paid for my guidewear set several times over that I finally broke down and got this year. Roll the bones and don't look back - you won't be disappointed.

[delcecchi]

Buy a good one and cry once. Buy the cheap one and cry every time you use it.

saying from rec.woodworking

[Hoffer]

"If it isn't fully "taped" they can't use the name Gore-Tex. It is a trade marked name. They are kind of sticklers on that point. Other wise it is breathable rain gear."

This is not accurate. Many other brands tape their seams. And Gore Tex as a brand offers membrane fabrics that aren't taped, such as Windstopper, but of course are not then 100% waterproof. There are a few different myths and misconceptions floating around here. Gore-Tex is PTFE, poly tetra flour... blah blah blah - basically a teflon membrane. It is licensed to several companies who then make rainwear from it. A very close competetive membrane would the Sympatex material, which is actually more popular in Europe than Gore-Tex, and is what Cabelas uses in most of their high end Guide wear. And any rainwear that is so-called breathable, means that the membrane has holes in it that are smaller than a water droplet yet larger than a moisture vapor molecule - hence the breathable part. The problem is that it cannot withstand pressure, i.e. if you get rained on it will generally keep you dry. However if you sit on water, such as your boat seat, you can force the water through the membrane. Or if you have boots with a Gore-Tex liner or bootie, walking through water will generally not allow water in, but stand in it for any length of time and it will likely seep in. Most of the Helly Hansen stuff is PVC, not a membrane, but also not breathable. Great when you absolutely need to keep the water off you, but you'll sweat. So you have membrane stuff which can be very good at keeping you dry, and is somewhat breathable, vs a pvc type that is not breathable but will be almost guaranteed to keep you dry unless you get tears in it. Much like a Gore-Tex boot vs an all rubber boot.

Great reply and recap. I didnt know any of that. Thanks!!

[delcecchi]

Sympatex uses a totally different mechanism to achieve a similar result to GoreTex. You can look it up on the Sympatex web site.

I don't know what the non-goretex proprietary waterproofing like DryPlus from Cabela's and the ones from Columbia etc are. They could be membranes like Goretex since that patent expired in the late 90's.

Sympatex consists of a copolymer composed

of polyester (hydrophobic, shown

in red) and polyether (hydrophilic, shown

in white). The polyether ensures that the

water vapour (shown in blue) is transported

outwards.

(from a caption on Sympatex web site) It basically uses materials to transport the water rather than little tiny holes.